Step into Your Calling:
Prepare to Plant a Church
Are you feeling called to plant a church but want to learn from experienced church planters before taking the leap? Our 9-month distance residency program is designed for leaders like you, equipping you with the knowledge, community, and practical skills to plant a thriving church.
The next Residency Cohort is limited to 12 qualified leaders
The next cohort starts on September 3, 2025. Registration is limited to 12 leaders.
Registration Deadline August 1, 2025
Are You Called to Plant a Church but Unsure Where to Start?
It Takes Intentionality and Preparation
Planting a church is an incredible calling, but it can feel overwhelming. You need a clear plan, a supportive community, and guidance from experienced church planters. That’s exactly why we created the Passion for Planting Church Planting Residency—a 9-month program designed to equip leaders like you with the knowledge, network, and practical skills to plant and grow a thriving church.
To fully prepare to plant a healthy, reproducing church requires community, a launch strategy tailored to your target community, a custom action plan with real-world due dates, and time and space to practice new skills. The Passion for Planting Residency delivers all four!
Here’s How We Help
Throughout the residency, you will develop and apply core competencies, including:
- Critical Thinking
- Strategic Planning
- Community Networking
- Disciple-Making
- Team Building
- Leading Leaders
- Preaching in a New Church
- Developing a Sermon Calendar
- Practical Ministry Assignments in Your Local Church
A Proven Process
More than just theory—you’ll gain practical training for real-world church planting through the R.O.P.E.S. training method:
- Research – Investigate your target community and study its culture
- Observe – Participate in ministry at your local church and visit church plants
- Present – Share your vision and strategies with peers and mentors, and even preach your Opening Day sermon
- Evaluate – Receive and process feedback to refine your approach
- Support – Encourage and be encouraged by your peers throughout your planting journey
The Residency Cohort Journey
The Community
The Church Planting Residency is a nine-month, peer-to-peer learning community for a small group of church planting leaders who want disciple-making, mobilization, and reproduction embedded into the DNA of their new churches.
Passion For Planting helped prepare me with the resources I didn’t even know I needed! From the opportunity to connect with experienced leaders in church planting to a tangible timeline that helped guide us in the process. The cohort was exactly what I need to ensure we launched strong!
-Anthony Miller, ’21 Cohort
The Journey
The Passion for Planting Residency Cohort runs from September 2025 through June 2026 and utilizes three integrated components:
LIVE VIRTUAL TRAINING
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
Prepare for cohort days through:
- engaging online course content
- relevant blogs, podcasts, and videos
- crafting contextual strategies for your church plant
- building a custom action plan with dates, doers and dollars
IN-PERSON INTENSIVES
Attend two 4-day onsite gatherings where you’ll dive deep into critical pre-launch topics and establish the DNA for a reproducing church:
- Travel to Passion for Planting headquarters (New Life Christian Church, Chantilly, VA), stay in host homes
- First onsite: December 8-11, 2025; includes visits by and field trips to local church planters
- Second onsite: March 16-19, 2026; includes preaching Opening Day sermons and getting feedback
Explore our Residency Roadmap to see an overview of the topics we cover and when.
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 you journey with like-minded leaders, you’ll share ideas and inspire each other to start the new churches God is calling you to.
A Contextual Launch Strategy
Along the journey, you 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 your target community.
A Custom Action Plan
Using Passion for Planting’s proprietary church planting web app, PlanterPlan, you’ll put together a custom action plan with everything you need to keep track of the details: a checklist of tasks, due date calculation, team collaboration, delegation tools, etc. You’ll be able to execute your real-world action plan the day after you finish the residency (if not before)!
A Final Presentation
At the end of the Cohort, you’ll present your strategy and your 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 you 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 offer a lot of answers but ask a lot of questions to help them discern how Jesus wants to build His church through them. I do this with the goal of helping 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.
Information Packet
Investment and Return
Your Time, Talent and Treasure
- Application submission with $500 registration fee
- Nine-month commitment
- One face-to-face kickoff event in Chantilly, VA (1 day)
- Two face-to-face gatherings in Chantilly, VA (4 days each)
- Weekly 6-hour virtual gatherings (Wednesdays 9am-3pm Eastern)
- Cost of travel to the three in-person events
- Courage and perseverance to do the hard work of preparing to plant
Your Outcomes and Results
When you successfully complete the cohort, you will have:
- A better understanding of church planting principles and practices
- A compelling vision for a new church
- A launch strategy tailored to your target community, with guidance and feedback from your 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 your strategic plan
You will be eligible for a $5,000 cash grant toward your church plant when you successfully complete the cohort. Find out more at church-planting.net/residencies/grant
Application
Sponsor Involvement: Residents must have a sponsoring church and/or church planting network who will endorse their participation, and a local church congregation who will provide local serving and training opportunities for you. Your 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. Do a serious self-reflection and assessment to count the costs and make sure you’re a good fit before applying. You must be recommended by a sponsoring organization or sending church. Submit an online application by August 1, 2025.
Questions?
Call us at (703) 817-0601 or email us at residency@church-planting.net
