POLICY MANUAL CHURCH PLANTING COMMISSION (CPC) Evangelical Congregational Church We recognize that Church Multiplication doesn t just happen. We also recognize that it takes the work of God to change lives and build the church. It is necessary, therefore, that the approach to the fulfillment of our Church Multiplication vision includes plans and policies that capture God s design for the Evangelical Congregational (E.C.) Church. Our purpose is to know Christ and to make Him known. Our mission is to provide leadership and a process to help churches plant healthy churches that proclaim Christ to a hurting world. The Core Values of the E.C. Church (see Appendix) must be accepted in their totality. In light of these values, we provide the following policies. GETTING STARTED God will bless what He directs. The best place to be is where God places you. If you feel that God is or might be calling you to the unique ministry of church planting, contact the Bishop or one of the Conference Ministers (CM). He will perform a preliminary interview and suggest the next steps. It is important that one possesses the gifts and graces necessary to be a church planter. A specialized church planting assessment process is the E.C. Church tool for discovering and verifying these gifts and graces for a church planting candidate. ASSESSMENT The potential church planting pastor and his spouse/fiancé (as applicable) are required to be assessed for the ministry of church planting. There are various means of assessment, one of which is the Church Planting Assessment Center (CPAC). At this center, a team of assessors will provide insight from multiple exposures using multiple tools. Marriage, leadership and financial assessments, preaching, group exercises, and intensive interviews make up a major part of the center. The center covers a period of 3 ½ days. An exit interview will occur with each candidate, expressing the future plan of action. Registration costs, assessment tools, housing and meals (excluding breakfast) for you and your spouse/fiancé will be covered by the CPC. If the assessee receives a green light, he will be considered for church planting after he attends the recommended training events. If the candidate receives a yellow light, the Bishop and/or CM will work with him to meet the suggested recommendations. If the candidate receives a red light for church planting, he will be encouraged and offered counsel to seek those ministry opportunities that best fit his gifts and graces. PRAYER Prayer is essential. We do not fight against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and powers of this dark world. Before anyone is given the responsibility to plant a church, he must secure the names of at least 25 intercessors who will commit to
praying daily for him and the church plant. Other prayer support (see the CPC Members Handbook, Strategic Plan) will also be required. Communication with this secured prayer team is to occur at least monthly until the church plant charters with the E.C. Church. SELECTING A COACH Church planter coaches are individuals (or couples) committed to walking alongside of a church planter (and his family) during the planting process, from conception to birth, from the early days to the chartering process. The coach is a person who will provide objective support to the church planter. The ideal coach is a person (or couple) with church planting experience or knowledge, and/or training and life experience that parallel the anticipated experiences of the church planter and his family. He/she must be intentionally available to and for the church planter (and his family). He/she must be willing to communicate at least one time per month, more if necessary or desired, during the early part of the plant and less often as the plant moves to chartering. The coach s task is to respond to the ideas and plans of the planter, striving to make sure the planter has assessed all of his options as he moves forward. The coach must attend a Boot Camp where essential mentoring skills will be taught. Ongoing training will be provided for the coach to meet the demands of the task. Good coaches make for quality planter care. The church planter and the CPC will pray for God s direction in choosing a coach. The CPC will maintain a pool of potential coaches, men and women who have been trained and are ready to serve. If a good match is not available from this resource pool, the Bishop, CM and planter will work together to find a good match. Coaches ought to have spiritual depth out of which he/she can draw during the coaching process. Coaches ought to be physically close to the planter, minimizing the effort to get together. In the case where a local coach from our greater church family is unavailable, the CPC will make arrangements to find or hire a coach from outside the E.C. Church. Ultimately, the goal is to provide a partner to walk beside each planter during the early days of church life. BOOT CAMP The Boot Camp will further affirm for the planter, his call and giftedness for the challenges of church planting. The Boot Camp will assist the planter in developing a game plan for his area of ministry that will reflect the E.C. Church core values as fleshed out by his own heart and core values (personal and church plant). Boot Camp will also provide the planter s coach with necessary and helpful training for the coaching ministry. The CPC will cover the cost of sending the church planter, his spouse/fiancé and his coach to a Boot Camp approved by the CPC. FINANCES Salary Expenses: The CPC does not, as a rule, provide complete funding for salary support. However, as CPC funds are available, and as the planting location needs demand (areas where a bivocational pastor could not find reasonable pay for hours worked, some inner city settings, etc.), varying levels of support are released to the church planter. The ultimate goal is to financially enable the church planter while encouraging plant/planter initiative to strive for self-sufficiency at the earliest possible time.
This may mean that the church planter will be bi-vocational until such time that the ministry becomes self-supporting. In situations where a new ministry will not be selfsupporting, both the church planter and the CPC will strive to raise the necessary funds by contacting churches and individuals. The CPC will provide necessary coaching or training to equip church planters for the work of fund raising. These funds could be received from any of the following sources: Parent or sponsor church District churches Other churches Private gifts Support raised by the church planter Bi-vocational work Start-Up Expenses: The CPC will provide funds, as available, that can be used for expenses such as facilities, equipment, promotion, training, etc. Before funds will be released, the CPC/Bishop must approve the specific promotional efforts and training events. Miscellaneous Expenses: If additional funds are required for other purposes, the church planter must contact the CPC and/or Bishop, who, along with the E.C. Church Executive Committee, will make a decision. Annual Budget: An annual budget (income and expenses) must be presented to the CPC no later than August 31. The CPC will submit the budget to the fall meeting of the National Ministry Team for approval. Compliance to this requirement is necessary to begin the CPC s work of determining the level and kinds of support for the following year. Budget expenses should include: Promotional expenses (mailings, advertising, outreach events, etc.). Church plant facilities (building lease, utilities, etc.). Equipment (sound system, keyboard, computer, video projector, etc.). Training and leadership development opportunities. Contingencies (unforeseen expenses). Salary and benefits package (Contact the CM for a current Pastor s Salary Statement and Worksheet). Participation in the various required offerings. A monthly gift (prior to chartering) to the E.C. Church in support of the Ministry Fund program (This will provide for an easier transition toward future Ministry Fund contributions). Duration of support: The CPC desires to develop healthy churches as fleshed out through the church planting process. This will be realized when self-supporting churches are the fruit of church planting. Recognizing that being financially self-supporting is not the whole picture, it is indeed a significant mark of health. To that end, the CPC will guide its various church plants according to the following support structure: All financial support that is provided for start-up and launch, for initial expenses, or for salary in certain situations, will usually be terminated at the end of the third year after the launch date but may be extended for up to five years.
The ideal is that this support would be reduced each year leading to the complete termination of support at the end of the third year. Each church plant must be financially stable, capable of meeting all of its financial obligations. Financial stability may include a variety of sources of income (bi-vocational pastor, continued CPC support, individual church support, etc.). Upon completion of the chartering process, the church plant will follow the established policy of providing ministry Funds (20% increase per year) over the first five calendar years of chartered church life. If a problem occurs that jeopardizes the financial status of the church plant at any point in the process of weaning the church plant from financial support, the CPC will attempt to work with the church planter and leadership team to rectify the problem. If the problem cannot be resolved, the CPC may elect to terminate the planting project. POLICY ON BUDGET MANAGEMENT Whereas the management of the finances of the CPC involves the church planting ministries of the E.C. Church and all the church planters, there are many times when needs and concerns arise which could not be anticipated when the annual budget was adopted. Therefore the following policy shall apply to the authority of the Bishop and CPC in dealing with items, which arise during the fiscal year: a. That any request from any E.C. Church planting ministry, for financial assistance which exceeds $1,000, shall have the specific action of the Executive Committee to authorize such expenditure. b. That any request from any church planter which exceeds $1,000 of expenditure beyond their approved budget, must have the approval of the Executive Committee. This also applies to having approval for fund raising by the church planters to their supporters, for items which were not budgeted. c. The $1,000 limit does not apply when an item was budgeted, and then was increased by more than $1,000 due to circumstances beyond the control of the commission or the church plant/church planter. For example, the cost of health insurance may increase by more than a $1,000 for the year after the budget was adopted. d. The Executive Committee may be polled via telephone calls or by a conference call, which then shall be documented as a meeting of the committee or the needs may be presented in a letter with a return ballot expressing the desire of the committee. In the event of a number of items coming at the same time, the Executive Committee may be called for a meeting with the Bishop and/or CPC. LEGAL STATUS Each church plant will choose a name appropriate to the community and focus group it is seeking to reach. It must be remembered that we are part of the Evangelical Congregational Church. Although the words Evangelical Congregational Church may not
appear in the advertised name of the ministry, it must be included in the bylaws and charter. All E.C. churches and church plants are covered as subsidiary ministries of the E.C. Church and are covered under its 501(c)(3) designation. A cover letter, and copy of the IRS 501(c)3 statement, will be provided to each church plant as they approach chartering. A church will apply for its own Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) (see www.irs.gov). A church plant may also choose to apply for a state tax-exempt number (as applicable). The appropriate state s website should provide necessary information for application instructions. It is also advisable that the church plant initiate the process for incorporation at the earliest opportunity. Incorporation is a legal protective umbrella for the members of the church. Consult an attorney for assistance. Each church plant must develop and implement a safe church policy (including policy statements for Child Abuse/Protection) prior to its first public service. (See Appendix for a bibliography of resources). This policy should be developed with the guidance of the CPC. Prior to a church plant beginning public ministry or worship services, it must obtain liability insurance. Appropriate malpractice coverage should be included for purposes of counseling and church ministry liability. (see Appendix E) CHARTERING The church plant should become self-sufficient within three to five years of its launch date. This means that the church should be able to provide for: Physical Function A church plant that is ready to charter will exhibit a mature core of members who can meet the ministry requirements to function as a church. This will include, but not be limited to, pastor, lay delegate, treasurer, stewards and trustees (unless corporation powers are vested in the ministry body), significant leadership ministry team (Official Board, Ministry Council, etc.), individuals to staff appropriate Christian education programming (Sunday school or small group programming: nursery, children and youth, adult). Financial Stability A church plant that is ready to charter must be financially stable, capable of meeting all of its financial obligations. There may be a variety of sources of income. The obligations will include, but not be limited to, the physical church facilities (lease, mortgage, utilities, etc.), pastor (full-time or bi-vocational), E.C. Ministry Funds and an increasing financial involvement in local and world missions. Leadership Depth A church plant that is ready to charter will display a history of leadership experience. As much as the Bible warns against the novice leader, a church ready to charter will have a history of doing church ministry. A church plant seeking to
charter will have been functioning with an approved model of leadership for at least one year. Pastoral Readiness A church plant that is ready to charter will be led by a pastor who has developed a measure of comfort in the leadership team of his church. Unless the pastor feels ready to move forward into this next phase of ministry with his church, chartering ought to be delayed. Organization A church plant that is ready to charter will exhibit a pattern of accurately maintaining appropriate church records including, but not limited to: financial records, attendance records, denomination reports (e.g., statistical reports), etc., as described by the Discipline, Rules of National Conference and Pastor/Church Manuals. Since future behavior is often indicated by past behavior, it would be a mistake to encourage a weakness in this area of team ministry. Liability insurance should be in place and maintained. Contact should be made with the CM when a church desires to charter. The plant may apply for charter when it has a sufficient number of adults who will commit their full support to the ministry. The chartering process must begin in the fall/winter in order to complete the necessary requirements and documentation that must be presented to the upcoming National Conference for its approval. The church must also be able to meet the expectations of providing toward Ministry Funds. As a newly chartered church, the opportunity to provide Ministry Funds increases on a graduated scale. According to the Rules of the National Conference, churches that are newly chartered during the sessions of the National Conference will be asked to make a ministry funds contribution to the National Conference treasury for the balance of the calendar year in which they are received. Then, beginning with the first full calendar year, the newly chartered congregation will pay 20% of the established ministry funds percentage. Finally, each successive calendar year, the congregation will increase the amount by an additional 20% until the fifth full year when the church will be providing the full amount of Ministry Funds expected of each church. GOALS We all need goals so we can monitor our progress and results. The following goals are offered as the target for our church plants. Keeping in mind the purpose of the E.C. Church, to know Christ and to make Him known, church plants should provide a healthy environment and effective ministries that seek to promote the Gospel and to disciple Christians. Keeping in mind the mission of the E.C. Church and the CPC, to provide leadership and a process to help churches plant healthy churches that proclaim Christ to a hurting world, church plants should be developed to meet the needs of the targeted community wherein they are located. One size does not fit all. Birthed by the E.C. Church, our church plants should carry DNA for church multiplication. Each church plant should desire to develop into a healthy church that in turn, will plant another healthy church, that will plant another healthy
church, that will. Our desire is that each new church will plant another church within five years of its launch. New church planting ministries should become a natural environment for the development of new leaders. Some of these new leaders (church planters, worship teams, education specialists, etc.) may find places of ministry in other new church planting ministries. The focus of the church plant should be the people of the community and the members of the growing ministry team. Building the Body of Christ should be the initial and primary concerns of the church planter and leadership team. Purchasing land and establishing a permanent meeting place, though sometimes significant and beneficial, is not the priority. The timeliness of property purchases should be approached with care and counsel of the CPC, CMs and others. Changes to Policy The Executive Committee of the Church Planting Commission will annually review this policy and recommend changes to the Church Planting Commission. The Church Planting Commission shall have the final authority in making changes to the policy.