Church Planting
Partnering to Plant
Becoming a Resonate partner church plant offers access to a valuable suite of resources and funding! Our goal is to come alongside, strengthen, and build capacity for your church plant, and we provide support through:
We have coaches trained specifically for church planting, and these names can be provided to you by a Resonate representative. Research has shown that church planters who meet regularly with a coach are proven to have higher long-term success. Resonate church planting partners may be eligible for a coaching grant (see the grants section below).
For church planters who are looking for a coach, or for those looking to be trained and certified as a coach, we recommend the following coaching groups: Thresholds Community, Gravity Leadership, Cygnus Services, and C2C Network.
Resonate church planting partners are required to participate in the Cultivate Church Planter Fellowship, our annual church planter training. Cultivate begins with a gathering that includes fellowship, meals, and learning in the areas of soul care, leadership and discipleship, and contextual engagement. After this gathering, live video calls are offered twice a month for a year; these calls are content-focused and are led by mission leaders both in the CRC and beyond. Cultivate gatherings take place each summer.
Partners may also be eligible for grants to assist with other learning opportunities; see the grants section below for more information on the Ministry Leader Health and Development Grant. and the Fundraising Training Grant.
Resonate provides grants to support the health, spiritual formation, and contextual engagement of approved partner ministries. CRC church plants that have a Partnership Agreement with Resonate may be eligible for church planting grants. If you are not sure about your eligibility, ask your regional leader or contact us.
Click here to log in to your account and apply for grants.
We provide grants for those seeking qualified coaching for guidance in the process of developing new projects.
We provide grants for those seeking qualified training and/or coaching in raising funds for new mission endeavors. This grant helps cover the cost of receiving associated training, materials, etc.
We encourage church plants to seek local support for the costs of a church planter’s salary and basic church expenses. However, in some cases, a planter will need additional assistance as he/she raises up a core group for internal giving and establishes a fundraising plan.
These grants help meet the capital start-up costs of strategic equipment (non-disposable items) such as equipment, coffee pots, children’s ministry curriculum, block party equipment, grill, etc.
We encourage ministry leaders to find new ways to connect with their community and experiment with new ways to engage with their local context.
We encourage ministry leaders to connect with their neighbors of differing faiths, heritages, and ethnicities.
We provide matching grants for individuals who have demonstrated leadership potential within a local ministry setting. This grant may be used to fund 6-12 month apprenticeships for raising up and training new ministry leaders.
We encourage ministry leaders to be intentional in their spiritual, physical, and emotional health and development. This may include continuing education, spiritual retreats, counseling, marriage retreats, attending conferences, reading books, etc. with the use of this grant.
We encourage ministry leaders’ spouses to be intentional in their spiritual, physical, and emotional health and development. This may include continuing education, spiritual retreats, counseling, marriage retreats, attending conferences, reading books, etc. with the use of this grant.
Church planting partners are asked to submit a brief annual report to Resonate, which includes a ministry update and financial statement. Our team will contact you each year with a reminder to start working on your report, and we will also schedule a call with you and the Partnership Affirmation Team. The Partnership Affirmation is made up of a few leaders from Resonate and other CRC agencies -- the purpose of this call is both to provide a space of encouragement and support for the church planter and for our team to learn from the planter and hear their stories.
Every CRC church, both emerging and established, is covered under the denomination’s IRS determination letter that confirms that we and our churches are charities (501c3) and therefore exempt from tax. Partner church plants can contact us to request an official certificate.
Church planters will also want to work on obtaining an Employee Identification Number and Articles of Incorporation. Please contact us if you need direction or assistance with this. More information regarding church plant legal and financial organization can be found here on The Network.
The process for a church plant to receive its own non-profit charitable status takes about 6 months after the application is submitted to the Canadian Revenue Service. Until then, a local CRC congregation agrees to serve as the “calling church,” and an arrangement is made in which charitable receipts for the emerging ministry are issued through this local congregation. Assistance in drawing up bylaws needed for obtaining such charitable status can be obtained by contacting Resonate staff.
When the emerging congregation is ready to apply for incorporation, we can put you in contact with CRC staff who can assist in drawing up the Articles of Incorporation.
Classis Resource for Church Planting (download as a PDF here)