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READY? ASSESSING CHURCH
PLANTER CANDIDATES
By The Movement Staff
In the Steps
of the Spouse: Words from a Candidate's Spouse
Esther Cabinte is a high school
teacher who currently serves at Emmanuel Presbyterian. Her
husband, Reyn Cabinte, not yet a church planter in New York
City, have attended a recent Church Planter assessment week.
What role
do you play in your husband's goal to be a church planter
in New York City?
In some ways, my role is very much the same as if he were
in any profession. As his wife, I'm called to be support and
point him to Christ. I pray for his growth in the gospel and
a greater knowledge of grace (perhaps more accurately: to
be an agent of Christ's grace so that he can experience more
of it). Practically speaking, I often help him with his sermons
when he preaches, which I enjoy very much.
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| Candidates and assessors enjoy some
downtime together. |
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What was the
assessment process like for you?
Intense, but informative and affirming. Most of us felt a
bit like we were on American Idol (a reality TV show), with
a long 3-day performance rather than a 2-minute performance.
But I have to say that in the end, I
felt very cared for. My husband did undergo intense training,
but I thought that the assessors did a good job of looking
at us holistically. They asked in-depth questions about our
marriage and spiritual lives, and gave very practical goals
to help us with areas of weakness.
What did you
learn? Were there any surprises?
The realities of church planting were also brought to light
and the almost 'romantic' notion of church planting mostly
dissolved. At one point during the assessment, I thought that
church planting would be quite easy... if only people weren't
involved!
We learned a lot about current studies
that have been done, how the temperament/ strengths/ weaknesses
of the church planter all have a major effect on the nature
and/or success of the church. I felt as though the assessors
were prayerfully and astutely discerning for the most part.
The feedback resonated with us, and I thought the comments
and general interactions in the debriefing meeting were gracious
and insightful considering they'd only observed us for 3 days.
What attributes
do church-planter wives need?
One of the reasons I appreciated the assessment was that a
lot of thought, planning, and research went into the process.
After having completed a focus study comprised of a number
of church spouses across the country, there have been about
12 essential attributes comprising an effective church planter's
spouse: Healthy Marriage, Strong Family Life, Spiritual Vitality,
Resilient Self-View, Honesty, Humility, Relational Maturity,
Spiritual Discernment, Dynamic Networker, Effective Church
Planting Partner, Faithful Worker, and Contextual Adapter.
[Editor's note: The Movement will discuss each of these
issues in future months.]
Are there any stories
or advice from other wives that made an impact on you?
I received some very interesting advice about involving close
friends in a new church plant. I always thought that, when
Reyn and I started our church, I would ask my best friend
to be part of the launch team. I brought this up with Sheri
Thomas, a church planter's spouse, to see what she thought
about this. I was a bit surprised when Sheri strongly recommended
that I separate my closest friends from the church plant,
at least initially.
Her rationale was, that as a church planter's
spouse, I need to have someone to talk with about the whole
church planting process. If my friend were in our church,
this confidence might affect her trust in the pastor (my husband)
and the leadership, especially during times of conflict and
hard times, and could cause unintentional rifts internally,
if not externally. Putting the burden of impartiality on my
friend would not be fair to her. Nor would it be fair for
me to deprive myself of much needed support and counsel.
What advice would
you give other spouse during this process?
I'd just say that you should enjoy the process and
be open to the feedback. Some of the assessment can feel weird,
contrived, just darn uncomfortable, but be open to trying
new things and be open to what the assessors say.
Despite the brief duration of the assessment,
it may seem difficult for the assessors to 'really' get to
know anyone. Given that the Holy Spirit is guiding everything,
I think what the assessors say should be taken with serious
consideration.
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| Church planters in training at a
recent Assessment week. |
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Planting a church can be a scary task. It requires
gifts, skill and experiences somewhat different from pastoring an established
congregation. Not every pastor is called to plant a church. Many who thrive
in an established congregation might wither in church planting, and many
who enjoy planting a church may be frustrated in an established one. Although
self-evaluation is important in understanding one's call, much can be
learned by the objective evaluation of experienced church planters. This
is what church planters call Assessment.
Here, J. Allen Thompson, Director of the International
Church Planting Center and consultant to RCPC, offers a word of caution:
"Assessments deal only with selection and placement of church planters.
This is only the beginning step. In addition, established leaders must
provide on-the-job training and coaching for church planters to successfully
traverse the turbulence and spiritual warfare connected with bringing
the Gospel to neighborhoods where Satan's kingdom reigns.
Christian leadership is mobilizing God's gifts to
accomplish God's goals in God's way. Skills are needed to be a leader.
But beyond skills the most important characteristic is Christian character.
Therefore the personal qualities related to living a life of repentance
and faith, a truly authentic and growing walk with Christ, are indispensable.
In church planting, a leader leads from character first."
Normally the assessment process occurs after a candidate
has concluded his theological training and has had experience as an apprentice
in a church planting situation or other church ministry. In order to better
prepare the candidate for the task of church planting some seminaries
are introducing a week-long assessment process during theological training.
This allows the candidate an opportunity to view his strengths and limitations
and design his ministry focus accordingly.
Joe Hays, a young pastor in New York City, confirms
that assessment is an important part of the training process. Hays is
a M. Div. graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary who went through
the Redeemer Church Planting Center's assessment process this past winter.
"My wife and I had no idea of what to expect," he admits. "The process
was a bit stressful, but overall, it prepared me for future ministry by
giving me an awareness of the things I need to work on before the church
plant gets started. I know the skills needed to plant a church, as well
as my strengths and weaknesses in these areas. I'm extremely grateful
for this sense of clarity and I would recommend this training to others
in preparation for church-planting."
In the mid-80's, the Presbyterian Church in America
had a 40% failure with church plants. After introducing the Assessment
process, the dynamics decreased to only 10% failures-or 90% success. ICPC
has now developed contextualized assessment centers in Mexico, Brazil,
Australia and other situations with similar results.
The Process: Exercises
and Testing
The process begins with an analysis of candidates personality test scores,
application materials and references. Additionally, assessment methodology
utilizes multiple, trained assessors to observe and evaluate candidates
on a number of gifts and competencies found in most successful church
planters. The candidates are asked to accomplish a battery of exercises
designed to draw out behaviors related to church planting. They are all
done in a one-week period. The strength of this approach lies in the fact
that actual behavior in task-related activities is observed rather than
relying solely on presumptive evidence from tests and references.
Assessors must evaluate characteristics of effective
and ineffective behavior pertinent to church planting. Therefore, all
assessors have had experience in some aspect of church planting, and are
knowledgeable, skilled in assessment techniques. A recent RCPC assessment
included assessors who planted churches in four different continents.
The assessors make their own judgments on each candidate and then pool
their information to arrive at a final overall evaluation.
The International Church Planting Center (ICPC) provides
3-4 day assessment events where candidates complete this process. Assessors
look for a correlation of information gathered from four sources: the
candidate, references, assessor observed behaviors, and peer evaluations
during assessment. The candidate submits a lengthy application with questions
that probe his knowledge of, experience in, and passion for church planting.
He also provides a sermon tape of a recent preaching experience. The instruments
used include: a church planter profile (self rating and reference rating
of 18 church planter competencies), a 16 Personality Factor test, and
the Performax (DiSC) instrument.
On the third day, candidates participate in an in-depth
family interview that answers many questions relating to the dynamics
of church planting.
Church Planter Characteristics
J. Allen Thompson, veteran church planter and RCPC consultant, says the
keystone document in an assessment process is a cluster of competencies
necessary to accomplish successfully the church-planting task. Eighteen
competencies have been identified under three clusters: Personal, Interpersonal,
and Professional. The seven most critical competencies of the 18 are:
spiritual vitality/integrity, leadership, God's call, evangelism, family
commitment, planning and preaching. These characteristics were isolated
in a study of 58 successful church planters and 35 assessors.
The ICPC also utilizes a Church Planter Wife profile
of twelve competencies. These are competencies in the wife which contribute
significantly to a church's success. The most important competency in
this profile is "Effective Church Planting Partner" where the spouse agrees
upon and shares the ministry vision. [See Inset]
Scoring Readiness
The final evaluation, arrived at by a consensus of the assessors, uses
a ratings continuum which ranges from not recommended to qualified. It
pinpoints the church planter's readiness to go out and plant in a particular
area church from scratch. The candidate receives additional comprehensive
feedback in the form of scores and comments from the instruments and exercises.
In addition assessors provide information on the candidates strengths
and limitations plus recommendations for next steps.
For more information on the Assessment Process contact:
International Church Planting Center at ICPCallen@earthlink.net.
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