The St. Louis Church Planting Residency
A partnership of local churches, SEND St. Louis, and the North American Mission Board.
is to see the multiplication of life-giving churches in the St. Louis region through the development of healthy, multiplying church planters.
is to create a holistic church planting residency that fuels the development and continual growth of church planters and their future ministries.
Residency Overview
Because we want to see the pastor and leaders of the Sending Church become the heroes of the church planting experience in the St. Louis region, we are creating a framework that will be specific and practical. At the same time, with a keen awareness that personality, calling, giftedness, and local context will create a unique church plant, this residency will be adaptive and flexible in order to fit into varying contexts and ministries. Each planter will…
1) … engage in learning experiences from his local Sending Church. The church will provide him with a Residency Mentor (see Section 2 below), who may be the Lead Pastor or a leader in that church. The Residency Mentor oversees the learning experiences of the church planter at the local church level.
2) … participate with other planters in a learning cohort facilitated by the St. Louis residency leadership. This cohort will be led by a variety of leaders who will help the planter gain practical ministry skills. Each leader will pay special attention to helping the planter better understand the culture and complexities of the St. Louis region.
3) … join other planters in a SEND Network learning cohort led by trained trainers who will equip the planters towards mastery of twelve key church planting competencies. As a part of this SEND Network training, each planter will receive a SEND Network-trained coach and access to a local church planting consultant. He will also be part of the SEND Network family where he and his family will receive care and fellowship.
A partnership between a planter, a local church, STL Metro, SEND St. Louis, and the SEND Network of the North American Mission Board, this twelve-month process, starting in August, gives planters comprehensive local church experience as well as training and experience through a variety of STL Metro, SEND St. Louis, and SEND Network leaders and ministries. Each environment is designed to offer experiential learning that prepares planters to plant healthy, life-giving, multiplying churches.
Our St. Louis Church Planting Residency Strategy
In collaboration with the local church and future church planters, we desire to see a movement of church multiplication in the greater St. Louis area. Our strategic aims include:
● Developing a holistic church planting residency focused on healthy, multiplying leaders
● Creating a church-centric, field-based, customizable residency framework for the Sending Church
● Empowering local church leaders to come alongside, mentor, and equip church planters
● Identifying and developing future vocational, bi-vocational, and co-vocational planters within churches in St. Louis
● Guiding church planting residents to develop clear strategic plans to engage and reach their community – planting churches from the harvest for the harvest
● Maintaining coaching, support, community, training, and development to church planters after the residency program has been completed
● Partnering with the local church in developing strategic locations for church plants
● Assisting with a portion of the funding and resourcing for church plants
● Training planters to effectively raise and manage financial resources for the church plant