As you may recall from an email this past December, the Tennessee Valley Presbytery created a five-year plan to carry us forward to 2030. We confirmed our vision and mission, we examined needs and weak areas, and we finalized a strategic plan to address these areas and move the gospel forward through church planting.
First, the Mission to North America (MNA) committee formed a sub-team that consisted of the executive director, our newest MNA committee members, and two members of Canaan Group & Associates to hear their thoughts and brainstorm possibilities. Then, Travis Vaughn (the executive director) checked in with every MNA committee member for additional feedback regarding possible action steps. He compared responses from the sub-team and the MNA committee (which is made up of ruling and teaching elders in our presbytery).
Over the last few years, we’ve seen the challenges associated with identifying, recruiting, and equipping future church planters, so we want to address some deepset issues in hopes of building leaders for the future. Our five-year planning process considered the factors causing leadership gaps and positioned us to build a farm system rather than merely finding a planter or two.
With much thoughtful input from numerous perspectives, we were able to put together a thorough strategic and financial plan that we believe will guide us well as we build for God’s Kingdom and make His glory known throughout the Tennessee Valley, as it is in heaven. With His grace, the plan will help us grow an enduring, flourishing church planting and revitalization movement.
As part of the plan, we looked back at our history, specifically the last ten years. In about ten years, TVP has particularized four churches, planted five others, begun three revitalization efforts, helped establish one mission church in a neighboring presbytery, and started Rural Church Development. Praise God for the work He’s done through these churches!
We then addressed the question: How do we strategically expand, sustain, and support church planting and church renewal efforts and provide the resources, training, farm system, and guidance needed to effectively fulfill the Great Commission and flourish as planters and pastors? This question arose from seeing weak areas and needs among our church plants and planting pastors, as well as considering the overall health and growth of the presbytery.
Our answer is threefold: Prepare, plant, prosper.
Prepare: TVP provides support to planting pastors, such as financial help for the MNA church planting assessment and readiness seminars, church planting residencies, counseling services for planters and spouses, and fundraising coaching.
Plant: Some of our planting efforts include coordinating fellowship, prayer, and coaching between fellow planters, pastors and church revitalization partners; providing partial funding to plants for 3-5 years; and following church planting sites from the idea stage to presbytery approval to launching a plant.
Prosper: With the Lord’s blessing, we’ll see these plants, their pastors, and the pastors’ families prosper. To promote flourishing, TVP offers ongoing training and support through coaching, Rural Church Development’s annual Small Town Pastor retreat, an annual marriage retreat for planters and spouses, and training through the TVP Church Planting Network, MNA, and network partners.
These steps are to help address what we’ve referred to as “the pipeline problem.” Fewer people are willing to step into leadership positions than ever before. As Chris Vogel (MNA Church Planting and Vitality Coordinator) said, “Denominations across the board are facing the same issues: Seminary students are not interested in planting or pastoring. Instead, many are going into counseling or seeking associate pastor roles. In business, younger generations want to be on a team. In the military, people are deferring advancement because they don’t want to be in charge. They’ve seen the fallout of leaders, and they don’t want to be another casualty.”
This year, we’re connecting with potential church planting residents, couples who are ready to go through MNA’s Church Planter Assessment Center, and potential feeder schools/youth ministries that might help to supply the next generation of church planting. We are also recruiting a “pastors’ college” coordinator.
Through the pastors’ college, men will complete an accredited MDiv program while acquiring the soft skills needed for pastoral ministry in a cohort setting. They’ll work in a TVP church and be mentored by a seasoned pastor who is outside of the congregation. Upon completion, each student will be prepared to take ordination exams and be hired as a pastor in the PCA.
Initially, we’d recruit local men who are already engaged in ministry but desire further training. We also envision the college becoming a recruitment tool to find young men and bring them to work in TVP churches while they complete seminary.
Students at the college will benefit from the relational aspect of a residential seminary environment but in a presbytery-wide context, soft skills and hands-on training that can’t be gained in the classroom; and thorough equipping so they thrive in active pastoral ministry upon graduation.
In 2030, measures of success (God willing, and if we are wildly successful) would include:
1-2 planters will have begun the work of church planting each year
1/3 of our 17 counties without a PCA church will have been adopted by a TVP church in partnership with Rural Church Development
7+ high school and/or college students will have been called to vocational ministry and identified as possible future church planters
5 churches will have participated in a residency program with scholarships available
A pastors’ college for ongoing theological and leadership training will have been launched
We offer healthy assessments for planters regarding their calling and abilities
We have scholarships for residents and residencies
Ethnic minorities are represented within leadership and church planting initiatives
75%+ of TVP churches will have begun financially supporting the mission
Thankfully, we’re in a healthy place financially. The Lord has provided abundantly and raised up faithful, generous supporters. As we consider the pieces of our five-year plan, it is likely that our budget will need to grow over time, so we’ll be working hard to spread the news of this important work to invite new support.
Look for more updates throughout the year as we take steps forward with each part of the strategic plan. We’ve got a lot of work ahead, but we’re excited to see what God will do.