Mission Edge: A New Cohort for Church Planters and Innovators

The mission field is changing, and church planters need more than passion to meet the moment. Church planters need training, discernment, coaching, practical tools, and a strong community of peers who understand the challenges of starting new faith communities in today’s culture. That is why Path 1 at Discipleship Ministries is launching “Mission Edge: A New Cohort for Church Planters and Innovators.” This eight-month equipping journey is designed to support emerging planters as they prepare to launch, lead, and sustain healthy, contextual, and mission-focused ministries.

Across many conferences and ministry settings, church planters often lack a clear and sustained pathway for development. Too many leaders are left to navigate the spiritual, relational, adaptive, and practical realities of church planting on their own. In a time when traditional models are less effective, communities are more diverse and disconnected, and the church must reach new people in new places through new forms, there is an urgent need for a cohort like this one.

This cohort is built to meet that need. Participants will engage such topics as:

• Evangelism and Fresh Expressions
• Missional metrics
• Community engagement and partnerships
• Stewardship, funding, and budgeting
• Training, equipping, and engaging laity
• Conference support and leveraging the connectional system
• Bivocational ministry
• Loneliness and mental health
• Perseverance in mission and vision
• Spiritual devotion

These topics will form leaders who can plant faithfully, lead wisely, and remain spiritually grounded for the long haul.

Mission Edge will include teaching, peer learning, and coaching sessions. We will have a rhythm of instruction, collaboration, and personal support. This hybrid cohort will run from August 2026 to April 2027. It will be held online, and participants will also meet in person at key moments throughout the experience. We will begin at SCD in Columbus, Ohio, August 2-5, 2026. We will gather for a midpoint immersion experience and then conclude together at the Fresh Expressions National Gathering in Minnesota.

Along the way, participants will be guided by skilled and experienced speakers, coaches, and facilitators who understand both the promise and the pressure of church planting. In addition, they will be part of a strong community of peers. Church planting can be a lonely journey, but this cohort is designed so that leaders do not have to do it alone.

The goal is clear: to help church planters with clarity, confidence, resilience, and capacity. By the end of the cohort, participants will be better equipped to discern their next steps, strengthen their ministry foundation, navigate the connectional system, and lead new faith communities with greater wisdom, courage, and sustainability.

If you are discerning a call to plant and looking for a stronger pathway to support your work, this cohort is for you. The church needs leaders who are spiritually rooted, missionally bold, and ready to innovate for the sake of the gospel.

Register for Mission Edge now! Join this dynamic eight-month journey from August 2026 to April 2027 and take your next faithful step in launching and leading new faith communities for a changing world!

REGISTER FOR MISSION EDGE

Please reach out with questions or for further conversation by contacting Isaiah Park at [email protected].