Training Lay People in the Principles of Church Planting

My official job title is to be a Church Planting Catalyst. A catalyst causes a reaction. Therefore, my role is to cause a reaction in churches that leads to church planting.

As I visit churches in the area and encourage them to consider planting churches in nearby communities, I get mixed responses. Some churches are excited about it, realizing the need for more points of light in the community. Some churches are not interested at all, perhaps fearing it will take away from their own congregation. Most churches have some level of interest, but do not yet know enough about church planting to take action.

I spend quite a bit of time explaining to people what church planting is, and what it is not. Part of that effort has been to train lay people in Hartford in the principles of church planting. Each Monday for five weeks we spent three hours teaching the Church Planting Essentials principles to 25 lay people. Most of them are from two churches, but each week we have a guest or two from other churches that are trying to understand more fully how they can become involved in church planting. It is our hope that some of the students will become church planters. Others will become part of the core group for a new church. Others will remain in their home church and offer prayer and financial support to those who engage in church planting. Each role is vital to the overall church planting process.

Pray for me to be able to encourage local Christians to accept the challenge of planting churches. Pray for each participant who took part in this training to know what their personal role should be in church planting. Pray for training opportunities in other churches across Connecticut. If your church is interested in this training, contact me, Dr. Terry Dorsett, at tdorsett@namb.net