Looking for a Better Solution to Mobilize and Equip Church Planters?
At Passion for Planting, we’ve already done the hard work of creating a comprehensive residency program. This turnkey residency helps you train future planters without the hassle of building your own program from scratch.
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Not Sure Running Your Own Residency is Good Stewardship?
As a church, you do want to equip the next generation of church planters with the tools, structure, and support they need to thrive. You know the value of strong training—both for the planter and the churches they’ll plant.
But you don’t want to have to:
- dedicate full-time or even part-time staff to design, implement, and run a residency
- have expertise in all aspects of church planting
- have multiple residents at the same time to make it cost effective
- send your residents off somewhere for a year while they learn
What if you could equip church planters with expert-led training, without the heavy lifting?
Welcome to a Proven, Turnkey Residency You Can Call Your Own
- No Need to Reinvent the Wheel – Skip the time, staffing, and cost of designing a residency program
- Ownership Without the Overhead – Offer a residency that feels like your own while Passion for Planting does the heavy lifting
- Focus on What Matters Most – We’ll handle the logistics and training, so you can stay focused on local ministry and disciple-making
With this proven program, you’ll equip future planters with the confidence and skills they need to plant thriving, reproducing churches.
You Focus on People.
We Power Your Residency.
What Your Church Gains
An In-House Residency That Feels Like Your Own – Passion for Planting does the heavy lifting, but you get the credit.
Expanded Recruiting Power – Show prospective planters they’ll receive best-in-class training.
Training Without the Infrastructure Headaches – No need to develop curriculum, hire a director, or manage software
A Stronger Planter Pipeline – Graduates leave with a full launch strategy and action plan
What Your Planters Acquire
- Residency training without having to move across the country
- A better understanding of church planting principles and practices
- A compelling vision for a new church
- A launch strategy tailored to their target community, with guidance and feedback from peers and mentors
- A custom action plan with practical timeline to launch a reproducing church
- Priority consideration for P4P’s project management support (with limited grants available)
- New friendships with like-minded church planting leaders
- Enthusiasm for implementing their strategic plan
What You Can Expect
A Proven Process
More than just theory—your residents will gain practical training for real-world church planting through the R.O.P.E.S. training method:
- Research – Investigate their target community and study its culture
- Observe – Participate in ministry at your church and also visit church plants
- Present – Share their vision and strategies with peers and mentors, and even preach their Opening Day sermon
- Evaluate – Receive and process feedback to refine their approach
- Support – Encourage and be encouraged by their peers throughout their planting journey
How it Works
A Shared Journey
The Passion for Planting Residency Cohort runs from September 3, 2025 through June 3, 2026 and utilizes three integrated components:
LIVE VIRTUAL TRAINING
Your planters will learn and network with national church planting leaders during weekly Cohort Day video conferences:
- Wednesdays from 9am-3pm Eastern via Zoom (with break for lunch)
- Over 30 practitioners from across the country share their expertise
ONLINE COURSEWORK & HOMEWORK
Residents prepare for cohort days through:
- engaging online course content
- relevant blogs, podcasts, and videos
- crafting contextual strategies for their church plant
- building a custom action plan with dates, doers, and dollars
IN-PERSON INTENSIVES
Planters will travel to Passion for Planting’s headquarters three times to foster camaraderie, dive deep into critical pre-launch topics, and establish the DNA for a reproducing church:
- Kickoff event: September 3, 2025
- First onsite: December 8-11, 2025; includes visits by and field trips to local church planters
- Second onsite: March 9-12, 2026; includes preaching Opening Day sermons and getting feedback
Explore our Residency Roadmap to see an overview of the topics we cover and when.
Planter Outcomes
Peer-to-Peer Sharing
The residency cohort is a relational small group of planters like you, facilitated by Passion for Planting, the church planting ministry of New Life Christian Church with over 20 years of planting experience. As your residents journey with like-minded leaders, they’ll share ideas and inspire each other to start the new churches God is calling each to plant.
A Contextual Launch Strategy
Along the journey, your residents will prayerfully craft over 20 strategy documents, covering everything from Disciple Making and Fundraising to Marketing and Budget. All of these culminate in an overarching Launch Strategy tailored to their target communities.
A Custom Action Plan
Using Passion for Planting’s proprietary church planting web app, PlanterPlan, your residents will put together a custom action plan with everything they need to keep track of the details: a checklist of tasks, due date calculation, team collaboration, delegation tools, etc. They’ll be able to execute their real-world action plan the day after they finish the residency (if not before)!
A Final Presentation
At the end of the Cohort, your residents will present their strategy and their plan to peers and church planting leaders (think of it like defending a thesis—minus the academic stress).
The Power of Proven Training
Passion for Planting was started over 20 years ago when the church planting leaders at New Life Christian Church discovered that planters were drowning in details. Our aim has always been to keep church planters focused on people.
We started our Distance Residency in 2015 to give church planters an edge in starting healthy, reproducing churches. Built with the rigor of a college-level course, the Residency will give new knowledge and skills in church planting. It is led by an experienced planter practitioner who brings in over 30 presenters from across the country to give your residents new insights and connections.
Sean Cronin
TRAINING LEAD
Achiever | Context | Belief
I lead the Residency Cohort focused on helping church planters gain a clearer vision for the church God’s calling them to plant. I don’t focus on offering answers but asking questions to help them discern how Jesus wants to build His church through them. My goal is to help them develop a plan that guides their efforts to pursue the vision God’s giving them.
Patrick Bradley
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
Ideation | Developer | Strategic
I equip church planting leaders by creating tools and systems that keep church planters focused on people. I want church planters to experience the confidence of having a contextual strategic plan and the enjoyment that comes from spending less time on the details.
Todd Wilson
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Futuristic | Strategic | Activator
I serve leaders and ministries who are pursuing multiplication, and help them develop vision and strategy for 100X impact. I’m an entrepreneurial engineer, passionate about creating pictures of future possibilities and strategies for turning them into reality.
Prospectus: Church Planting Residency for Your Church
What’s Expected of Our Church?
Time, Talent and Treasure
- $500 registration fee per resident
- Eligibility for $5,000 cash grant for each resident upon successful completion
- Travel costs for the kickoff and 2 in-person intensives
- A designated supervising sponsor (staff, elder, etc.) who can provide oversight, accountability, and even coaching to your residents
The next cohort starts on September 3, 2025. Registration is limited to 12 leaders.
Registration Deadline
August 1, 2025
Ready to Chat?
Sponsor Involvement: As the local church congregation, you will provide a supervising sponsor along with opportunities for your residents to serve and train locally. The supervising sponsor must participate in the onboarding Zoom call.
Limited Space: The cohort will have a maximum of 12 residents. Space will be filled on a first-come basis of qualified applicants who finish the application and approval process.
Application Process: The online application page includes lists of Qualifications and Expectations. Have your planters do a serious self-reflection and assessment to count the costs and make sure they’re a good fit before applying. They will need a letter of recommendation from you as the sponsoring church. Have your residents submit their online application by August 1, 2025.
Questions?
Call us at (703) 817-0601 or email us at residency@church-planting.net
