Seminary Launches Church-Planting Concentration
For people who sense a call to plant a church, knowing where to begin can be as challenging as discerning the call itself. Church planters need theological grounding, practical skills, spiritual formation, training in leadership development, and a deep understanding of the communities they hope to serve. At the same time, within the Christian Reformed Church in North America (CRCNA), the pursuit of church planting may also include navigating the process of becoming a commissioned pastor.
A new concentration within Calvin Theological Seminary’s Commissioned Pastor Certificate is designed to bring those pieces together.
The church-planting concentration offers a clear pathway for people who want to prepare for church planting while also completing commissioned pastor training – by combining traditional seminary coursework with a church-planting cohort, practical learning experiences, and coaching through the CRC’s mission agency, Resonate Global Mission.
“This idea has been percolating for a while,” said Susan LaClear, director of Candidacy for the CRCNA. The Commissioned Pastor Certificate itself was developed as a way for people training to become commissioned pastors to earn seminary credits that can eventually be applied toward a master of divinity degree or another concentration.
The idea of adapting the pathway specifically for church planters gained momentum after Synod 2025, LaClear said. She had spoken with several delegates who were commissioned pastors serving as church planters and then began working with Tim Sheridan, Resonate’s director of church planting, to think about how the seminary could better connect commissioned-pastor training with church-planting preparation.
Previously these two forms of training generally happened separately. Resonate would assess and train church planters in the skills and practices of church planting, while other individuals interested in church planting would complete a separate commissioned-pastor learning plan designed or approved by their classis.
“For some of these individuals, figuring out the steps and timing of completing both plans could be confusing and cause setbacks,” LaClear explained.
The new concentration will provide one integrated pathway.
Training church planters
The program is designed for people at various stages of discernment. Participants do not need previous experience as a pastor or church planter. For someone who is just beginning to explore a call to church planting with their church or classis, the certificate can provide a place to test and develop that calling while receiving both theological and practical preparation.
Importantly, at the heart of the program is also a cohort experience that allows participants to learn alongside others pursuing church planting.
The cohort begins with an in-person retreat where participants have the opportunity to establish relationships, pray together, and learn about one another’s ministry contexts. They spend time considering a vision for church planting rooted in the gospel and in the CRCNA’s theological tradition while also exploring how each planter is seeking to embody and express the gospel among particular people in a particular place.
“The cohort creates a community where participants can learn in community alongside other church planters,” Sheridan said. “Through sharing, learning, and praying together, we will begin to build long-term relationships and support one another throughout the ups and downs of planting a church.”
The cohort is intended to become more than simply a classroom. Church planting can be isolating, and the relationships formed during training will provide ongoing encouragement and support as participants navigate the different seasons of planting. Participants who do not already have a church-planting coach can also be connected with a trained and qualified coach through Resonate. Coaching provides another layer of support as participants move from learning concepts to putting them into practice.
The curriculum brings together biblical theology, spiritual formation, and practical church-planting competencies. Participants are encouraged not simply to learn about church planting but also to reflect on their learning, work productively with the teams involved in their planting efforts, and translate that learning into concrete practices.
Grounded in God's mission
The concentration addresses a wide range of skills and experiences that are essential for church planters today.
Theological and spiritual formation are foundational to the program. Participants explore the biblical story, the gospel, and God’s mission as the theological foundation for church planting. From that foundation they learn to articulate a clear mission and vision for a new church. The program also examines holistic evangelism and mission, guiding participants to develop concrete strategies for reaching communities with the gospel. Other areas of focus include spiritual formation and developing a rule of life capable of sustaining leaders through the significant challenges of church planting.
Leadership development is another central component. Participants explore how to select, develop, and lead a core team while cultivating healthy, multiplying leaders. They learn practices for engaging within their cities and for contextualizing ministry so that the gospel can take root. They also consider the different seasons of church planting and what each one requires from a leader as they work toward a cohesive church-planting strategy and plan.
The goal, Sheridan pointed out, is not to reduce church planting to a collection of techniques.
“Our efforts are grounded in God’s mission and not ultimately reliant on our technique and skill alone,” he said.
Making the path less intimidating
The concentration is also intended to address a practical challenge facing church planters in the CRCNA, Sheridan explained.
Church Order provides that an organized church should be led by a minister of the Word, while a commissioned pastor who is working toward the requirements to become a minister of the Word may also serve in that capacity. For some church planters, though, the prospect of working on those requirements after organizing a church can feel daunting, particularly for those who are balancing ministry work with another job or other responsibilities.
LaClear said she hopes the new pathway can make that transition less intimidating.
“By completing seminary coursework as part of their commissioned-pastor training, church planters will have already obtained a good deal of seminary credit by the time they become ordained as commissioned pastors. So when their church organizes down the road, and they are asked to commit to continuing their training toward ordination as a minister of the Word (a requirement for solo/lead pastors who wish to lead an organized church), they can stack their already-earned credits toward a master of divinity degree, making their educational journey considerably shorter than it would be if they were starting on the degree from scratch. We would encourage them to approach the remaining courses as continued education, making slow, gradual progress if necessary.”
Another important benefit, she said, is connection. “Church planters often experience a sense of disconnectedness from the denomination,” LaClear explained. Training at Calvin Theological Seminary can help church planters develop a deeper connection to the CRCNA and, hopefully, to their classis as well.
“We want church planters to have a ‘seat at the table’ so that we can learn from them and they can learn from us,” she added.
A first step for individuals sensing a call
For someone wondering whether God may be calling them to plant a church, neither LaClear nor Sheridan would suggest they need to have everything figured out before taking a first step.
LaClear encourages prospective church planters to share their sense of call with their pastor and their Classis Ministerial Leadership Team and to ask for help in discerning possible next steps. An individual's internal sense of calling, she noted, is important, but so is having that call confirmed and encouraged by others.
Sheridan also encourages people to connect with Resonate early in the process. Resonate’s regional teams across North America can help individuals discern their calling and readiness to plant, he said. Resonate also offers an assessment process designed to help prospective planters better understand their calling, readiness, and competencies for church planting.
“We hope that a clear pathway provides a simple ‘on ramp’ for people who have been sensing a call to explore planting a church,” LaClear said. “People hesitate to step forward if the path seems confusing or difficult.”
The hope, she added, is that classes will also see the program as a resource for carrying out the church’s call to identify and train future church planters. “If they can bring them in the door, we will take them from there,” LaClear said.
The pathway may also continue to grow. Calvin Seminary hopes to offer a competency-based version of the same commissioned-pastor and church-planter training through its Empower program, giving future church planters both traditional coursework and competency-based options.
