Launch is a 10-month ecumenical training program that equips leaders to discover new ways to plant churches or revitalise existing ones. Through a blend of online and in-person learning, coaching, and soul care, we explore practical strategies to help the local church and its leaders thrive, multiply, and serve amidst the complexities of a changing world.

Participants receive individualised coaching and supervised engagement at ministry sites, and participate in midweek online discussions, multi-day residentials, and site visits to innovative Christian communities.  Resources and discussions focus on the inner life of a leader, the strengths of a leader, building a team, and discerning how to embed and initiate ministry in a particular context, whether it be a new church plant, an existing church, or a missional project.  Participants also learn contemplative prayer practices and receive spiritual direction for sustainable leadership.

Launch uses Communitas International's Dynamic Adventure resource to show how to create neighbourhood-embedded, team-led, servant-hearted churches and new Christian communities. 

Launch is an ecumenical programme co-sponsored by Communitas International and the Scottish Network of Churches.

Launch’s Values

• • Christ focused & Kingdom first - we seek to make the redemptive work of Jesus visible in and through the Church.

  • Mission minded - we look beyond limits and borders to see where the Holy Spirit is working in the world.

  • Inclusive - we are open to all who are experiencing the gifts and calling to ministry and want to be equipped.

  • Safe - we encourage collegial engagement within the community with other participants while being free to explore, question, and experiment.

  • Practical - we directly link training to real-life ministry experiences.

  • Relational - we root this shared experience in collegiality, relational love, respect for a variety of gifts, and hospitality.

  • Intentional - we equip participants to become healthy, humble, non-heroic leaders.

Launch participants learn how to… 

• • BE - through personal spiritual formation and self-care through contemplative practices

  • THINK - through training in philosophy of ministry, cultural contextualization, and shared leadership; learning to be inquisitive and free to experiment with new forms of ministry

  • GO -through  developing a team-based approach to forming relationships with neighbours, leading to knowing and following Christ

  • SERVE - through growing a humble, collaborative, non-heroic, servant's heart

  • LEAD - through guiding a church plant or missional church team into deeper engagement with its ministry context.

What Launch is not…

• • A ‘cookie-cutter’ approach - we do not promote a single way to start or revitalise churches, but show how to embed in a unique context and let ministry grow organically from there. 

  • For church planters only - new kinds of churches aren’t just brand-new ones, but also intentionally revitalised churches and new worshipping communities arising out of existing churches. We equip participants to do pioneering ministry in a variety of settings.

  • For lone rangers - we equip participants on how to share leadership with teams and demonstrate a non-heroic, humble presence.

  • More of the same - while we honour the legacy of existing models, we believe that new kinds of churches are needed in ‘post-Christian’ contexts.

  • A step-by-step how-to - we believe new kinds of church leaders need to develop their own pastoral imagination and be adept at employing a variety of models.

Programme Content

Launch comprises several elements that work together to deliver the programme’s desired outcomes. 

• Soul Care

Soul Care is the programme space throughout the Launch term where participants focus on loving Jesus and being loved and formed by Him through the practice of contemplative prayer and reflection. Over the 10 months of Launch, participants are equipped to receive the Spirit’s guidance for a “Rule of Life” they can use after the programme.

• Midweek Gatherings: learning and reflecting together

Throughout Launch, participants are learning, sharing, and reflecting together for 32 midweek, online gatherings working through four major themes: the inner life of a leader, the strengths of a leader, incarnating Christ in a mission context, and building a team. During the final two midweek gatherings, participants have the opportunity to share their hopes and dreams with their cohort members.

• Coaching

Each Launch participant will be assigned a coach at the start of the programme, who will meet with them monthly throughout the course or at intervals they both agree on. Coaching sessions will be about 1hr – 1.5hrs in duration.

• In-Person Activities

  • Site visits

During its 10 months with Launch, the Launch cohort will visit five innovative ministry sites in the Central Belt region. Each church plant, church, or project will provide a unique insight into how to engage creatively with its mission context. 

• • Residentials 

There are two retreats during the Launch programme. The first residential is the first Launch activity and will orient participants for the next 10 months.  They will also be introduced to the Dynamic Adventure resource and begin imagining what “The Church Beautiful” can look like. 

The second residential is a spiritual retreat and will be the hub of our Soul Care thread that runs through the programme.  Corporate and personal prayer, quiet worship, discernment and learning will characterise this potentially life-changing experience.

• • Graduation

Finally, at the end of your 10-month journey with Launch, the cohort will gather together for a graduation celebration. They will be encouraged to invite family, friends, colleagues, and fellow church members for a time of affirmation, prayer, and commissioning: a proper send-off to their next steps in next-generation leadership and ministry.

• Homework & preparation

Participants will set aside an hour or so each week for reflection, prayer, and preparation for each midweek gathering.  For each time, they will have a chapter or article to read, a video to watch, an assessment to take, or questions to ponder. 

Participant Benefits

All participants benefit from a next-generation leadership training program that is uniquely designed to equip church leaders and planters for a changing world.

Because of its emphasis on coaching and the design of its content, Launch can adapt to the specific needs and areas of interest of individual participants and the cohort as a whole.

Launch provides equipping for pioneering leaders discerning a call to a range of ministry roles, such as new church planting, existing church revitalisation, and missional community-based projects.

Practical training is woven together with spiritual formation through Launch’s Soul Care component, giving participants the tools they need for sustainable leadership over the long haul.

Participants in a Launch cohort gain valuable colleagues they can use for support, as resources, and for ongoing fellowship after the programme is completed.