Pathway · Planters
Build the church before you launch it.
You are called. You have prayed. You are gathering people. Now build the operating skeleton every faithful planter wishes someone had made them build — before the first service, the first bank account, the first hire, and the first crisis.
Who this pathway is for
You have not launched yet, or you launched within the last twelve months. You may be a solo planter, a co-planting couple, or a small team sent from a mother church. The pathway is agnostic to your model — house church, storefront, school hire, hybrid — and specific about the disciplines every planter must own.
What the pathway teaches
1. Legal and governance formation
- Choosing an entity form appropriate to your jurisdiction
- Drafting a constitution or governing document that scales past you
- Naming your founding board and their scope of authority
- Registering for tax, giving, and reporting from day one
- Insurance, safeguarding, and duty of care before the first service
2. Launch team & core
- Recruiting a launch team — how many, from where, and on what terms
- The covenant conversation: what your core is agreeing to
- Training the first hospitality, tech, and setup teams
- Naming the culture in writing before the crowd defines it for you
3. First-service logistics
- Venue selection, contract, and load-in / load-out choreography
- The run-sheet for launch Sunday, minute by minute
- Sound, lighting, and stream on a real budget
- Kids' ministry and safeguarding at launch
- Follow-up in the first 72 hours after visit one
4. Giving from zero
- Setting up a bank account, giving platform, and giving records
- Teaching generosity from a small base without embarrassment
- Reporting to your board monthly from month one
- The 18-month cash runway model every planter should draw
5. The pastor's own life
- Salary, housing, and honest expense reporting
- Sabbath — scheduled, not aspirational
- Marriage and family under launch pressure
- Accountability that outlasts the honeymoon
How you will study
The Planter Intensive is sixteen weeks. Each week gives you one lesson, one written artifact, and one practical to complete inside your own launch. Cohorts run quarterly for planters who want peer accountability; self-paced study is available year-round. Every planter finishes with a Launch Playbook — a real document, particular to their context, that a successor could read and inherit.
“I planted with prayer and courage. What I did not have was a first-year operating manual. MBS gave me one — and the confidence to lead from it.”
What comes after
Most Planter Intensive graduates move into the flagship Ministry Executive Program once the church is eighteen months old and the systems built during launch need to grow into the institution the church is becoming.
Frequently asked, honestly answered
I have not launched yet. Is it too early for MBS?
No — it is precisely the right time. The Planter Intensive was designed for the eighteen months either side of a launch, and half of every cohort has not yet held their first service.
Do I need my sending church's permission?
We do not require it, and you know your relationships best. Many planters bring their sending pastor into the intensive as an observer — particularly for the governance and finance modules.
Is this only for full-time planters?
No. Bivocational and tent-making planters make up roughly a third of every cohort. The pathway names the constraints of a part-time launch and adapts the artifacts accordingly.
The next cohort opens in weeks, not months.
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Most planters hear back within seven days.
Apply for the Planter Intensive