New Church Leadership Institute
The New Church Leadership Institute (NCLI) is the first step in our process for “discerning whether or not God may be calling someone to plant a new church.”
The NCLI consists of a 4-day retreat, (in January or October) during which participants go through a rigorous time of learning, hearing from top church planters, and discerning how God may be calling them in regards to starting a new church. Many graduates never start a new church. That’s fine. Participants are simply being asked to consider taking advantage of this opportunity to listen to the voice of God in their heart and ministry.
The New Church Leadership Institute (NCLI) is looking for gifted, talented, entrepreneurial-type pastors, church workers, or students who could play a critical role in reversing the current trends:
- Each week The United Methodist Church loses over 1500 members!
- Not one county in the United States reports more Christians today than 10 years ago.
- In the North Texas Annual Conference we are only holding steady or slightly declining each year…even though the population is exploding!
We all know that we must do church differently in the future … and we have learned that one of the best ways to reach new people, more people, younger people, more diverse people is by starting new churches.
Attached you will find an Application Form to complete and return if you are interested in attending the New Church Leadership Institute. The NCLI has grown to be an awesome and popular event, and seating is limited, so please get back to us as soon as you can.
New Church Leadership Institute - October 10-13, 2011
Equipping Potential New Church Pastors with the Knowledge and Skills for a Successful New Church Start
Mt. Sequouyah Conference Center South Central Jurisidiction Fayetteville, Arkansas
Goals of the New Church Leadership Institute
- Assist pastors and laity to discern if they are called to be a new church planter.
- Connect potential church planters with successful new church planters.
- Equip potential church planters with knowledge and skills for successful church starts.
- Prepare pastors and laity for a variety of New Church Start strategies/models.
- Each participant will write a reflective essay for the consultation process with their District Superintendent.
- Each participant is encouraged to make on-site visits to new church starts in their home conference to hear the founding pastor tell their unique new church story.
- Each participant is encouraged to attend the national UM training: School of Congregational Development - New Church Track, Pre Launch.
- Only some of the graduates may eventually have the opportunity to be appointed to start a new church or be the second pastor of a new church - yet, all will have the opportunity to be supportive of a new UM church beginning in their community and perhaps to encourage their current church to 'give birth' to a new church.
- As the years pass and NCLI graduates become District Superintendents, Board of Ordained Ministry members, Senior Pastors of our largest churches, and members of the CFA... the very DNA of our conferences will be more supportive of the needs of our church planting pastors.
