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Planting

Church planting pathway

Planting a church is not a launch. We support planters through the churches and networks that send them, and we count a plant when it is healthy, not when it opens.

Pastors from different generations encouraging and praying with one another.

How we support planting

We do not plant churches ourselves and we are not building a denomination. We support planting through sending churches and existing networks, because a plant that is accountable to a real church survives difficulty better than one accountable to a funder.

That means our first question to a prospective planter is not "what is your vision" but "who sends you, and who can tell you no".

What support can look like

  • Formation for the planter, before and during the plant.
  • Governance and financial setup, so that the plant is properly constituted from the beginning rather than retrofitted after a problem.
  • Safeguarding, established at the start rather than after the first incident.
  • Practical support, subject to approval, scope and reporting.
  • Peer relationships with other planters facing the same year.

What we ask of a plant

A sending relationship

A church or network that sends, oversees and can hold the planter accountable.

Plural leadership

A plan for shared leadership and accountability from the outset, not a single figure with no one above them.

Financial discipline

Separate accounts, controls proportionate to size, and honest reporting — including about shortfalls.

Safeguarding from day one

A policy, a designated lead and a reporting route before the first gathering, not after.

A view of sustainability

A realistic account of how the plant intends to sustain itself, and what happens if it does not.

How a plant is assessed over time

A plant is not counted as an established church at launch. It is reviewed against the approved health criteria over a defined period, covering governance, teaching, financial accountability, safeguarding, community life and sustainability.

If a plant does not work

Some plants close. That is not a scandal and it should not be hidden. Where we have supported a plant that closes, we will say so in our reporting rather than quietly removing it from a count. The relevant question is whether the people involved were cared for, and whether what was learned was recorded.

Planting where there is no VOG presence

We would rather support a planter in a place we have never been than insist on building a regional structure first. Geography follows people.

Talk to us about planting
Talk to us about plantingThe ten-year mandate