This exercise asks you to reflect on ways that parents and others support children in a literal household, especially as they’re sent out of a household (e.g. when they leave for college, military, or career). We then ask you to consider how those principles can inform ways leaders of a sending church or group can support people being sent out for the sake of God’s mission. If you have not had the experience of a child leaving the household yet, or simply to get more ideas, consider doing this exercise as a team!

As you consider your church’s or group’s readiness to send people into a new mission field, church, or group, here are a few questions to consider as you prayerfully plan for the impact.

The primary goal of an ARCI chart, also known as a responsibility assignment matrix, is to clearly define and communicate roles and responsibilities within ministry areas or processes, for the sake of your church’s staff and volunteer clarity. It helps ensure everyone understands their specific tasks, who is accountable for them, who executes, and who needs to be consulted or informed.

A sending culture must start with a sending vision. A sending vision flows from your church’s view of discipleship. The exercise below can help you assess your current discipleship culture, and take tangible nexts step toward a culture of sending.

A sending vision flows from your church’s view of discipleship. Many churches, groups, and organizations say they want to equip others to participate in discipleship and disciple-making. But to make that aspiration a reality, a culture must be created views sending as a normal part of every Christian’s discipleship. The exercise below can help you assess your current discipleship vision, and take tangible nexts step toward a vision for sending.

In this exercise, you (and your team) will consider the metrics you currently measure — overtly or implied. You’ll celebrate God’s work in each of those things you currently measure in your specific church. Then you’ll consider additional metrics to help your church prioritize sending, by turning their collective eyes outward toward the mission field and broader kingdom beyond your specific church.

Nearly every church is planted by another church that was planted by another church, which was in turn started by still another. By accident or intentionality, your church likely came out of another church (or churches, or ministries), which came out of still another church or ministry, etc. Use this sheet to trace your church's history as far back as you can.

This exercise helps plan a long runway for sending, which involves helping people discover and thrive in their giftings, and “equip[ping] the saints for the work of ministry.”

This exercise invites you to study your neighborhood, city, workplace or community to start to know the ins and outs of your missional sphere.

It can be difficult to define a shared mission — but such definition is often less about creating something brand new, and more about discerning and discovering what God is already doing among your community, together.

In nearly every realm of ministry & mission, it is easy to rely on our ways: our strength, our plans, our strategy. This exercise is designed to help you take a tangible step in fighting that temptation and reversing that trend to dependence on God.

Humans are inherently relational beings: we are not designed to be alone. Biblically and experientially, “discipleship” and “mission” at their best are relational pursuits. In this exercise, define your relationships in your mission and ministry with categorized roles and then prayerfully bring balance to them.

This exercise asks you to define a certain area of your church’s vision, then invites you into an honest assessment of what aspects of your culture promote that area of your vision, vs. what aspects of your culture work against it.

This 11-session course with Ben Connelly offers a practical primer for anyone exploring the idea of church planting, whether you're feeling called, curious, or considering joining a team. Drawing from his own church planting experience, Connelly answers key questions and provides tangible next steps to help you discern and prepare for this important ministry calling.

Healthy plants make more healthy plants. Healthy platypus and giraffes make more healthy platypus and giraffes. Healthy humans make more humans. Healthy disciples make more disciples. Healthy leaders make more leaders. And healthy churches make more churches! No healthy entity is an end unto itself; God created good things, and designed them to multiply. That’s God’s heart for multiplication, from Genesis 1 and still today!

What if every church followed God’s leading in sending, and were willing to pray and give away our finances, and even our best leaders?

What if we could do so, not in our church’s 20th or 200th year of existence, but in its second year?
And what if we could at least start down that path, not when we have 200 or 2000 people engaged, but when we have 20 people?

Ben Connelly answers these questions and more in this free, online video workshop.

This was the question that Jim Essian, a friend and fellow pastor in my city, asked 15 folks around a table in 2017. This was the third question he asked, with building gusto, after receiving rousing and unified responses from his first two questions: “Who believes Fort Worth needs the gospel?” “YES!” “Who believes that church planting is a way that can happen?” “YES!” Then came the climactic moment: “Who’s ready to plant churches together?” …crickets. No response. The air was sucked out of the room. No one was ready to work together.

As we approach Easter weekend, we want to pause and remember that the life, death, resurrection, and reign of Jesus is truly “good news” – on Easter, yes, and also in everyday life, all year long. But amidst competing worldviews, everyday busyness, and a context that prioritizes values over beliefs, it’s easy to relegate that “good news” to Sundays (or perhaps for some, this one Sunday annually), and live as if other forms of “good news” are better, more impacting, and more applicable to Monday - Saturday life, the rest of the year. 

This experience shaped the past nine years, as I have led national church planting residencies for various organizations. In 2019 and again in 2023, we did a full-scale revision of our residency work. On one hand, The Equipping Group is collaborating with more organizations, churches, and planters than ever before. On the other hand, these revisions came from many lessons learned in training dozens of residents, from many states and beyond, who are now ministering in five countries.

As I reflect on the past eight years and look to the future, I wanted to capture and share five lessons we learned.