Australia needs more healthy, evangelistic, multiplying churches.
Church planting is one of the most effective ways to reach new people with the gospel.
A Church Planting Residency is a 1–3 year pathway that helps planters prepare through practical ministry experience, coaching and training within a healthy local church.
Rather than figuring it out on your own, you'll be supported by experienced leaders, a sending church and the wider Reach Australia network.
Thinking about church planting? We'd love to help you explore your next step.
Planting a church is unlike any other ministry role.
You're gathering a launch team, raising support, building partnerships, establishing ministry systems and learning how to lead a church from the ground up.
A residency gives you the opportunity to prepare for those challenges before launch.
During a residency you'll:
A residency is designed to help you begin your church plant with clarity and momentum.
By the end of the residency you'll typically have:
Phase 1: Assimilation
Become part of the life of the training church
Phase 2: Planning
Develop foundations for the church plant
Phase 3: Gathering
Build the launch team and partnerships
Phase 4: Transitioning
Prepare to launch
Residents are supported throughout the residency by both their training church and Reach Australia.
Support includes:
You don't have to prepare for church planting on your own.
Church Planting Residencies don't just prepare future planters. They also strengthen sending churches.
Hosting a resident helps churches intentionally develop leaders, build a culture of multiplication and prepare to plant healthy churches again and again.
Reach Australia works alongside churches by providing assessment, coaching, training and ongoing support throughout the residency.
I'm interested in becoming a resident
If you're considering planting, we’d love to hear your story. Let's start a conversation about what church planting could look like, and whether a residency is the right next step for you.
We're interested in training a resident
If your church is thinking about planting, or wants to develop future church planters, we'd love to start a conversation.
Many church planters already have theological training and ministry experience. But church planting brings a unique set of challenges: building and leading a launch team, raising financial support, developing a sustainable ministry strategy, understanding the unique cultural context of a community, and establishing healthy ministry systems.
A residency gives future church planters the opportunity to develop these skills, convictions and deliberate planning before the pressures of planting begin. Residents receive coaching, feedback and increasing leadership responsibility while they still have the freedom to learn, experiment and grow before carrying the full weight of leading a new church.
Absolutely.
Many future church planters begin with a conversation, not a firm plan. Whether you're actively preparing to plant or simply exploring the possibility, we'd love to talk.
We can help you think through your next steps, answer your questions, and explore whether a Church Planting Residency is the right pathway for you.
We'll have a conversation about your ministry experience, your interest in church planting, and what you're hoping to do. If a residency seems like the right fit, we'll guide you through the next steps, including church planting assessment and identifying a suitable training church.
Every resident completes a church planting assessment before entering the program. This helps discern whether they have the character, theological clarity and leadership capacity for church planting, while also identifying areas for further development before launch.
Training churches are also supported and assessed to ensure they're well placed to train and send future church planters. Throughout the residency, both the resident and the training church receive ongoing coaching and support as they work towards launch.
Funding arrangements vary depending on the residency, the training church and the planting context. Most residencies involve a combination of support from the training church, partner churches and individual supporters.
We'll work with you to develop a sustainable funding plan that's appropriate for your context.
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