Church Planting

“Jesus sent them ahead of him to every place he intended to go” Luke 10:1

The Rocky Mountain Ministry Network is passionate about reaching unsaved people in Colorado and Utah. To help do this, we desire to partner with divinely called and passionate church planters. We have been working hard for the past few years developing a strategy to reach, fund, and partner with church planters to establish new works in a target list of cities. This four-year process has involved the following.

1. Philosophical priorities. We have prayerfully developed our philosophy of planting churches in the context of community. We want to partner with church planters who value our sense of community while also requiring existing works to value the contribution of church planters.

2. Financial positioning. We have worked hard to create a robust church planting fund to facilitate our vision.

3. Identifying priorities. We have identified criteria that will determine what we believe to be our “strike zone.” That criterion includes communities …

Where Spirit-filled churches do not exist or are under-represented.
Whose populations are predominantly middle-class communities, growing and large enough to support new or additional works?
Developed enough to contain one or more public schools.
Whose industry can sustain a healthy church and provide an adequate pastoral salary.

4. Research. The Network partnered with MissionInsight to do extensive demographic research to identify zip codes that meet our criteria and then narrowed that list down to 36 cities or communities. Learn more about their data sources at this link

5. Target communities. The Network will promote these 36 targeted communities, seek to partner with planters who have a divine call to plant there and assist in financing approved plants.

6. Approval process. The Network developed a simple process for considering the approval of church plants and their funding. Although we welcome church plants in Colorado and Utah, we will only fund plants on our target list. Four collaborative things take place in the approval process.

Meeting with the Superintendent. The first step is for the potential church planter to initiate a meeting with Superintendent Roncone. Gene budgets time each week to talk with church planters and appointments can be made through Rhonda, his admin at this email. Download the discussion points here.
Submission of a letter of intent with a written plan. The church planter presents the Superintendent with a letter of intent (LOI), a strategic plan outlining the proposed timeline, specific location, requests, and list of referrals. You can download two samples of this document at this link.
Mutual commitment to community. The church planter and Network sign a memo of understanding outlining their commitment to plant in the context of community. Download that document here.
Presbytery approval. The church planter is introduced to the Network presbytery and approved for planting and or funding assistance.
Launch and introduction to the Network. The church planter and church are added to the Network roster and introduced to the Network to receive prayer, support, and financial assistance.

7. First steps. The Network will help the planters facilitate training, coaching, and a supportive community of ministers in the general area to facilitate a successful launch.

Now it is time to broadcast our “Macedonian Call” to planters feeling an apostolic calling to reach lost people and to, “Come over and help us” (Acts 16:9). If you believe God may be calling you to plant a church in one of the network’s target communities listed below, please review the information provided and reach out to me. I would love to hear more about your call and ministry story.

Gene Roncone
Rocky Mountain Ministry Network
District Superintendent (aka “helper”).