I am a strong advocate that anyone wanting to plant a church do a leadership residency at a church that is actually planting churches. Therefore, I am always looking for opportunities to talk about the benefits of a leadership residency.
I recently had the opportunity to sit down with several leadership residents at Community to learn more about their experience. I was particularly interested in what each would tell me the benefits of doing a leadership residency BEFORE planting a church.
While each residency is unique, here are some of the specific benefits these residents mentioned:
- “The residency was an opportunity to do real life in a church plant BEFORE doing it on my own. Reading about planting churches or talking to people about it is one thing. Actually doing it is another.”
- “The residency was an invaluable opportunity for him to grow as a leader; to learn about his own strengths and weaknesses.”
- “The residency helped me set the right expectations about my leadership abilities and compare it to what I would need as a church planter. It helped me understand the gap in my leadership and gave me an opportunity to close it.”
- “The residency gave me the opportunity to do actual ministry in a church planting context. I got to see first-hand how ministry in a church plant is different from that in an established church.”
- “The residency allowed me to hit the ground running in my own church planting project.”
- “The residency gave me the opportunity to walk alongside someone else actually planting a church and learn from their successes and failures.”
- “The residency allowed me the opportunity to be part of larger spiritual story that God was writing in the people around me.”
- “The residency allowed me the opportunity to impact the local campus-context while I am training. I was actually able to do some good while training.”
- “During the residency I was able to increase my relational network.”
- “The residency gave me plenty of opportunity for personal growth and development via my 1 on 1 meetings with my lead planter.”
- “The residency provided me the opportunity to do ministry without the pressure of actually doing ministry.”
If you’re planting a church, what would it take for you to consider a leadership residency?
If you’ve done a leadership residency, what has been the biggest benefit?
If you want to consider doing a leadership residency at a NewThing church, please contact me. I’d love to talk to you more about it.
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