The chief end of pastoring and church planting—and this Two Year Pastor/Church Planter Residency Track— is the glory of God. We are passionate about planting churches because we are passionate about Jesus. Because we are passionate about Jesus, we are eager to train church planters and pastors for the glory of God in and through the strengthening and planting of church planting churches for the salvation of many.
This program is designed with the planter and pastor in mind. Men desiring to be equipped and serve as a pastor will be required to understand and embrace church multiplication but will also receive a customized track to accommodate identified areas of focus such as Biblical Living, Worship, Executive, etc.
Every resident will utilize and learn from theological, missional, and gospel-centered content through BILD and additional course materials.
The Two Year Pastor/Church Planter Residency Track features 4 BILD courses and additional study courses as outlined below.
Materials for the Two Year Pastor/Church Planter Residency Track: $600.00 Est. (Scholarships are available as needed.)
If you already have any of the texts or materials involved in this track please notify us. We can adjust the cost accordingly.
The Two Year Pastor/Church Planter Residency Track will run from October to June with weekly two-hour cohort meetings, time and location TBD (Summers will be off). Cohort meetings will be the primary content time in which residents and their cohort coach discuss and process the material covered each week. The content learned and discussed during cohort meetings will be applied each week during residents’ hands on engagement in the life of the local church (leading community, ministry, service team, etc.). In this way, the cohort gatherings fuel and drive residents’ hands on experience throughout each week.
During the course of the year, there will be some weeks off from cohort meetings. However, regular attendance at cohort meetings is expected though there will be some flexibility for excused absences as needed.
View the tentative two year course calendar
This Two Year Pastor/Church Planter Residency Track is designed to serve those certain of a call as well as help others discern if they are called to church planting. As a result of the holistic approach of the Church Planter/Pastor track, even if you do not end up planting, this program will serve you well and provide massive personal benefits as well as further equipping you as a gospel-centered leader in your local church and family. Given that this program is also designed to train men for eldership, there are, again, benefits to the taking the program even if you are unsure of the call to plant. Whether you plant or not, you will come out of the program more equipped to serve and lead in the church, in your home, and possess a greater passion to see churches planted—whether that is through your call to be a lead planter or through a call to be a member of a church planting team.
The majority of the workload for the Two Year Pastor/Church Planter Residency Track consists of these weekly tasks: theological reading, study of Scripture, and various writing assignments paired with the week’s theological reading.
Residents will also meet weekly in their cohort to learn and discuss course materials with their cohort coach through Socratic discussion.
We estimate that for most participants that the weekly commitment will average around 15 hours. This includes 2 hour weekly cohort meetings, Cornerstone Community participation/leadership, service with the church and 6-8 hours of reading and writing assignments (varies by week). All residents are asked to be involved in a Cornerstone Community as well as various forms of participation and service within the church as a means of hands on involvement in order to provide holistic training that prepares participants theologically, personally, practically, and experientially.
Because of the nature of assessing and walking with a potential Pastor/Church Planter for the next 2 years, currently membership with DCC is a prerequisite to this track. If you have any questions regarding this, or are currently in the membership process and would like to talk about this further, please email .
This discipleship program has been designed to keep cohorts small so that disciples will constantly be in relationship and contact with each other and their coach. As a result, the cohort coach will be able to frequent give verbal feedback, direction, and encouragement, on residents’ learning and understanding of course materials and principals.
Residents’ writing assignments will be evaluated on a “Pass/Fail” basis and disciples can expect specific feedback on their individual writing assignments.
Both BILD and Porterbrook feature content that is designed to develop the participants’ biblical and theological understanding while equipping them to live in light of such truth.
BILD features a more academic, seminary-based approach and has been specifically designed to provide an accessible theological training in the context of the local church for people with or without a theological or academic background.
Each respective BILD course is comprised of various theological articles and excerpts pertaining to the particular course themes. The typical structure of a BILD course is to have students study biblical texts, read the corresponding theological articles, complete the corresponding writing assignment, and engage in Socratic discussion to culminate the week’s work.
The Porterbrook Network originated in Sheffield, England and was developed by Steve Timmis and Tim Chester, church planters and co-authors of Total Church, in order to provide accessible content designed to help people grow theologically and missionally in their everyday lives.
The typical structure of a Porterbrook module is to have students read the module’s content and the corresponding biblical texts, complete the assigned informal writing exercises and reflections, and engage in discussion to culminate the week’s work.
For more information on Porterbrook visit: www.porterbrooknetwork.org
For more information on BILD visit: www.bild.org
Check out this post for a list of additional FAQs: Discipleship Training | Frequently Asked Questions
If you have any additional questions regarding the content of this track, registration, cost, etc, please email .
Registration is currently closed for the Two Year Pastor/Church Planter Residency Track, however if you have any questions or are interested in participating in the next round of training, please email