Ed Stetzer: 3 Questions Local District Leaders Should Ask About Church Planting

How can district-level denominational leaders be engaged in church planting?

In denominational or network life, the leaders who are the closest to the field, who know the most about the churches in their area, are leaders of the local district. They oversee a "judicatory," which is the official word for an association, district, diocese or however your denomination refers to the smallest area organization in your denomination. I will use the word district here, recognizing that it won't fit everyone, but it is probably the closest term that is applicable to most denominations.

For those who are district leaders, I have six questions that I encourage them to ask about church planting in their assigned area. I will give you three in this post and three more in a post next Monday. And then, along the way, I'm going to give some suggested answers to these questions.

These six items are from my time with the district leaders of the Evangelical Free Church in Minneapolis about a year ago. I imagine with will not be applicable to all my readers, but I often work with denominational leaders, and wanted to pass this on to those network and denominational leaders who might find it helpful.

I am aware that there are MANY functions of a district leader (credentialing, theological partnership, revitalization, and more). However, my task in Minneapolis was to focus on questions that district leaders should ask about their role in church planting.

Here are the first three questions local district leaders should ask about church planting. Keep reading