Tyler Powell came to The Village Church to create a church planting residency program when Matt Chandler and the elders felt that God was leading them to transition away from multisite churches and toward church plants. Moving their multisite campuses to autonomous church plants gave those campuses more freedom to minister to the specific culture of the city they were working in, and it gave The Village Church the freedom to speak directly to the culture of the city they are in. Through the process of releasing those campuses, it also become a priority to raise up church planters within their church to continue being a church who plants churches and multiplies.
There are two ways this program finds residents: within the church and outside the church. The Village Church wants it to be part of their DNA that they raise up church planters from within. They want to see people saved, discipled, matured, and raised up through their leadership pipeline. They also connect with like-minded residents from outside the church. These residents come in for a season to go through the program. During this season, they connect with them, train them, raise them up, and send them out.
Over the course of 17 months, the residents create a strong spiritual and emotional foundation then they are prepared in the practical aspects of church planting. The first 5 months of the program specifically focuses on spiritual and mental health and development.
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