High Impact Church Planting Residency Program (HIRP)

Path1 wants to partner with annual conferences to make their church planting residency the best it can be. We have been working with annual conferences for six years on placing more than 65 “High Impact” church planting residents in key learning environments to prepare them to plant new communities of faith. We have worked with annual conferences, candidate residents, host churches, and seminaries to provide support, orientation, and training for High Impact Church Planting Residents.

We believe strongly that the Residency year for potential church planters is valuable and one of the best practices for preparing a person to plant a new faith community. We have many stories of successful residents who have gone on to plant vibrant communities of faith. We encourage conferences to find the funding necessary to support a residency that meets its needs. Path1 has a limited number of scholarships available to help provide support. Here is how Path1 can support a residency in each annual conference:

• Provide scholarships up to $1,000, for Residents named by Annual Conferences, to attend a Path1-sponsored orientation (usually held in the summer).
• Provide scholarships up to $500, for Residents to participate in a training event that would help prepare them for planting (i.e. Step One or NCLI, First 12, Launchpad, Navigate, Exponential).
• Provide guidance by the Path1 Team for the resident during his or her residency year.
• Help broker cross-conference residency assignments.
• Encourage the cohort of residents to communicate with one another for prayer and other forms of support.
• Provide some funding to help support a resident for the year-long program.

On our website, you can access annual conference applications, resident applications, and the High Impact Church Planting covenant. We believe these documents can help provide the framework for a successful residency learning experience.

For more information on High Impact Residencies, please contact the Rev. Dr. Douglas Ruffle at Path1 (New Church Starts at Discipleship Ministries): [email protected] or call 615-340-7130.