“EARLY YEARS” CHURCH PLANTER COHORT

Guided coaching on vital principles, with a group of peers in your first three years of planting.

Study after study show that leadership development and peers you can trust vastly improve both a minister’s experience and a planter’s sustainability.  

To that end, The Equipping Group invites you to join a nine-month “early years” coaching cohort for recent church planters, Sept 2024 - May 2025.

Join our next Early Years Cohort.
Fill out a form by clicking the button below, or keep scrolling to learn more.

About The Cohort

All forms of ministry can be hard – and church planting is its own unique niche within ministry. Planting comes with its own questions and needs, its specific doubts and wonders, and its seemingly-endless roller coaster loneliness of emotions.

In Resilient Ministry, Bob Burns and his colleagues wrote, “Unlike other vocations, ministry work has no formal arrangement for ongoing learning and development, no requirements for continuing education, and no structured place for peer collaboration and assessment.”

Begin & End with Overnight Retreats

Our year starts and ends with overnight retreats in the DFW area, in September and May. Between those, your cohort meets monthly – either in Fort Worth or online – October - April. 

  • Our kick-off retreat is Mon-Tues, Sept 9-10, 2024: we’ll get to know each other, pray and play together, and set the vision and content for the coming year (*Optional: stick around for Plant Fort Worth’s monthly leader lunch Wed, Sept 11, with guest TBD)

  • Our closing retreat is overnight in early May, 2025 (dates TBD): spouses are invited to join you, for a touch of rest, celebration, & prayer, as we look back & look forward to end our year.

Monthly Gathering Content

Monthly Gatherings

  • Each month’s gathering builds on prep work and reflection on a specific and necessary aspect of a church plant’s early days – these principles carry across multiple denominations, ministry philosophies, and mission fields.

  • Each session involves a mix of peer learning, Q&A, and exhortation/advice around that month’s principle with seasoned planters and trainers Ben Connelly (Founder of The Equipping Group) and Kaynenn Parker.

  • You’re sent out each month with a specific action step or two, and Ben or Kaynenn will be happy to discuss/debrief with you, including two one-on-one calls throughout the school year as you work toward implementation in your specific church plant.

  • No one is more impacted by church planting than the planter’s household. To that end, planters’ spouses are invited to gather together at least once each in the Fall, Winter, and Spring, for peer sharing and guided discussion around the joys and pain points of their unique role. And spouses join the end-of-year retreat as well.

Monthly Gathering Details

In-person sessions are generally Tuesday mornings, monthly dates TBD Oct - Apr, 9:30a - 12:30p and include lunch. One of these months we’ll move to an evening and dinner, where spouses join for a unified conversation.

There is an option for a Tuesday afternoon cohort (in Fort Worth, in Dallas, or online - details TBD)

WHAT TOPICS WILL WE COVER?

Every year is a little different, given the specific needs of each planter and that year’s cohort together. But throughout the year, our early years content is split fairly evenly between “personal” focus (on the planter’s heart, soul, family, etc.) and “ministry” focus (on your plant, plans, roadblocks, etc.), all through the lenses of prayerful Spirit-ledness; fruitful multiplication; and gospel-centered disciple-making, for the kingdom of God.

  • Common planting mistakes and myths

    Leadership and team

    Vision- and culture-drip

    Decision-making and hard conversations

    Conflict and discipline

    Leader development and appreciation

    Funding realities

    Scalable systems

    Community and kingdom engagement

    Time management & priorities

    Prayer and dependence

    Rhythms of rest

    And more…

FAQs

  • Any planter within your first few years of having started. “Starting” can mean many things, so in general, we’ll follow whatever it means to you.

    If you’re gearing up to a future plant, we’d love for you to join a residency or take our “Church Planting Primer” course.

    If you’re an existing church leader, we’d love to help you create a residency this Fall, or take our “Sent Churches, Sending Churches” course.

    Or if you have questions, let us know.

  • $185/mo for 9 months (Sept - May; $1665 total)

    [15% discount ($1415 total) if you pay in full before Sept 1 or if you completed a Church Planting Residency Lab with us]

    Price includes prep work/follow-up materials; exclusive content; 2 retreats (incl. lodging & meals) & 7 monthly cohort gatherings; 2x one-on-one coaching + availability as needed)

    Participants are also asked to invest in monthly mentoring, of someone a few steps behind you in their process, such as a current resident or someone earlier in planting: simply answer questions, share your experience, pray, etc.

    Can’t afford that price? Following TEG’s “pay-what-you-can” policy, let us know what you can pay here.

    Cohort participants also get free access to TEG’s “Church Planting Primer” digital course, as well as our “Explorers” Community during your involvement: interact with experienced practitioners around monthly themes, ask & answer questions, get discounts on other trainings, + bonus content, some freebies, & more.

Take your next step in becoming a TEG Resident.
Fill out a form by clicking the button below.