Pioneer Cohort

A 10-Month Cohort Training in How to Start New Expressions of Church
 

Experience training, support, and community for pioneering leaders experimenting with starting new communities of faith.

This action-oriented learning experience will help you identify “who” God is placing on your heart and how to begin to form and deepen community among them.
 

Learn More

The Pioneer Cohort Includes:

• Monthly webinars: 2 hours of reflecting together on fresh expression principles and the previous month’s activities, and preparing for the next month’s tasks
• Activity guides and training content: An online portal gives you access to training materials, resources, and assignments
• Monthly Coaching with experienced practitioners
• Online community area for questions/insights/ideas to be shared as they arise

The Pioneer Cohort Hybrid Option Also Includes:

• All of the above training, content, and resources
• 2 Overnight Retreats at the Wesley Center in Woodworth (Friday-Saturday)
   

Questions? Ask Sam

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is this Cohort for?

This cohort journey is designed to walk alongside pioneering ministry leaders for a duration of 10 months. You must be committed to experimenting with relationship building in your community…not merely taking notes or learning theory. You should expect to be spending time in your community with non-church people each week, and to be spending time in conversation and prayer with a developing team over the duration of the cohort.

What are the goals of this Cohort experience? 

By the end of the 10 month journey, our goal is that you will:

• Be actively experimenting with gathering or deepening the sense of community among an identified people group or network
• Have recruited and developed a team of 1-3 people working with you in this mission
• Have an active prayer team praying for this mission
• Be engaged in intentional spiritual practices personally and with your team
• Be prepared to move into the “exploring discipleship” and “church taking shape” aspects of the fresh expression journey as the Spirit leads. We realize that it takes time to get to this phase of the journey of international mission, and we will not ask you to force it. But you will be prepared for that time when the time is ripe.

What will we be doing? 

The trajectory of the cohort experience is divided into four segments.

1. Discern: In the first quarter, we will begin to practice “dwelling” in such a way that we recognize some things about ourselves and the community and begin to discern the “who” God is placing on our hearts

2. Develop: In the second quarter, we will be working on developing relationships and recruiting team. We will focus on participating in what God is already doing in the world, and will engage in relationship building that honors people and reflects the heart of God.

3. Deepen: In the third quarter, we will be moving into deeper engagement with team and working on building or deepening a sense of community among those we are loving and serving. We will begin orienting and preparing for the possibilities for discipleship and worship that take seriously the mission context.

4. Discover: In the final sessions, we will develop capacity for ongoing evaluation and iteration in the mission, so that this process can continue beyond the conclusion of the cohort.