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    Basic Training for Church Planters 

    In 1997, the Church Planting Group of the North American Mission Board began to focus on the creation of a process that has come to be known as the Church Planting Process. The goal was to develop a plan, which included the basic elements of church planting. As this was developed, the need for accompanying resources was also addressed.


    It was in that context that a premier resource for the equipping of church planters was developed—Basic Training for Church Planters . 

    Similar resources and training experiences exist today among other organizations for church planters and have varying costs. Because of the gifts of Southern Baptists to the Cooperative Program and the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering® , we have been able to work closely with our state convention partners to give away this resource through quality learning experiences at no charge to Southern Baptist church planters. In 2004 alone, more than 1,000 church planting teams were equipped for church planting through this resource. Many of the churches that result from a Basic Training experience go on to plant other churches within the first three to five years of existence because of the DNA of multiplication that was learned at a Basic Training event.

    In an effort to facilitate the further use of the Basic Training resource, the Mentoring Team has begun to use technology to make possible alternate delivery means. In 2004, Basic Training: The Movie was released in DVD format for our partners to use for the equipping of their church planters. Beginning in August of this year, Basic Training is now available through Webcasting on the Church Planting Village Web site, www.ChurchPlantingVillage.net .

    If you have been considering going to a multi-day workshop for church planters to enhance your church planting skills but the cost and the time away make the opportunity somewhat of a challenge, consider furthering your church planting competencies through "The Learning Place!"

    The Learning Place is an online training venue that offers church planters and those who work with them a world-class cyber-learning system, integrating video with synchronized PowerPoint-style presentations and options for downloading related files. Because you are on the North American Mission Board's Church Planting Village site, you also have the nation's largest church planting resource library at your fingertips. Now you can do all your critical researching, resourcing, and equipping online. Everything you need to get your new church started is just a few clicks away.

    You can access The Learning Place by visiting www.ChurchPlantingVillage.net and clicking on the Equipping Resources tab on the left. There you will find a link to The Learning Place. A one-time registration is required. The login you create can then be used to access any subsequent training. Basic Training for Church Planters is the first of many Webcast training resources to come from the Church Planting Group at NAMB. Here are a few ways this online resource can be used:

    • By Presenters-In-Training for reviewing units as they prepare for their presentations.
    • By participants who attended Basic Training, but had to miss a unit and wanted to get the content. 
    • By church planting team members who could not attend a gathered Basic Training event. 
    • By church planters who attended an event and wanted to take core group members through a study of selected units.
    • By a core group who wants to study the concepts prior to calling a pastor to lead the new church's development.
    • By planters in areas where the opportunity to attend a gathered event is limited because of time or distance.
    • By a partnering church's leadership team seeking to understand the processes and preparation necessary for the church planter and the church planting team in developing a contextual church planting strategy.
    • By Church Planter Networks or Multiplying Church Networks to review Basic Training content as they continue to develop strategy.
    • By __________ (you fill in the blank).

    The video portion of the Webcast was taken from the Basic Training for Church Planters DVD set. Each state convention has multiple copies along with permission to duplicate them as needed for their training purposes. These sets can be used in the same fashion as the Webcast.  Ultimately, each state convention will determine how they will incorporate these tools in their equipping structures.

    With the current emphasis to enlist, equip, and engage large numbers of Southern Baptist churches in three types of church planting sponsorship, it is our desire that training resources such as Basic Training for Church Planters, made available through means such as Webcasting, will be utilized in ways that facilitate church planting movements in North America and throughout the kingdom. 

    ~ Mark Custalow