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New Church StartsBob Crossman |
Are you interested in creating new places for new people?
Typically, new church pastors must meet the standards of licensed local pastors or ordained clergy as specified by the (paragraph 343, Discipline 2004). There may be unique settings where the district superintendent will ask a lay speaker to initially fill the role of mission pastor.
Each November, the Arkansas Conference Cabinet is asked to identify up to 30 pastors who they perceive to have the leadership gifts and graces for starting new churches. These pastors will be invited to apply for the New Church Leadership Institute. This twelve month institute has several goals:
- Equip leaders with knowledge and skills for successful church starts
- Prepare pastors for a variety of New Start models
- Prepare pastors for a variety of New State models
- Assist in discerning a call to be a church planting pastor
- Each participant will write a personal ministry plan for their New Church Start
- Introduce some of the most recent printed resources on church planting
- On-site visits to half a dozen new church starts
- Attend the national School of Congregational Development
- Prepare a pool of pastors for the cabinet to appoint to plant new churches
- Prepare a pool of pastors to be the second pastor in our new churches
- Prepare future Senior Pastors to be supportive of becoming a "Mother Church"
Go to the Arkansas New Church web page www.umnewchurch.org to learn more.
