ChurchPlanting
How We Plant Churches
Pre-Assessment
Conversations with regional directors of church planting.


Discernment
Candidates and their spouses engage in a guided discernment process that carefully explores call, timing, spiritual gifts, emotional health, and the strategic viability of the proposed church project.
Covenant Agreement
Our agreement is based on the tested methodology of the “four-stage church plant launch.”


First Year
The agreement describes the plan for the first year of the church plant.
Are You Called?
In our increasingly post-Christian era, 83 percent of Americans do not attend church. Nearly one-third of young people under 30 are religiously unaffiliated. Every year, more than 3,000 churches close their doors. A myriad of challenges from rapid demographic change to tepid evangelism render churches ineffective in communities across the country.
We invite you to discern your call to advance the kingdom of God by becoming a local church planter. Together, we seek to answer one primary question, “Is the living God calling you to plant a Covenant church right now?”
Our Stories

Room at the Inn
The Covenant church in Joliet, Illinois, is learning to do the right thing—even when it feels like the wrong time.

Paul Lessard Nominated for Second Term as Executive Minister of Start and Strengthen Churches
The Covenant Executive Board (CEB) announces the nomination of Rev. Paul Lessard to serve a second term as executive minister of Start and Strengthen Churches. He will stand for election at the denomination’s 137th Annual Meeting.

Five Myths About Covenant Church Planting
Executive Minister of Start and Strengthen Churches Paul Lessard highlights the range of church planters and kinds of churches the Covenant has been invited to start.

Seven New Churches Join the Covenant
Today delegates to the 136th Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Covenant Church voted to welcome seven new churches into membership.

Building More Than a Home
How a rural community came together to offer hope to families experiencing housing instability.

Food Donations from an Unlikely Source
Debbie Montzingo, pastor of Bethany Covenant Church in Lyndhurst, Ohio, experienced a well of generosity for her church’s food pantry.
Contact Church Planting
We can’t wait to hear about your vision for starting a new local church.