Our Story

Strengthening leaders and planting churches since 1999.

Since 1999, Fellowship Associates has been committed to strengthening leaders and planting churches that make a lasting impact. The ministry was birthed out of Fellowship Bible Church—a congregation with both a passion for church planting and a proven track record of sending leaders into new communities.

What began as a focused effort to equip church planters has, over time, grown into something deeper and more far-reaching than we first imagined.

The Early Years: A Pioneer Planting Movement

In 2000, we welcomed our first two residents. Over the next two decades plus, our Residency became the foundation of our work—equipping more than 100 church planters to step into the calling God had placed on their lives. These were entrepreneurial leaders who knew they were called to plant a church but needed guidance, structure, and support to take those first steps.

Through coaching, encouragement, and hands-on training, the Residency helped launch churches across the country. This season was marked by a clear and effective model:

 

Direct recruitment and development of young, seminary-trained leaders
A linear pathway: train → plant → repeat
A focus on individual church plants as the primary measure of success

 

God used this model in powerful ways. Churches were planted. Leaders were sent. The mission moved forward.

A Turning Point: Listening to Our Leaders

Then in 2020, everything changed. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted churches and communities across the country. Some congregations never fully recovered. In the months that followed, we reached out to the church planters in our network to ask: How are you doing? What do you need?

What we heard was sobering. Again and again, leaders described the same reality: that they were lonely, tired, financially strained, and struggling with the changes in the ministry landscape.

Broader research confirmed what we were seeing firsthand. Studies from Barna revealed:

A rapidly aging pastoral population, with fewer young leaders stepping in
Significant declines in seminary enrollment
Widespread disengagement among younger generations
A growing shortage of equipped, mature leaders for the future

 

The conclusion was clear: The challenge wasn’t just planting churches—it was also sustaining healthy leaders.

Our Evolution: From Planting Churches to Strengthening Leaders

Since 2021, we have evolved from a pioneer planting model into architects of a sustainable, multiplying movement—one that prioritizes the long-term health of leaders as the foundation for lasting ministry impact.

Rather than just focusing primarily on sending out new planters, we are also reinvesting in the leaders already within our network—shepherding their spiritual health, emotional health, and self-awareness so they can lead with clarity, resilience, and vision. So they can be supported in raising up and sending out more church planters. Every investment in a leader has a multiplying effect, extending far beyond a single church plant into a movement that produces lasting fruit.

TRADITIONAL APPROACH

 

 

FELLOWSHIP ASSOCIATES MOVEMENT APPROACH

 

We are not stepping back from church planting—we are reimagining it. Instead of focusing solely on individual churches, we are building networks that multiply and supporting them in that. Instead of simply training leaders, we are shaping cultures of health, resilience, and long-term multiplication.