The journey of planting a small church, especially when someone is bi-vocational, can be very intense. We have designed the programme to be lightweight so you can do it alongside church. We anticipate that in each six months of the programme you will:

1. attend the gathering (two days);
2. carry out online learning (2- 6 hrs per month);
3. have mentoring meetings (2 hours every 2 months);
4. have a supervision meeting with the hub leader (1hr). There will be some additional onboarding activities that need to be done (e.g. safeguarding training, online induction event, etc.)

Gatherings involve worship, input, reflection and team time, during which teams reflect on the input and then start making plans for their new church community. It’s a time to meet with God, meet new people and ‘find your tribe’ and grow!

The gathering begins on a Friday evening and finishes around 9.30pm. We then  starts again for a full day on Saturday, finishing around 5pm, leaving your Sunday free.

We made the decision to hold the gatherings in person at Foxhill retreat centre, to make it accessible to as many as possible. We believe that the in-person experience for the gatherings is far better than an online experience as it encourages more interaction between teams and enables us to more readily facilitate conversations, share learning and build relationships.

The first gathering will take place in Autumn 2023 with the date to be confirmed shortly. the second gathering will then happen in Spring 2024 and follow this pattern over the 2 years.

It is the responsibility of the teams to find their accommodation on the Friday night. 

Chester has excellent road, rail and coach connections

We ask that the planting teams try to attend all of the gatherings and we will provide all of the dates up front so that you can put them in your diary.

We anticipate that a team is usually between 2 and five people, but no fewer than two.

Most of your team should come to each gathering as this is a team-based experience. However, we recognise that teams can sometimes change with new people joining and others leaving.

No – only the lead planter needs to fill out the application form.

We recognise that people at the beginning of their planting journey may not have a team around them yet. We do though expect every planter to bring along at least one other person with them to the first gathering, and then to be building a team that will attend from gathering two onwards.

The hub team will partner with you to find an appropriate mentor. This will be someone we have confidence in and has fulfilled safer recruitment requirements. If you know someone that might be suited as your mentor, then do let us know.

Yes – we encourage people to apply if they are still in the early stages of church planting. We have designed the content to be applicable to both those who have already started as well as those yet to start.

We can help you and your church discern this- support of praying friends and your church leader will be important. Get in touch and we will give you some material to help you.

Ministry training is a deeper and longer journey into church leadership within major denominations. It normally includes a period of discernment, preparation, training and placement (often a number of years) before you get the opportunity to step into a leadership role. Illuminate is a lightweight approach to leadership training where you will be equipped with the basic skills you need to lead a new church community, under the oversight of a church leader.