It’s truly a gift to get to journey with others at different stages towards seeing a church birthed in their particular context. As I learn and work toward planting a healthy church, I also get to learn how many diverse and unique ways there are to go about it.
Matthew tinken
Cohort Participant
ENROLLING NOW for January 2026
SINGLE ENROLLMENT - USD 450
Individuals who enroll on their own will join a cohort led by Fuller’s staff. Our next cohort begins January 2026.
- 6 Courses on Fuller Equip
- Final Project
- Professional Church Planting Certificate
- Written feedback from Fuller
- Cohort membership
- Monthly cohort gatherings for 12 months
OUTCOMES FOR PLANTERS
Deepen Biblical Theology
Our work in planting churches is mutually informed by our reading of God's faithful activity througout scripture.
Promote Spiritual Formation
The healthiest churches are planted by leaders who have been spiritually formed in the image of Christ.
Develop Missional Competencies
Moving into a post-Christendom world means church planters need new toolkits to help them adapt to unique contexts.
Your Cohort Leader
Victor Muhumuza is a Ugandan Church Planting Coach, Church Consultant, and ordained Pastor. With over 20 years of Christian Ministry experience, he currently serves as Director of Cyclical Africa, where he coaches pastors and ministry leaders across different nations of Africa both online and face-to-face. Victor is committed to helping churches discover God’s mission, strengthen leadership vitality, and thrive in their mandate of disciplemaking—reaching new people, cultivating growth, and inspiring hope within communities and nations worldwide.
You can reach Victor on WhatsApp at +256 752 122 559 or by email at [email protected].
GET EXPERT CONTENT
Each part of the Church Planting Professional Certificate has been designed by church planting experts to produce positive outcomes. Below are each of the courses that compose the certificate content as well as the learning outcomes associated with each.
Course 1
JOINING GOD'S MISSION
- Define Missio Dei and center the work of church planting within its larger biblical and historical perspective.
- Develop a missional lens for interpreting the whole of Scripture and apply it to your own reading of the Bible.
- Identify places in your context in which God is already at work and how your church plant can join in.
- Write or revise a set of mission, vision, and values statements that reflect your team’s biblical and contextual understanding.
Course 2
5 SEASONS OF A CHURCH PLANT
-Identify the unique leadership dynamics of each of the five seasons of a church plant.
-Develop a holistic picture of the people group God is calling you to serve, and clarify the mission, vision, and values statements, and tagline of your church based on that information.
-Develop a plan to use adaptive leadership in pivoting the church plant’s strategy based on your context.
-Evaluate the fertility of the church plant based on effectively identifying, developing, and sending fruitful leaders to reproduce churches.
Course 3
HOLISTIC EVANGELISM
-Describe a holistic gospel based on the incarnation, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and contrast it with the truncated gospel
-Demonstrate and express the good news of Jesus through demonstration, proclamation, and invitation
-Develop an evangelism plan that fits your context and includes missional experimentation
-Evaluate the fertility of the church plant based on effectively identifying, developing, and sending fruitful leaders to reproduce churches
Course 4
FORMATION FOR PLANTERS
-Identify potential areas of personal spiritual malnourishment and the consequences that arise from ignoring spiritual wellbeing.
-Assess the current state of your own spiritual formation.
-Describe and experiment with five practices of missional spirituality
-Develop a personalized set of practices (called a Rule of Life) to grow in faith and formation with the Holy Spirit.
Course 5
DISCIPLINING YOUR PLANTING TEAM
-Identify potential launch team members and develop criteria to select them.
-Recognize the typical developmental stages and conflicts that launch teams face.
-Analyze biblical examples of leadership teams that are empowered, diverse, and missional.
-Develop a plan of shared missional practices to disciple the leadership team.
Course 6
REACHING YOUR CITY
-Articulate the benefits and importance of identifying the cultural contexts of your church plant and the people you desire to reach with the gospel
-List the defining aspects of a city’s context and collect the information for your city.
-Identify the cultural rhythms and sensibilities of your particular community and develop a contextualization plan to navigate it as an insider.
Final Project
DEVELOPING A CHURCH PLANTING PLAN
In this final course you will synthesize the prior six courses into a cohesive church planting plan.
The prospectus serves as
...a statement of vision, values, and goals, along with an initial strategy, timeline, and budget for achieving the vision,
...a compass for your team to help you stay on track,
...a marketing tool for potential donors to get to know more about your church, and
...a document that allows your denominational leaders or sending church to stay updated on your church.
Upon Completion of All Material
PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATE
Upon completing all workbooks and the final project, learners will receive a digital and physical copy of their well-deserved professional church planting certificate from Fuller Seminary.
This certificate acknowledges that the certificate holder possesses the formation, training, experience and preparation to start a missional church anywhere in the world.
Jared Votaw completed the Church Planting Certificate Cohort in June of 2024. He says "this experience for me has been invaluable. I've gotten to really shape what my spiritual practices look like as a church planter to keep me rooted in Jesus so that I will bear much fruit through Him".
Jared is now planting Enrich Church in Azusa, California. One of his church planting residents is now participating in the Fall 2025 Cohort.
WE CARE ABOUT YOUR FORMATION AS A LEADER
Having planted churches ourselves, we understand how essential it is to find partners and training in this difficult and yet rewarding season of planting churches. Your vision is sometimes more than you can handle alone, and you often have more questions than answers.
That’s why I love working as Director of the Church Planting Initiative at Fuller, the world’s largest interdenominational seminary with 110 denominations representing 90 countries. As we graduate over 1500 students each year, we have learned that partnering in the formation of leaders is one of the best ways we can join in God’s mission for the world.
Len Tang
Director of the Fuller Church Planting Initiative
Having the safe space of a cohort to process the course content and to learn from each individual’s unique Kingdom work is proving invaluable.
JESSE PICKOTT
Certificate Student