Purpose

This network will serve three purposes:

1.  Train future church planters and pastors – RENEW will place interns who have received a call to ministry in an apprenticeship program in one of our strategic church plants.

While there are other ways for one to discover where a person “fits” in ministry, there is no more efficient way to discover one’s place than by being part of a church-plant. In an existing church, one is usually involved in a department that they oversee and very seldom has a chance to get involved in the myriad different aspects of ministry. However, due to the demands of a young church-plant and the lack of personnel and resources, one has an opportunity to try many different aspects at the same time.

The goal at the end of the internship is to discover one’s place in ministry. Is a person called to plant a new church? Are they called to pastor an existing church? Are they called to be an associate pastor or a lead pastor? Are they called to be in the ministry at all?

2.  Start new churches in Metropolitan South Florida – When one finishes their internship, they will be encouraged to either start a new church in South Florida or help build an existing church. The internship process is designed to help determine which direction one goes. If the intern is called to plant a new church in South Florida, they may join with one of our “existing” church partners. Depending on the location, the newly called church-planter (formerly “intern”) will start gathering people from their community, as well as from an existing church and their home church to start the new church-plant. Along the process, they will be working through the Redeemer Church Planting Manual with the other pastors and planters already in the network (workshops, mentorships, etc.).

3.  Strengthen existing churches in South Florida – If it is determined that the intern is not called to church-plant but has been called to other ministry in the local church, they will be staffed at one of our “existing” church partners to help serve that congregation.