The Focus of a Gospel-Centered Church:

• Good News for the Lost (New Record): Evangelism

    This means God promises to save from sin’s penalty those who believe in Christ and consider them as His beloved, chosen children (election) forever. As Judge, God promises to accept the sacrificial work of Christ as satisfying (propitiating) his just wrath against man and consider man’s sin imputed to Christ and Christ’s perfect righteousness imputed to man (justification). As Father, God promises to accept and love those who believe in Christ just as He accepts and loves His one and only Son (adoption). (Eph 1:4, 2 Cor. 5:21, Gal. 2:16, Col. 1:22, Jn. 1:12, 1 Jn. 3:1)

• Good News for the Found (New Heart): Spiritual Formation

    This means God also promises to save those who believe in Christ from sin’s domineering power over their lives by freely giving them a new heart (desires) and a new Spirit (regeneration) to empower them to know God, honor Him and enjoy Him forever (sanctification). Although you can never be free from sin’s ongoing influence until heaven, God promises through Christ to deliver you (redemption) from sin’s domineering power today. (Acts 2:38,39, Ezek. 36:26, John 3:1-16, 16:5-15, Rom. 6:6,7, 2 Cor. 3:18b)

• Good News for the Community (New World): Societal Transformation

    God also promises that one day all of your struggles will be over and he will bring you to your eternal home--a place where he will wipe away every tear from your eyes and make all things new. You will be made new in both soul and body and delivered not only from sin’s domineering power but even its presence. But this new inheritance God promises you is also cosmic. The good news is that because “Our God reigns” there is a new world coming where all things that are now crooked in our lives, churches and culture will finally be made straight. God promises that one day all of creation will be made new as he makes his invisible kingdom visible over every sphere of life.

After many years of training church planters from more than thirty countries, representing more than one hundred denominations and mission agencies, we are convinced that you cannot truly train a church planter at a conference, workshop or seminar any more than you can train a pilot to fly by taking instruction in flight theory (without flying a plane), or train a surgeon by mastering the theory of surgery (but never operating).

Instead we believe that the best way (the only true way) to learn how to plant a church is: 1) by planting a church 2) under the oversight of a well-trained leader/coach that is 3) guiding you through an intentional, holistic church planter training curriculum on the field—as a way of life.

With that training paradigm in mind, GCA has designed and proven a fully-integrated church planting training curriculum that includes all the essential components (called a church planting “ecosystem”) necessary for equipping leaders to start, grow and multiply gospel-centered churches in their cities or regions.

This “ecosystem” is being built upon a solid foundation of integrated:

• Theology

• Missiology

• Renewal Dynamics &

• Adult Learning Methods.

This training captures the best elements of the ecumenical spirit, stimulating intentional collaboration between denominations and mission agencies in both mono and cross-cultural contexts. Several denominations and mission agencies now look solely to GCA to provide their church planter training. And GCA training can now be taken for fully accredited masters and doctoral level credit in the United States and abroad.

There are presently more than thirty GCA associate trainers and coaches, from several denominations and mission agencies (nearly all of whom are veteran church planters, coaches and church planting leaders) representing hundreds of years of collective, in-the-trenches church planting experience. New trainers and coaches are being added to the GCA team regularly.

a) Assessment Processes

The best church planter training begins with an accurate assessment of the greatest needs of: 1) the church planter and 2) the church plant (if the church is already being planted).

Planting a church requires gifts, skills and experience that are different from merely pastoring an established congregation.  Both are challenging ministries and obviously not every pastor is called to plant a church.  Many who thrive in an established congregation may wither in church planting, and many who enjoy planting a church are frustrated in an established one. 

Although self-evaluation is important in understanding one's call, much can be learned by inviting the objective evaluation of experienced church planters. The GCA church planter assessment process includes personal interviews, teaching modules, evaluation instruments and a final feedback interview. These processes are used to help evaluate leaders in the specific competencies normally needed for church planting.

GCA assessments include not only assessing the church planter but also assessing the health of the emerging church plant. A church plant assessment enables the church planter to understand the areas of church development that need the most attention.

b) Training Events

                        (1)  National Training Conferences

GCA national training conferences consist of two training tracks:       1) Basic Training and 2) Advanced Training.

Basic Training Track

The GCA core training curriculum (Basic Training) is taught at the 5-day GCA National Church Planting Conference. This training conference (normally offered twice a year in North America) is an inter-denominational training event designed to equip church planters, coaches and supervisors to start, grow and multiply healthy, gospel-centered churches that result in the spiritual, social and cultural transformation of entire cities and regions.

Plenary presentations, peer-group discussions, practical workshops and leadership forums allow participants to formulate their own "culturally contextualized" values, mission, and church planting strategy. The GCA Seven Seasons of Church Planting (20 modules) are surveyed from pre-birth to reproduction.

Basic Training topics include:

• Clarifying the church planter’s vision

• Confirming the church planter’s call

• Determining the church ministry focus

• Clarifying the church purpose & mission

• Developing the church values & styles

• Designing the church strategies & structures

• Creating the church ministry models & plans

• Creating & refining a church planting proposal

• Establishing a core group & launch team

• Mentoring church ministry lay leaders & staff

• Developing gospel-centered ministries

• Leading the church to healthy growth

• Managing conflict in the emerging church

• Organizing church finances & administration

• Making the main thing the main thing

Advanced Training Workshops

The Advanced Training Workshops, also offered at the GCA National Training Conferences and Seminars, build and expand on the foundations laid in Basic Training through specialized training and forums designed for more experienced church planters, coaches, supervisors, and for alumni of Basic Training. Advanced Training topics include:

• Coaching church planters and church leaders

• Planting churches in the emerging generation

• Church Planter Spouse forums

• Raising financial support & church administration

• Spiritual Formation - Cultivating heart renewal by grace

• Preaching Christ-centered messages

• Creating gospel-centered worship services

• Starting regional church planting networks

• Breaking the missional code

• Restarting a stalled church plant

• Resolving conflicts Biblically

• Planting African-American churches

• Developing ministries of mercy in the city

• And more…

                        (2)  Regional Training Seminars

Advanced Training Workshops offered at the GCA training conferences are designed to create in you a hunger for the even more in-depth training that GCA makes available through our one to three day Regional Training Seminars.

These seminars are led by GCA trainers who have developed expertise, through years of practical ministry experience, in certain focused ministry areas such as worship, prayer, preaching, small groups, evangelism, mercy, leadership development, etc.

                        (3)  In-Depth Training Courses (Accredited)

Emerging regional and national leaders in church planting networks need holistic, in-depth curricular training to be better equipped for becoming church planting movement leaders. In partnership with various educational institutions, GCA offers fully accredited, graduate level (masters & doctoral) courses in such areas as evangelism, spiritual formation, church planting, church renewal, missions, worship, preaching and ministries of mercy and justice.

Since more than ninety percent of church leaders globally cannot afford to leave the field to study long-term in an academy, GCA is committed to providing contextualized, seminary-level training (including biblical and theological training) to church planters in networks on the field—whether or not these leaders want an accredited degree. GCA is presently working toward a 25-year goal to develop an entire leadership training curriculum that will be made available in all the major world languages.

c)  Personal Coaching

Good coaching can double or triple the effectiveness of a church planter. "Coaching may very well be the single most important ingredient for success in a new church plant. Everyone needs to learn from those who have traveled the path of life and ministry ahead of them-great benefits can be reaped from their wisdom and experience. Having someone to guide new church planters along the sometimes difficult path of ministry can be invaluable" (Logan & Johnston, Cultivating Church Multiplication Movements). 

GCA trained and certified coaches provide church planters with personal coaching appointments in a variety of formats (face-to-face and/or phone appointments) according to the church planter’s needs. The frequency of most coaching appointments ranges from twice monthly to once quarterly. The typical coaching appointment frequency is 1-2 times monthly for 60-90 minutes per session.

Our strategy is not merely to train and coach individual church planters but also to serve evangelical denominations and mission agencies (districts, dioceses, associations, presbyteries, etc.) by helping them start and strengthen their own regional Church Planting Networks from which they will raise up their own church planter trainers and coaches.

A Church Planting Network is an intentional Kingdom Partnership between 3 or more church planters and leaders (normally from the same denomination, agency, etc.) to share a common vision for advancing God’s Kingdom in their city and/or region through starting, growing and multiplying churches and to resource one another to help fulfill that vision.

Though an intentional, multi-year process (normally 3 years), GCA helps denominations and mission agencies start and strengthen their own regional church planting networks which become the primary means for their own recruiting, assessing, training, coaching and multiplying church planters (and churches) in a region. A healthy, growing, reproducing church planting network is not only the best way to advance God’s Kingdom in a region but also the best way for church planters to be trained.
 

            The Two-Year Church Planting Network GCA Training Curriculum

     Year One: GCA Network Training Curriculum

• Clarifying: Values & Focus

• Focusing: Mission & Model

• Planning: Planning & Goal Setting

• Renewing: Renewal & Prayer

• Witnessing: Networking & Evangelizing

• Communing: Building Christian Community

• Leading: Mentoring Gospel-Centered Leaders

• Discipling: Developing a Learning Community

• Worshipping: Gospel-Centered Worship

• Ordering: The Leader’s Private World

      Year Two: GCA Network Training Curriculum

• Recasting: Renewing Vision

• Praying: Cultivating Kingdom Prayer

• Preaching: Developing Gospel-Centered Preaching

• Unifying: Managing Church Conflict

• Growing: Leading Your Church to Growth

• Organizing: Managing Your Time & Life

• Managing: Leading & Managing Your Church

• Mobilizing: Mobilizing the Laity for Kingdom Mission

• Serving: Diaconal Witnessing

• Focusing: Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing

 As you can see above, this intentional, holistic training curriculum focuses not only on the development of the church planter’s ministry skills but also on personal character. GCA is strongly committed to the primacy of character development (personal godliness) in all our training curriculum.

The 5-Day Training Conference Surveys the 2-Year Training Curriculum

The GCA five-day training conference gives you a survey and orientation (a mere “taste”) of the GCA two-year (20-modules) church planter training curriculum that is designed to equip coaches and church planters to do real life “trench training” on the field in regional church planting networks.

Facilitating Church Planting Alliances

Since no single Church Planting Network has the ability to do Gospel ministry effectively to all the diverse people in one city or region, our kingdom strategy is also to help Church Planting Networks start, strengthen and partner with other Church Planting Networks (from other denominations, agencies, etc.) in their cities and regions—thus forming Church Planting Alliances.

A Church Planting Alliance is a Kingdom Partnership between Church Planting Networks to pursue a common vision for the spiritual, social and cultural transformation of their city and/or region and to collaborate with each other to help fulfill that vision.

Commenting on the critical need for various evangelical churches in a region to collaborate more for the sake of the Kingdom, Richard Lovelace writes, “If we tried to run a thousand-acre farm the way the Christian church runs local mission, we would harvest only a hundred acres’ worth of crops, because the fields would be a hodgepodge of independent plantings and reapings.”

When Church Planting Networks and Alliances begin to pray fervently (i.e. Concerts of Prayer) for their region and serve their region wholeheartedly through gospel ministries of word and deed, this is normally the means God uses to create a widespread spiritual awakening we call a Church Planting Movement.

Praying for Church Planting Movements

A Church Planting Movement is a work of God’s Spirit that produces indigenous, healthy, growing, reproducing churches that result in the spiritual, social and cultural transformation of a city and/or region.

A Church Planting Movement is more than merely evangelism and discipleship that results in new churches, networks and alliances. And it’s more than a renewal of pre-existing churches. Church Planting Movements are spiritual awakenings that establish, strengthen and advance the body of Christ in a region through the transforming power of the gospel in word and deed. The end goal is not merely renewed individuals and churches but the renewal of cities and regions under the Lordship of Christ.

Work Hard Toward the Goal & Pray Hard for the Desire!

Our strategy is to encourage church leaders to work hard toward the goal of establishing healthy, growing Church Planting Networks and Alliances in their regions and to pray hard for the desire that through those networks and alliances God would birth true Church Planting Movements that would result in the spiritual, cultural and social transformation of their cities and regions.