Identify a Target Location
The church planter will seek transfer or ordination in the Central Carolina Presbytery.
Once installed the planter will have 6 months to a year to orient himself to Charlotte, the Central Carolina Presbytery, and our Olde Providence congregation so that he can discern the best location for Hope’s next daughter church in the south Charlotte suburbs.
Once a location is identified, the planter will spend the majority of his time in the target location building relationships. This will include identifying third spaces where he can develop relationships with spiritually interested non-Christians.
He will also spend time at the Barnabas Center in counseling, strengthening his marriage with his wife (if applicable), in one-on-one meetings with Matt Guzi for spiritual direction, and meeting with Mark Upton or Matt Ham for church planter coaching. If the planter has not planted before he must attend MNA’s Church Planter Preparation.
Write a Vision
Having identified the people in south Charlotte that Hope is called to reach with this plant, the planter will write a vision document describing the type of church he feels called to plant. Once the vision is written, it will be presented to Hope’s session for approval, and Hope will form an oversight commission to oversee the work and seek Presbytery approval for the location.
Recruit a Partner
Since Jesus sent His disciples out for kingdom work in pairs, Hope wants the planter to identify his weaknesses as a leader and humbly recruit a partner to join him in accomplishing the vision God has given him for the plant.
The potential partners will be interviewed and called by the oversight commission of the church plant once sufficient funding has been secured for the position.
Raise Up Funds
The planter will be responsible for developing a three-year budget for the plant that reflects growth in giving and decreased dependence on Hope as the plant moves toward particularization.
The church plant will require more funds than Hope can supply. In addition to the church planter’s compensation (which will come from Hope) and the tithes of the launch team (which will begin to go to the plant as soon as the launch team is formed), the planter will need to raise money for the plant from outside sources. These should include Central Carolina Presbytery, the churches Hope has historically supported in the past, the Carolina Church Planting Collective, and the For Charlotte Church Planting network, among others.
Recruit a Launch Team
Once the location, vision, partner, and external funding have been secured, the planter will begin to recruit a launch team from Hope to join him in this endeavor. This team will primarily come from Hope’s Olde Providence location, but can include people from any Hope sites.
The planter will begin to preach regularly at OP and any of Hope’s other sites as available. He may even start a third service at OP if he feels it is conducive to the formation of his launch team and a good use of his time.
The planter is free to attend any ministry meetings Hope has if he feels it will be helpful in accomplishing his goal of planting the church, but he is not obligated to do so in order to be free to keep church planting his primary goal.
When ready to launch, the planter will hold classes to describe the vision for the church so that people can apply to become part of the launch team. Applicants will meet with the planter and a member of the plant oversight commission to have a conversation to help them discern whether we believe God is calling them to be part of this work. If we all agree, the applicants will officially become part of the launch team by being voted into its membership by the oversight commission of the plant.
Organizing the Launch Team
Once the launch team is formed, the planter and his partner will begin to select ministry leaders for the team, start outreach-focused community groups for the plant, and begin engaging in outreach efforts in the target area.
Start Public Worship
The planter will propose to the Session for approval a date for public worship to begin at the plant. Once approved, people going with the plant will be sent out during the Hope worship services leading up to the launch date.
Competencies
Required Competencies
- Must be ordained or ordainable in the PCA
- Relational Evangelism experience with campus ministries like Young Life or RUF that has resulted in Conversion Fruit
- Christ-Centered approach to preaching and philosophy of ministry reflected in Keller’s Center Church
- A leadership style of personal humility and repentance as reflected in Leading with a Limp by Allender
- A Church Planting Assessment Approval to Plant (preferably by PCA MNA) or previous church planting experience
- An Allender/Crabb or CCEF approach to personal change
- A clean background check upon hire
Preferred Competencies
- A willingness to equip lay people for Kingdom cultural engagement as reflected in Every Good Endeavor by Keller or Exiles on Mission by Wolters
To Apply
If interested please send the following to the Lauren Phipps, Secretary of Hope’s Assistant Pastor Church Planting Search Committee at laurenphipps@gmail.com:
- A PCA Ministerial Data Form
- A recorded sermon (preferably video)
- A five-page vision document describing the kind of church you feel called to plant
- A list of three references who have
- Worked under you
- Worked alongside you
- Supervised you
History of Hope
To learn more about the history of Hope Community Church – our values, our mission and vision, and where the Lord has brought us – check out the video below.