Church planter residency Archives - Passion for Planting

Church Planter Pitch Lab

Sean Cronin — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 03:19:45 +0000

See the vision.
Test the strategy.
Strengthen the launch.

Pitch Lab is a one-day event where our residents practice casting vision for their future church. In the morning, they present in small-room Pitch Labs and receive coaching. In the afternoon, everyone regathers for the Showcase to hear each resident’s refined pitch from the main stage.

Stakeholders, prospective donors, and observers get a front-row seat to learn, give residents feedback, and leave excited about church planting.

Reserve a Seat

Pitch Lab — Wednesday, June 3, 2026 — Raleigh, NC

In-person + Live on Zoom

Because great launches are built on shared clarity.

Church planting isn’t sustained by passion alone. Healthy launches happen when vision is clear, strategy is tested, and support is aligned. Pitch Lab creates a single, focused moment where planters sharpen how they communicate their vision and strengthen their strategy. It also creates an opportunity for others to listen, learn, and be inspired.

**You don’t want to hear just vision without a strategy and a plan.**

Vision can move hearts, but strategy builds confidence. When the plan is fuzzy, even strong residents can struggle to communicate what comes next, what success looks like, or how others can help. Pitch Lab gives them a chance to practice, refine, and grow before those conversations matter most.

Residents need a safe place to strengthen how they communicate vision and next steps
Stakeholders want alignment so their support is practical, not scattered
Prospective Donors want clarity before committing meaningful resources
Observers want a real picture of what “ready” looks like

Clear plans, honest feedback, and practical next steps.

Pitch Lab helps residents grow in confidence as they communicate their church planting vision. It also gives attendees a helpful, honest window into what wise preparation, thoughtful coaching, and real launch readiness look like.

Residents leave with stronger clarity, better language, and greater confidence
Stakeholders leave aligned on priorities and next steps for support
Prospective donors gain clarity on where generosity can accelerate the mission
Observers leave inspired—and equipped with a model worth repeating

Reserve Your Seat

Who is Pitch Lab for?

Church Planter Pitch Lab

Pitch Lab is a meaningful training milestone for you. You’ve been doing the hard work of prayer, planning, preparation, and refinement—and this day helps you bring it all together in a live environment where you can practice communicating with clarity, receive honest feedback, and leave more ready for the road ahead.

Get real experience casting vision in front of others
Use feedback to sharpen both message and strategy
Build confidence, not just exposure
Be encouraged by Stakeholders, Prospective Donors, and Observers

Stakeholders

You’ll hear your resident’s strategy, ask better questions, and align your church’s support around what matters most. You’ll gain:

Shared clarity around the launch plan and priorities
A practical way to align encouragement, connections, and resources
A chance to learn from your resident while they’re learning

Prospective Donors

You’ll get a clear view of vision and readiness—while seeing how residents are being coached to communicate more effectively and faithfully. You’ll gain:

A focused, no-pressure way to understand the opportunity
Clarity on readiness, strategy, and real needs
A front-row seat to how planters learn to better cast vision and resource their church plants

Observers

You’ll see what strong preparation looks like, catch a vision for multiplication, and learn how this kind of process could strengthen your own work. You’ll gain:

A real-world view of what preparation and coaching looks like for church planters
Insight into how to improve what you’re already doing
Inspiration to apply next year—or to explore hosting a residency

How It Works

A simple flow that makes for a high-impact day.

Step 1: Preparation
Our residents have been prayerfully crafting their strategy and pitch so this day helps them refine and strengthen what they’ve been building—not start from scratch.

Step 2: Pitch Labs
Small-room sessions where residents present their plans, receive guided questions, and get structured feedback that helps them improve.

Step 3: Showcase + Next Steps
Main-stage pitches that help residents communicate with even greater clarity—followed by clear pathways for connection and follow-up.

Reserve A Seat

Pitch Labs are where residents grow in clarity—and confidence.

presenting a clear plan, respond to thoughtful questions, and receive coaching that helps strengthen both their message and their readiness.

Lab Flow:

8-minute pitch
Coaching Feedback
Pitch Refinement
Repeat the process to build confidence

The Showcase lets everyone see the progress.

The Showcase is the main-stage moment: short, clear pitches that help the full audience see what residents have been building and how their vision is taking shape. It brings everyone into the same story while giving residents another meaningful opportunity to communicate with clarity.

Purpose:

It helps residents practice communicating to a broader audience
It creates shared momentum around what God is doing
Makes follow-up simple and relational

Here’s the rhythm of the day.

Timeline (9am-5pm)

Welcome + orientation
Pitch Lab Round 1
Pitch Lab Round 2
Lunch + connection time
Main Stage Showcase
Closing + next-step instructions
Optional stakeholder/prospective donor debrief

Exact times and room assignments will be provided via email.

Can’t be in the room?

Join live on Zoom.

Whether you’re a stakeholder, a prospective donor, or an observer, the live stream gives you real-time access to the Showcase and key moments of the day—so you can learn from the residents while they’re learning.

Clarity supports wise partnership without hype or pressure.

This event helps our residents confidently communicate their church planting vision. Feedback and recommendations will help them be more effective building their plant team and raising financial support.

Residents present plans and respond to real questions
Leaders discern readiness and next steps
Follow-up conversations happen with clarity

You’ll leave with practical tools, not just a good experience.

Included for all attendees

Simple follow-up guide (who to contact + how)
Digital program book (resident summaries + schedule)
A clear view of next steps

Role-specific packets

Stakeholder Packet
Prospective Donor Packet
Observer Packet

A well-led day creates a meaningful experience.

You’ll be guided through the day by a team that keeps things moving and makes sure the focus stays on clarity and encouragement. Our team of coaches includes leaders with experience in church planting, sending, coaching, generosity, and strategy. Their job is to ask helpful questions and give feedback that strengthens the plan.

Pitch Lab Lead Team

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.

Date: June 3rd

Location: Raleigh, NC

What to expect:

Multiple breakout rooms for Pitch Labs
Comfortable main room for the Showcase
On-site team to help with directions and flow
Practical next steps for stakeholders, donors, and observers

Optional add-on: $10 Lunch

FAQs

• What’s the difference between Pitch Labs and the Showcase?

5 Key Elements in Preparing to Plant a Church

Sean Cronin — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 21:35:39 +0000

By Stan Rodda: If we want to be successful at any endeavor, it is going to require significant preparation.

My high school football coach knew this. Every Monday during our season we would watch game film of our next opponent in preparation for meeting them on the field. We would break up into offensive and defensive meetings, studying our opponents most successful plays over and over. We mentally prepared for how we would beat them come Friday night.

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent in full pads, running through plays and strategies. We would huddle up with our teammates and run over every situation we anticipated facing. We would practice no less than two hours daily – mentally and physically preparing to recognize our opponent’s tendencies so we would be ready to make a play and fulfill our assignments.

Thursday was spent with only our helmets on and we would walk through everything again at half speed to keep us fresh for Friday. Between Monday and Thursday afternoon we exhausted the hours allotted for high school teams to spend practicing in preparation for a football game. We invested blood, sweat and tears into our preparation – all with one goal in mind…WIN!

If we are willing to put in that kind of time and effort for something as simple as Friday Night Lights, how much more so should we prepare when it comes to planting churches and making disciples? Benjamin Franklin is credited as saying…

By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.

Maybe you’re reading this right now and believe that God has called you to plant a church. Or maybe you are exploring to test that calling. No matter where you are in the process, I can think of at least five key areas that will help you prepare to plant a church and each of them can be found in Passion 4 Planting’s “Church Planter Residency.”

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Preparation for the 21st century!

If you are preparing to plant a church, pursuing that must be able to be accomplished wherever you are. With today’s technology, gone are the days when you have to travel across the country to find the training you need. This residency allows you to take part from literally anywhere in the world. No matter where God has you uniquely positioned, you can still learn, be trained and discover God’s next steps for you and your church plant.

Learn from those who have gone before!

P4P’s residency gives you the opportunity every week to train and learn alongside some of the nation’s church planting leaders. Learn from people like Todd Wilson the CEO of the Exponential Conference, Shawn Lovejoy the founder of Courage to Lead and more. Learn from planters who have walked a similar path to you. Guys like Brett Andrews, Bobby Harrington and Joel Pazmino.

Prepare in Community!

When I prepared to go into battle on a football field, I never prepared alone. I lifted weights, watched film and practiced with others who were on the same mission. We prepare best in the context of community. That’s why P4P’s residency consists of a small cohort of 4-8 church planters, who meet weekly to receive training while remaining in their local context. These cohort members share ideas and resources and challenge each other to grow as leaders. They build friendships for life as they prepare to accomplish a mission they’ve all been called to pursue.

Practical tools and strategies!

The primary books and conferences that I have seen and heard are heavily theoretical. There is often a shortage of practical tools and strategies to build on. P4P’s residency is built around the nuts and bolts of what it’s going to look like practically to start a church. Even if you have already started down the path, you need practical tools and strategies that can be used, implemented and tailored to your context along the way.

Prepare for your context, not ours!

Every Friday our football team would face a different opponent, each with different strengths and weaknesses.

Different sized players

Different schemes

Different offensive or defensive approaches

Each week we had to contextualize our preparation for what we were about to face. The same is true of your church plant. Your context is unique. Within the cohort you will develop contextualized plans and strategies for your specific ministry context. Ultimately you’ll walk alongside others who are on mission with you and who will help tailor plans and strategies to you. This may be the most beneficial part of your preparation.

Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.

-Abraham Lincoln

Preparation is key to successfully launching a church. If God has called you to plant now is the time to begin preparing to answer that significant call. Invest the time and mental energy into clarifying the vision God has given you and develop the tools and strategies you’ll need to turn that vision into a reality.

Applications are now being accepted for their 2019-2020 cohort kicking off in September. Click for more information and to apply.

Source: 5 Key Elements in Preparing to Plant a Church

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