CHURCH DEVELOPMENT PLAN
The sixth step in the Pathway to Planting involves building a Church Development Plan. We suggest the following four questions for church planters to answer in their plan and that church planters pay attention to three key components under each question.
A. Who Will the Church Reach?
1. Prayer & God’s Call - have confirmed and articulated their call; have identified potential prayer team members who agree to pray for the church regularly
2. Fueling Passion - have thought through and are developing the personal habits needed for self-renewal, fueling spiritual desire
3. Community Exegesis - following the pattern of Paul (Acts 16:12-14), we learn about the community geographically (how large), demographically (who lives here), culturally (people characteristics) and spiritually (religious backgrounds).
B. What Kind of Church Will It Be?
4. Mission & Model - have established the church’s mission and model of ministry the church plans to fully develop over time
5. Vision Description - have written a beginning description of the future of the church
6. Nazarene Essentials - have articulated the 7 essential health characteristics and behaviors they believe will be practiced in the lives of the congregation when it achieves a solid measure of church health
C. Who Will the Church Work With?
7. Board & Church Structure - have thought through the church’s organizational structure, including board development
8. Leadership Community - have created a scheduled gathering of church leaders for communication, encouragement and training that includes using a leader development path
9. Mentoring & Community Relationships - the pastor/planter and church leaders have identified the community leaders they will build win-win relationships with, along with the church development mentors / coaches they will need
D. How and When Will this Plan Happen?
10. Disciple-Making “Next Steps” - have developed the implementation of “the journey of grace” and disciple-making “next steps” flow chart to assimilate new people into the church, helping them become Christ-like disciple-makers
11. Timeline & Critical Milestones - have identified a timeline & beginning list of critical milestones for implementing the church development plan
12. Stewardship & Budget - have completed a beginning stewardship plan to teach financial freedom, money management and giving; have competed a church budget
At DCPI training, planters begin building their Church Development Plan. We resource Partner Districts and Partner Churches to set up support systems which include the planter making a presentation to both parent church and district leaders about their plan. Checklists and presentation helps are available and we are building tools to assist the improvement of church development for multiple ministry models.
The goal of both orientation and training is to build a contextualized Church Development Plan. Church Development Plans are as unique as the church planters God calls to implement them. We have a never-ending commitment to improve as Partner Districts and Partner Churches share resources and continue to improve our delivery of quality, church planting support systems on every Partner District. We are committed to help you develop your contextualized Church Development Plan, designed to fit the community and context where God has called you to plant. You have GREAT days ahead!