Church planting in New England

0:24 Lee introduces episode guest, Wes Pastor.

0:40 Wes introduces himself and explains his connection to Converge

1:36 Lee asks Wes how he became a church planter in Vermont.

1:54 Wes shares that the reasons he planted in Vermont were because it’s an unreached area, it has a rich heritage, and there are lots of college towns.

2:40 Because Wes stayed at the church he planted for 30 years, Lee asks what advice he would give a church planter when thinking long term ministry.

3:30 Having a long-term mindset was important to Wes so that he and his family could put down roots in one place to provide stability.

4:10 Wes shares that church planters need to be adaptable if they’re going to be successful. Churches change a lot over time when it comes to the non-essential or negotiable parts of a ministry.

5:30 Church planting can be rough at the start. But the betrayals or issues that might come a couple decades into a ministry are the ones that are hard to get through.

6:14 Danny asks Wes if he had a plan for multiplication right from the start of his church planting experience.

6:45 Wes reveals that it was a plan to plant churches and a training center from the beginning.

7:54 A great advantage of planting a church, rather than stepping into an existing church, is that church revitalization can be part of the church’s DNA from the start, according to Wes.

8:10 Wes walks through the timeline his church went through to find a church planter.

8:56 Wes recognized the need for long-term training centers for church planters, all they way back in the 90s, when church planting training was only for one week.

9:56 Danny asks Wes to talk about how The NETS Center of Church Planting has grown from the beginning.

9:59 Wes talks about the slow momentum and growth NETS has seen over the years and how a big breakthrough came 15 years into the program’s existence.

11:20 A campus became available, and Wes tells the story of how NETS acquired it.

12:43 Wes shares about the need for gospel preaching churches in New England, as a small percentage of the population attends an evangelical church.

13:13 NETS has big goals for sending out church planters and they’re getting closer to those goals.

13:36 Lee asks Wes what he’s looking for in a good candidate in a church planter that will be successful in New England.

13:51 Wes runs down what NETS is looking for in the lifestyle of potential church planters.

15:03 Wes covers what NETS is looking for theologically in candidates. And that they’re looking for leaders who are committed to spending the rest of their lives in New England.

16:27 Danny asks if someone who wants to be a part of NETS training can be from other areas of the country.

17:21 Wes confirms he recruits from seminaries in the south and anyone from anywhere in the US can check out NETS.

18:15 Danny wants to know the details of it looks like for someone to be part of NETS.

18:36 Being busy with a full schedule is part of the NETS experience. 

19:24 Taking a real deep look at the marriages of those who come to NETS is part of the training. Many candidates have said it is very helpful for their marriage, even if parts of it are difficult.

20:36 Another aspect is spending a lot of time preparing sermons, to condition candidates more than what was expected in seminary.

20:56 Lee wants to know how long a church planter is in the NETS program.

21:32 Wes says the immediate intensive is nine months. Then, there are four options to choose from on how the potential church planter will proceed. Wes runs through these four options.

22:48 If someone says they can’t stay in New England, Wes helps them affiliate with another ministry.

23:29 Wes explains what candidates receive during the nine-month intensive – housing, utilities, an allowance, and insurance.

24:04 Wes tells a story of a church that is facing building issues and how they stick with and support their church planters. All church planters enter a long-term relationship with NETS.

25:23 Lee thanks Wes for being a guest on the Unfiltered podcast.