Discover specific answers to your specific questions about the practical efforts and resources you'll need to plant your church.

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Session 1: We Messed Up So You Don't Have To
Other workshops will offer you wisdom for great visionaries, strategists and leaders. For this session, we have rounded up a panel of expert mistake-makers! Together, they share experiences in planting churches with the bruises to prove it. If there were cities of refuge for church plant leaders, we'd be charter members. So if you want to learn from Ph.D's in messing up, you'll fit right in.
Time: Tuesday, 2:30-3:30pm
Location: Faith Hall - FH 301E
Speaker: Brett Andrews

Session 1: Money, Stress and Ministry
Psychologists have been uncovering the effects of having too little money. Their basic conclusion: it's bad for people to feel they don't have enough income. This shouldn't surprise anyone who believes Jesus told us not to worry for our own good, but "considering the lilies" can seem difficult without more income. However, once we get raises, we might not feel any better off. In fact, people who have plenty of money but feel it's too little are often just as stressed as people who truly don't have enough. That's due to the "hedonic treadmill," the principle that people get used to almost everything, good or bad. American churches will have many people who are dealing with increasing costs of living and education without seeing a rise in real wages; you might be among them! How can you minister to people with money stress, and what advice can you give - and take? This workshop will start off outlining what research reveals about scarcity and its effects on decision-making, strategic thinking, and ministry. We'll look at both international and domestic studies, and talk about some practical ways to step off the hedonic treadmill and reduce money stress.
Time: Tuesday, 2:30-3:30pm
Location: Faith Hall - FH 301G
Speaker: Susan Wunderink Mettes

Session 1: Reaching People Far from God
Almost every church planter says they want to reach people far from God - that's why they are starting a new church. Unfortunately for most planters intentions don't become reality. What must a church planter do to actually see the people they believe God has called them to reach become followers of Jesus?
Time: Tuesday, 2:30-3:30pm
Location: Faith Hall - FH 301F
Speaker: Mark Weigt

Session 1: Growing Godly Elders
A key ingredient to launching a healthy church is building the right team of elders. As a 3-year old church plant we have learned what it takes to identify your elders as well as how you can set them up to be all that God has called them to be, and we want to share it all with you!
Time: Tuesday, 2:30-3:30pm
Location: Faith Hall - FH 349
Speaker: Joby Martin

Session 2: Building Momentum in the New Church (Getting Butts in Seats)
One of the key challenges for the church planter is building momentum - yes, getting butts in seats. During this workshop, we'll explore principles and proven methods to address this challenge. We'll address questions such as: Does a direct mail campaign still work? Can't we just accomplish the same goals with social media? How important is a clear vision, mission, and core values? How do you move people from a community service event to a church service? How do you get your brand recognized by the community? What kind of safe, non-churchy gatherings can you host to connect with non-Christians? Please join us for this interactive workshop to explore the common tensions associated with getting butts in seats.
Time: Wednesday, 8:45-9:45am
Location: Faith Hall - FH 301E
Speaker: Patrick Furgerson

Session 2: The Offering as Worship in an Age of Electronic Giving
As the Age of Electronic Giving is upon us, how can we retain and in some cases recapture the weekly offering as an act of worship? As the offering plate passes each week, more and more people are feeling disconnected as they are increasingly giving online, through automatic withdrawal, via text, and through mobile devices. In this session we will work together in small groups using design thinking exercises to generate new ideas for helping our committed givers connect experientially with the weekly offering as an act of worship and spiritual growth. We'll explore how the offering can serve as a potent opportunity to facilitate reflection about not only generosity, but also contentment and gratitude. Best of all, you'll walk away with some fresh, practical ideas to bring new life to the offering experience in your own church community.
Time: Wednesday, 8:45-9:45am
Location: Faith Hall - FH 301G
Speakers: Jeff Carver and Daniel Shannon

Session 2: Raising the Funds to Start a Multiplying Church
There is no question about the relationship between funding and new church success. Planters who launch with too little risk the death of their vision before it's even born. Starting a multiplying church — one that will reproduce within the first 2 years — requires an even greater commitment to raising funds. How do you raise the funding needed to not just start a church, but start a multiplying church?
Time: Wednesday, 8:45-9:45am
Location: Faith Hall - FH 301F
Speaker: Chris Willard

Session 2: Planting a Church Changes Everything
Planting a church isn't easy, but it is possible to do more than survive the process - you can actually thrive and grow in faith together as a family. Veteran church planting couple, Brian and Amy Bloye, will share authentic insight into the issues families face when planting a church.
Time: Wednesday, 8:45-9:45am
Location: Faith Hall - FH 349
Speaker: Brian Bloye and Amy Bloye

Session 3: Developing a Biblical Mission and Exciting Vision for Your Church
In this workshop you'll develop an authentic, biblical mission statement that provides your new church with its disciple-making direction. Next you'll compliment the mission by developing a vision that provides you with a clear picture of what the new church will look like that excites you and makes you and others want to be a part of it.
Time: Wednesday, 1:00-2:00pm
Location: Faith Hall - FH 301E
Speaker: Aubrey Malphurs

Session 3: Avoid Pre-Launch Pain
Eliminate common mistakes during the first few months in the field. Make wise Biblically-based decisions. Establish fast evangelistic growth momentum. Create a sticky core group. Build an effective launch team. Your hard work early on will pay off in the long run.
Time: Wednesday, 1:00-2:00pm
Location: Faith Hall - FH 301G
Speaker: John Worcester

Session 3: Getting People on Mission
Even the most excited and passionate people can bring their tendency to get rather than give into a new church. A church planter's greatest leadership challenge is getting the first people on mission. How do you get the first 50 people in a new church to bring next 100 people?
Time: Wednesday, 1:00-2:00pm
Location: Faith Hall - FH 301F
Speaker: Troy McMahon

Session 3: Financing the Vision — Post Launch (Becoming Self-Sustaining)
Your church now has real people who are showing up on a weekly basis, and they are beginning to give. You are still making ends meet from the support you raised in the pre-launch and launch phases, but you know you have to work on a plan to become self-sustaining as a body. What does that look like? How do you navigate the challenges? This session will focus on post-launch funding as well as continuing to nourish your givers as they grow in their giving.
Time: Wednesday, 1:00-2:00pm
Location: Faith Hall - FH 349
Speaker: Chris Willard

Session 4: Discovering the Core Values that Drive Your New Church
In this workshop you'll hammer out the core values for your new church. First, we'll stress their importance of core values to the new church and then define them based on Scripture. Finally, we'll help you discover your core values so that you'll know what empowers and drives your new church toward its mission and vision.
Time: Wednesday, 2:30-3:30pm
Location: Faith Hall - FH 301E
Speaker: Aubrey Malphurs

Session 4: Planting Churches in a Post-Attractional World
We now live and plant churches in a post-attractional world. We no longer enjoy a home court advantage. Only 2 in 10 Millennials believe church is important and 35% of them are anti-church. According to Barna there are 156 million unchurched people in the United States. WE now live in a context where we have reached everyone like us, or who wants to be like us. Where do we go from here? How do we plant churches that reach and disciple people far from God? In this session David Putman will give us a way forward. He will explore what the future church looks like and practical steps we can take to plant it.
Time: Wednesday, 2:30-3:30pm
Location: Faith Hall - FH 301G
Speaker: David Putman

Session 4: Building a Team: Reaching the First 50 People
Many new churches never grow past 50 people. The simplest solution is to reach 50 people before you start doing Sundays. This team gives a new church the critical mass needed to reach hundreds. Where do you find the first 50 people and how do you activate them as a team?
Time: Wednesday, 2:30-3:30pm
Location: Faith Hall - FH 301F
Speaker: Craig Whitney

Session 4: Launching Large
Launch larger than you ever dreamed to reach as many people for Christ as possible. Launching Large is different for every planter depending on the launch location. Ron Sylvia will help you focus on a proven strategy for launching large in your community.
Time: Wednesday, 2:30-3:30pm
Location: Faith Hall - FH 349
Speaker: Ron Sylvia

Session 5: Where to Start: Building a Launch Plan for the New Church
The Launch Plan for a church plant is a clear and concise narrative that answers a number of basic questions including: Why you are planting? Whom you are trying to reach? Where will the church be located? Who will do it with you? How much it will cost? How will it be funded? What kind of church it will be? How you will gather a core group? What are the critical success factors? This Launch Planning workshop will walk you through the Six Steps of Planning that will result in a compelling Launch Plan for the new church.
Time: Thursday, 8:45-9:45am
Location: Faith Hall - FH 301E
Speaker: Dale Spaulding

Session 5: Filing Your 501c3 & Other Government Forms
In the spirit of Romans 13, churches have lots of government paperwork to fill out as they get started: incorporations, bylaws, 501c3 tax exemptions, etc. This workshop will lead you to which forms you need to file, give you tips on filling them out, and offer hints on when to file them. You'll also learn about ongoing filings and responsibilities of nonprofit corporations. We'll discuss whether churches even need to file for 501c3 exemption, particularly if you're planting using missional communities. If you're trying to figure out how to start a church on paper, or if you're the administrator of a newer congregation, this workshop is for you.
Time: Thursday, 8:45-9:45am
Location: Faith Hall - FH 301G
Speaker: Patrick Bradley

Session 5: Starting a Plant with the Intention of Getting to Level 5
Currently only 1 out of 500 new churches ever becomes a multiplying church. Too many new churches get stuck at growing and never adopt the values and strategies that lead to multiplication. How do you become a multiplying church before you even get started?
Time: Thursday, 8:45-9:45am
Location: Faith Hall - FH 301F
Speakers: Justin Moxley and Josh Burnett

Session 5: Vastly Improve Planter Development Processes
What are the most frequent mistakes being made in the assessment, training, coaching and supporting of church planters? How do we mobilize churches to do the bulk of church planter discovery, development and deployment? We may not have all the answers, but we are working on them. Join the journey.
Time: Thursday, 8:45-9:45am
Location: Faith Hall - FH 349
Speaker: John Worcester