September 2025 | 11
If candidates progress through the questionnaire phase, they are invited to a two-day in-person assessment with a Send Network Ohio assessment team. “It’s an in-person retreat. We bring in expert practitioners in certain fields,” Taylor said. The experts include experienced church planters, current and former church planters, as well as pastors’ wives and Christian counselors. “Again, we want to make sure that we’re sending out healthy planters, healthy marriages, healthy families, and healthy churches,” he explained. If the assessment team approves a candidate, the Care phase begins “It’s one of the things Send Network does best,” Taylor noted. Send Network Ohio catalysts come around church plant- ers and their families, providing care and encouragement. “It’s just that reminder that there’s a family of Southern Baptist churches all around North America that love you, that believe in you, that pray for you. We are cheering you on as you get this thing going,” he said. In addition to ongoing care, church planters who com- plete the assessment move into the Equip phase.
“They go through several months of training just to help them clarify – bring clarity to their vision, bring clarity to their discipleship strategy – a variety of things,” Taylor said. Send Network Ohio offers coaching to church planters for the first two years of their plant. Planters are paired with another church leader in their region who is trained to be a listening ear and help draw out what the Lord has already put inside a church planter. “So we offer a training piece; we offer that coaching piece, and then we just have a variety of resources available to equip our guys.” For more information about church planting or becom- ing a church planter, visit Send Network at https://www. namb.net/send-network/church-planting/.
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