We invest in proven leaders to help them plant churches that plant churches.
Think finishing school, not internship.
We like to think of the church planting residency as both a finishing school and an incubator. It allows entrepreneurial leaders who know they’ve been called to the directional leadership of a new church plant to take their first steps toward doing so while being coached and encouraged every step of the way.
The Residency Program is decentralized and gathers twice monthly for three days over seven months...September through March. The Residency focuses on Leadership issues such as Self-Awareness, Gospel-centered Ecclesiology, Leadership Development, “best practices” and “how to’s” of local church leadership. Along with the Fellowship Associates partners and staff, the Fellowship Network of 100+ church leaders and other strategic partners share wisdom and invest in our Residents.
Our cohort model allows for mentor and peer learning. We have over 20 years of experience hosting Residency Programs and have trained over 100 church planters. Our partner churches multiply our ability to pass along lessons learned and best practices.
Our thinking toward every Resident we train includes:
How can we equip and prepare this Resident to plant a church that plants churches?
How can we build into this Resident so that he catalyzes church planting in whatever city and region he plants?
How can we prepare this Resident to create a residency in the future and train other church planters?
What excites us? The gospel multiplied through healthy leaders that plant healthy churches that build healthy leaders to plant other healthy churches.
Residency Director Training
In recent years, we created a new leadership training experience for those who want to establish a church planting residency program. We gathered everything we have learned the past 20 years and packaged it to make it transferable. This training not only includes our approach to recruiting, church planting tools, and operational systems, but also includes our coaching to help contextualize everything to your unique context. Contact us for more information.
“My best memories from my year invested in the FA Residency included the time we got to spend with world class leaders who were wiser and more seasoned in life and ministry than me. I truly believe from a leadership and strategic perspective, the Residency placed me ten years ahead.”
“I loved the brotherhood among my class of residents;the camaraderie, the encouragement, the laughs, and the passionate debate. And, I appreciate that it was, if nothing else, a time of exposure to other church planters and the opportunity to shape expectations for what church planting entails.
The Residency gives you space to grow in self-awareness, develop connections outside your present tribe, grow in your vision, and get your strategy kicked around by men who love you. The Residency also provides the space to interact with seasoned men of character and experience (something the vast majority of us church planters lack).
I know men much further into their church planting journey than myself who contend that the Residency put them 5 -10 years ahead in terms of leadership and strategy. Though less than three years into our journey, I have yet to experience anything that would lead me to doubt that.”
“You can’t put a price on the wisdom of experience, godly counsel, and strong support that the FA Residency offers; it’s invaluable. I look at this program as evidence of Jesus’s unimpeachable sovereignty to build his church.”