by Dan Lamb
The goal of the candidate school is to inform and equip the church planter to be best prepared to for the task ahead of him.
The candidate school is five days of intensive training. The goal is not to give a Bible education — we assume candidates have already been prepared in that area — but to pass on our expertise in church planting. Fifteen pastors and leaders in their field bring their strengths to these church planting families.
The topics
- Personal assessments
- Personal prayer life
- Discipleship and how it works
- Integrity and leadership traits of a successful pastor
- Building a launch team
- Pre-launch and launch strategies
- The role of the pastor’s wife
- Church planting pot holes
- Outreach — tripod of reason
- Leading volunteers
- Personal support and set-up costs
- The history and philosophy of the BBFI
- Planting a church with a mission heart
- Building a budget and stewardship
- The pastor and his family
- The work of the BBFI mission office.
A favorite feature of candidate school is the travel day. We go to new church plants in the area and listen to their stories, and we have other church planters share their miracle stories of what God is doing. This has become one of the most inspiring parts of our school. The Q&A during this time is very challenging. Some have wanted to move their launch date up after these visits!
We are working on two areas of improvements in the candidate school: assessments and coaching. We would like to have a thorough assessment so when candidates arrive we already know them. Coaching is important after the church has been started. A coach would be an experienced pastor or pastors who would communicate with the church planter regularly. All major changes and decisions would be discussed with the coach, before decisions are made, to glean wisdom and counsel. Some of this has already been implemented, and the church planters’ success rate will be greater if we can help them on both ends of the school.
The candidates cannot cover the costs of candidate school. That is where additional support comes in. The NCPO office picks up this additional cost, and we need your support. The eternal effect of your support is compounded as souls are saved and other churches are started. Help the NCPO office make a difference by helping us.
The next candidate school is scheduled at Alliance Baptist Church in Ft. Worth, TX, October 13-17, 2014. We would love to invite you to send your church planters who are considering planting or have already launched!