The Launch Network

West Ridge Church has had a strong commitment to planting churches through the years. Like just about anything in ministry, though, you can accomplish a lot more when you partner with others. That’s certainly been the case in the last year. By partnering with other churches in The Launch Network, West Ridge is helping plant churches in cities all over the U.S. and Canada.

Here’s a list of the church planters Launch will have assessed, trained and resourced. Some of these churches have already started. Others will start in the coming months.

• Brad Raby, Discovery Church (Knoxville, TN)
• Will Goodwin, Oak Leaf Church (Canton, GA)
• Chad Davis, Venue Church (Hattiesburg, MS)
• Christian Newsome, Journey Church International (Lee’s Summit, MO)
• Robert Green, Fondren Church (Jackson, MS)
• Justin Craig, Vinings Church (Atlanta, GA)
• James Cordell, 101 Church (Rockmart, GA)
• Josh Nelson, The Station Church (Carlsbad, CA)
• Jeff Phillips, The Crossings Church (Vancouver, BC)
• David Bradford, Celebration Church (Hoover, AL)
• Angus McKinley, Elevation Church (Loveland, CO)
• Damian Boyd, Vertical Church (Atlanta, GA)
• Keith Montgomery, Kingdom Come (Woodstock, GA)
• Brandon Brilhart, Relevate Church (Lawrence, KS)
• Doug Sibcy, Impact Church (Lebanon, OH)
• Wesley Odum, Dynamic Church (Chattanooga, TN)
• Jonathan Napier, Newnan Church (Newnan, GA)
• Joey Baynes, Restoration Church (Greensboro, NC)
• Chaz Churchwell, Restore San Diego (San Diego, CA)
• Travis Fox, Salt Lake City Church (Salt Lake City, UT)
• Shawn Peoples, Grace Community (Kaneohe, HI)
• Chris Hughes, Hope Church (Orlando, FL)
• Terence Lester, Innovation Church (Atlanta, GA)
• Bryan Carter, Bozeman City Church (Bozeman, MT)
• Bryant May, The Exchange (Jackson, MS)

Think you might be interested in planting a church in the future? Launch has an assessment next week in Atlanta. Here’s where you can apply online.

Email me if you’d like more details on how your church can partner with West Ridge and the over 25 churches that are inspiring and equipping next-generation planters to lead strong.

Here’s an update from Pinelake Church related to their involvement in Launch and planting new churches. Ever wonder what a reproducing church looks like? Pastor Chip Henderson and the team at Pinelake are modeling that for us.

Pinelake is one of 24 churches from across the United States that has partnered with the new Launch Network to inspire and equip next-generation planters to lead strong. Your church may want to join us. If so, completed this partnership application and we’ll follow up with you to talk about next steps.

The Launch Network

This time last year, I had the opportunity to join a handful of great leaders from across the country to start a church planting network. It’s hard to believe Launch is already a year old. Today, I received an update from Mac Lake, the Chief Launch Officer, about what’s happening across the country. Here’s a snapshot.

• The network has already trained leaders and planted seven churches in Missouri, Mississippi and Georgia.
• There are 22 leaders who will complete their training by the end of 2011. These guys are from all over including planters from Ohio, California, Wyoming, North Carolina and Canada.
• Launch has established training and networking hubs in Atlanta, Las Vegas, Birmingham, Winston-Salem and Jackson, Mississippi. There’s also a virtual hub to train and equip planters in remote locations.

What I’m most excited about, though, is the partnership that is being developed to plant healthy leaders with healthy churches. There are already 24 churches that have joined Launch to give both their involvement and their investment in training church planters. We don’t just want a church’s money (though that obviously helps with funding new plants); we also want their involvement in identifying and equipping future church planters. Here are the churches who have already partnered with Launch:

• Discovery Church, Tennessee
• Fondren Church, Mississippi
• Foothills Community Church, South Carolina
• Forefront Church, Colorado
• Freedom Church, Georgia
• Hope Baptist Church, Nevada
• Journey Church International, Missouri
• Lakepointe Church, Michigan
• Lifecoast Church, Florida
• LifePoint Church, Alabama
• Lifepoint Church, Virginia
• MyChurch, Georgia
• Origins Church, Ohio
• Pinelake Church, Mississippi
• Relevant Church, Georgia
• Revolution Church, Georgia
• River Church, South Carolina
• Rock Bridge Community Church, Georgia
• Spout Springs Church, North Carolina
• The Summit Church, North Carolina
• The Venue Church, Mississippi
• Vinings Church, Georgia
• West Ridge Church, Georgia
• Westwood Baptist Church, Alabama

These are the pioneers; however, there’s room for your church to join this mission. Launch is unique in its commitment to promoting leadership development both before and after the churches are planted. That’s accomplished through a distinctive model that engages the involvement of partner churches across the country. The more churches that partner with Launch, the more healthy, kingdom-minded churches we will be able to plant.

If you lead a church that wants to invest and be involved in planting churches, read more about becoming a Launch Partner.

If you are a leader who thinks God may be calling you to plant a church, read more about becoming a Launch Planter.

A few months ago, I connected with Joel Quile on Twitter. Through that dialogue, I learned about Bara Church in Trophy Club, Texas. It’s a church plant that’s less than two years old.

I’ve never planted a church. I don’t really know anything about planting churches. For whatever reason, church planters contact me often for coaching. I always send them to Launch, because I know nothing about church planting.

When I connected with Joel, I realized he had knowledge that I don’t have. He wrote a blog post containing a number of myths and truths about church planting and shared it with me. Among his thoughts, Joel offered these:

“Myth: It takes money to plant a church.  Truth: It takes a man with courage and conviction. Money doesn’t raise itself.”

“Myth: It isn’t about Sunday morning. Truth: It’s not if you don’t hold a gathering on Sunday morning.”

“Myth: If you plant a church without the support of your wife, you’ll fail.  Truth: If you plant a church without the support of your wife, you’ll get divorced and then fail.”

“Myth: You need good worship, good preaching and good kids programs on Sundays if people are going to come.  Truth: If they don’t have a place to serve (ministry) and people to serve with (community) they might come, but they won’t stay.”

Visit Joel’s blog to read the rest of his insightful list of myths and truths about church planting.

Have you planted a church? What myth and truth would you add? Join the conversation by leaving your comment.

LAUNCH is getting ready for its second Church Planter Assessment Retreat on April 18-19. There are spots for up to 16 potential church planters, and several of those openings have already been claimed. Could one of the remaining spots be for you?

LAUNCH has a vision to plant 1,000 healthy churches in the next 10 years. The clock is ticking. We’re on the hunt for potential leaders to plant churches all over the country. For those who pass this assessment, they will be eligible for the upcoming August 2011 training sessions.

If you are a potential planter, here’s an overview of the LAUNCH model. You may complete this online application to let us know that you want to participate in the April assessment retreat. The deadline to apply is April 4.

We are excited to announce that LAUNCH will be hosting one of the “Best Practices Pre-session Intensives” at Exponential this year.   We will be focusing on “Nurturing Spiritual Vitality and Family Health”.

Several senior pastors and their spouses will engage church planting couples who are learning how to effectively build strong, healthy families while building strong, healthy churches.  They will discuss the questions and situations that can potentially hijack families.  How do we create and maintain “safe” friendships?  How do we protect our children from the expectations of others?  Where do we go to build relationships outside of the church?  When and how do we communicate with our children about major ministry transitions?  Who should be in our inner circles?  What are appropriate guardrails for safeguarding relationships and reputation?  Our family is our most significant ministry.  They will help you formulate a game plan for success.

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Mac Lake

My friend Mac Lake moved to Atlanta last year to help start The Launch Network, a new church planting network. (The guys from DC are designing and developing the website. It’ll be revealed soon.) Through the years, Mac has become one of the most respected voices on leadership development in the church. In addition to his experience as a church planter, it’s one of the reasons why I believe he’s the perfect fit for his role as “Chief Launch Officer” with The Launch Network. I asked Mac to share his perspective on current trends with church planting. Here are his thoughts:

I think with the recent surge in church planting there’s a new mentality being built in the church. For years it would break my heart when I’d hear a sharp young leader say, “I feel God calling me to plant a church, but I can’t tell my senior pastor because I will be fired on the spot.”

It’s no surprise that research shows only 15% of American churches involve themselves in church planting. That’s a staggering 85% who don’t reproduce! Could you imagine if only 15% of the families in America were reproducing? This nation would dissolve in no time.

This is the spiritual crisis we’re facing in the church. However there seems to be a fresh interest in church planting which is causing more and more churches to ask themselves how they can be a part of identifying, equipping, funding and sending church planters.

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Though I’ve never planted a church, I’m frequently being contacted by guys who are considering that next step. If that’s you, I have an opportunity for you to consider. In January, Launch will offer church planter assessments. This is your chance to confirm whether or not you are wired up for planting.

Launch uses a two-step process of assessing potential planters. There’s an online assessment that scores an individual’s leadership, personality, strengths, evangelistic abilities and health of their marriage. Following the online assessment, potential planters and their wives attend an in-person assessment in Atlanta where they will meet with a counselor, be interviewed by an assessment team, interact with experienced church planters, face a battery of challenging exercises and develop a personal growth plan.

A team of assessors will provide honest feedback and insights into the individual’s growth plan. In the end, Launch assessors share their perspective on the calling on the potential planter’s life. Those who pass the assessment will be eligible to go through the Launch training process starting in February 2011.

If you believe God may be calling you to plant and you want this type of feedback, fill out the online application. For more information, email Mac Lake, the “Chief Launch Officer”.