Church Planting Proposal Guidelines




The church planting proposal is a document that serves as the "business plan" for the new church.  It generally covers the first two years of new church development.  In the proposal, the church planter or parent church leadership puts into writing what God is laying on his/their heart(s).  It spells out the initial vision or dream and the outline of a gathering and launch strategy for a new church. 


The document is a working draft that includes several key areas such as the purpose, philosophy and strategy for establishing the new church. 


An effective proposal is 5 - 10 pages in length that can be summarized in a brief notebook, graphic or electronic format for presentation to potential staff, leadership team, launch team, core group members and partner or parent churches.  It serves to answer the following basic leadership questions (feel free to use your own order of questions and add any additional questions):


  • What is the mission (purpose) of the new church?
  • What is the God-given vision for the new church? What will it look and feel like in 5 or 10 years with God's help and guidance?
  • What spiritual preparation has/will go into planting this church?
  • How will you go about recruiting and mobilizing an intercessory prayer team? How will you build your support team?
  • What core values will guide its development and ministry?
  • How will this new church contribute to multiplying new believers, disciples, and kingdom advancement?
  • What is the leadership development pathway for this new church?
  • What is the estimated critical mass goal for launch and how will it be achieved?
  • What will the new church look and feel like when it launches?  What model will it follow?
  • How has God called you (the planter) and your spouse to this church plant?
  • How has God uniquely equipped you to serve as the lead church planter?
  • What have you learned about yourself as a church planter through the assessment process?
  • What coaching and continued training resources or people will you employ?
  • What staff/people/roles will you recruit before the launch (birth) of the new church?
  • How will you build your core team and your launch team?
  • What will the worship services look and feel like?
  • What denomination/district/parent church/partner churches will be involved and how?
  • What will be your primary ministry focus group/area?  What are the demographics?
  • How will you go about building a support team?
  • What is the vision of the church for multiplying other churches?
  • Why would anyone want to become part of this church plant?
  • How can someone get involved in this church plant?
  • What is the initial budget for the church plant and what streams of financial and material support will be used?