Building blocks of the Church Planter Assessment Center

Joel Nelson

Director of Church Strengthening, Converge North Central

  • Church planting & multiplication

Converge North Central will be hosting the Converge Church Planter Assessment Center on August 18-21. This assessment process is one of the longest-running, most influential, and highly trusted church planter assessments in the country. It is an intensive four-day event staffed by trained assessors to encourage and observe church planting candidates who have the opportunity to preach, cast vision, work in team settings, and meet with counselor assessors. The assessment provides a personalized and thorough assessment of church planting candidate's disposition to successfully planting a church.

Every church planter in Converge North Central goes through this assessment, based on the research of Dr. Charles Ridley, a leading pioneer in church planting assessments. Ours examines candidates concerning 16 building blocks that help confirm their call and skill set to church planting.

Assessors seek to look at each building block in the candidate's life and ministry through the lens of behavior and not just intellectual consent. Ask a potential planter is they believe evangelism is essential in church planting, and you would get an affirming yes. But, if asked for examples of how the candidate shares Christ with people outside the church, we can begin to discover if the building block of evangelism is a behavior or an idea they support. Testing, interviews, group projects, and presentations all help determine the development of the building blocks.

What are the Church Planting Assessment Center Building Blocks?

  1. Relationship with God
  2. Emotional Health/Self Image
  3. Relational Ability
  4. Marriage and Family Relationships
  5. Personal Integrity

Blocks 1-5 are necessary for any ministry, not just for church planting. Blocks 6-16 are specifically needed and suited for the ministry of planting a new church.

  1. Vision/Philosophy of Ministry
  2. Evangelism
  3. Leadership Gifts/Ability
  4. Entrepreneur/Organizer
  5. Public Ministry Skill
  6. Enthusiasm/Energy
  7. Faith
  8. Productivity
  9. Knowledge of Church Planting
  10. Discipling
  11. Ability to Gather and Motivate Others

So, what does a typical church planter look like? There is no ideal planter, as each individual is different. God is working within their gifts and abilities to plant a church in a specific context. Uncovering the building blocks helps the planter know how God has gifted and made them and provides a roadmap for them to build their blocks even stronger. There is also the reality that many pastors have some of the blocks and are great pastors, but are not specifically suited to plant a new church. Church planting is tough enough when the blocks are present in the planter and can be harmful to the planter, the family, and the congregation if they are missing.

Over the coming months, I will address the different building blocks as to what they mean and why they are essential.

For more information about the church planting ministry of Converge North Central, contact me at jnelson@convergenorthcentral.org


Joel Nelson, Director of Church Strengthening, Converge North Central

Director of Church Strengthening

Additional articles by Joel Nelson