Develop a Discipleship System
Planting in Motion: A Starter Playbook for New Faith Communities
By Bener Agtarap
Here at the Path 1 Church Planting Resources Hub, we gather tested wisdom, practical tools, and real-world stories to help leaders start new faith communities and renew existing ones. This article draws from Ready, Set, Plant: The Why and How of Starting New Churches and from the field-tested guidance of its coauthor Curtis Brown—whose summary here highlights six core questions every planter must ask (Why, Who, How, What, Where, When) and translates them into actionable next steps for diverse contexts.
We also want to name the good work of Rev. Dr. Curtis Brown: a seasoned planter, trainer, and conference leader who has served with Path 1 and across multiple conferences, equipping leaders and developing new ways of creating communities where people connect deeply with God and one another. His practical lens—and his passion for multiplying courageous, context-ready leaders—shapes the guidance you’ll find here.
Why does Path 1 keep investing in resources like this? Because the call has never been more urgent. Across towns and cities, on campuses and in neighborhoods, God is already stirring new expressions of Christian community. Our commitment is to equip lay and clergy leaders—of every background and season—with clear frameworks, adaptable models (fellowship-first, worship-first, discipleship-first, relationship-first), and pastoral imagination so they can take faithful next steps with confidence. We believe that practical, principle-driven guidance—anchored in theology and proven on the ground—lowers barriers, sparks holy experiments, and multiplies communities of belonging and discipleship.
That’s the purpose of this Hub and of Curtis’s contribution to it: to put usable tools in your hands, broaden who sees themselves as a planter, and sustain a learning ecosystem where stories, models, and tools are shared freely for the sake of the gospel. As you read, we pray you’ll see your context with fresh eyes—and take your next faithful step, knowing Path 1 is walking with you.
Ready, Set, Plant: The Why and How of Starting New Churches
By Curtis Brown
Over the past couple of decades, Bener Agtarap and I have been colleagues in helping spiritual entrepreneurs dream, strategize, and launch new ministries through The United Methodist Church. In 2021, we wrote Ready, Set, Plant: The Why and How of Starting New Churches to share what we had learned from hundreds of planters, missionaries, and church leaders. The book (available from Upper Room Books) is a practical guide for starting new ministries, faith communities, and churches.
Ready, Set, Plant looks at six questions every new ministry leader must ask and intermingles responses from interviews with new church leaders. The questions are:
- Why? The mission and purpose of a new ministry designed to reach new people.
- Who? The planter and the leadership core team needed for a new ministry.
- How? The strategies and approaches to getting a new ministry started.
- What? The different models and expressions of new ministries.
- Where? The physical or virtual location and target audience of a new ministry.
- When? The timing for a launch and sustaining momentum for multiplication.
Every ministry is unique and follows its own idiosyncratic strategy that emerges out of the particularities of its context, the calling of its leaders, and the giftedness of God. This is why particular stories and testimonies can be so inspiring. Drawing on new ministry planters from Colorado to Virginia to Texas, we draw out principles that can be helpful for a variety of ministry starts. One of those is our description of four strategies for getting a new ministry started:
- Fellowship-first strategies
- Worship-first strategies
- Discipleship-first strategies
- Relationship-first strategies
Although not the only factors, these strategies seem to have definite connections to the generational identities of the people the ministries are trying to reach. Many of our existing churches in the United States can recall the fellowship-first strategies of the post-World War II era, when churches held singles’ mixers, couples’ dinners, and invited people to fun events with church folks as the first step into a church. That strategy shifted with the baby boomers, who wanted more contemporary music and worship as their first entry into a church. The missional movement and small-group churches, with their focus on discipleship-first, arose as Gen X and millennials wanted something they perceived as deeper than the attractional worship service. Today, we’re seeing new churches that are reaching younger generations by focusing on relationship-first strategies that prioritize developing a sense of belonging as the first step of developing faith. A growing ministry will likely incorporate several of these strategies, but in most new ministries, the planting leaders will identify one of these as the primary approach.
Today, we’re seeing new churches that are reaching younger generations by focusing on relationship-first strategies that prioritize developing a sense of belonging as the first step of developing faith.
We hope that this resource can provide a strong and solid starting point for the adventure of planting a new ministry, faith community, or church. Too often, lay folks, women, people of color, new immigrants, LGBTQ+ people, and other groups don’t see themselves in stories of planting new ministries, so we wanted to offer an adaptable, principle-based approach that also provides a lot of examples, stories, and specific practices by a wide variety of people in diverse contexts. Throughout the book, we stress the critical role of the planting leader in the success and sustainability of a new ministry. Any believer who is rooted in Christ, called by God, and equipped by the Holy Spirit can plant a new ministry.
We believe that God is calling upon a generation of leaders to help relaunch the church in a powerful and meaningful way to reach new people around the world. We believe that the good news of Christ’s love, hope, justice, redemption, and resistance is more critical today than it has ever been. And we believe that planting, starting, and launching new ministries is the most effective way to share Christ’s gospel with our communities, nations, and world.
Take-Aways for Church Leaders:
- Starting new ministries may seem like it’s for a privileged few, but it’s not. The only ordination required to start a church is baptism into the priesthood of all believers. Drawing a wider circle of strategies, models, and expressions of new ministries can help you and your congregation envision new opportunities for ministry in your communities.
- Planting something new takes vision, strategy, and guidance (all in the book), but the most necessary components are courageous leaders who are willing to risk following Christ in loving their neighbors by helping shape and form new faith communities and ministries.
- Starting a new church can be complicated, but God is raising all kinds of new ministries, expressions, and faith communities. Don’t focus on the complications. Focus instead on creating faith-filled relationships, communities of Christian belonging, and mission-minded discipleship. The church will emerge on its own out of this kind of good soil.
Rev. Dr. Curtis Brown serves as Director of Connectional Ministries for the Illinois Great Rivers Conference of the United Methodist Church. He is a frequent event speaker, workshop trainer, and author of resource materials, but his passion is working with leaders to develop new ways of creating powerful congregations where people connect with one another and God. Curtis has planted churches and served on the congregational development staff in the Pacific Northwest Conference, the New England Conference, and at Discipleship Ministries as part of Path 1.
Contact Us for Help
Contact Discipleship Ministries staff for additional guidance.