The Church Planting Bootcamp Experience

Nineteen students participated in the Church Planting Bootcamp training held on the campus of ACTS Seminaries at Trinity Western University in Langley, BC, Canada on April 26-30th.

The Bootcamp was an intensive five-day experience designed to equip potential and active church planters and district leaders for what normally happens in the first two years of a church plant. This Bootcamp was sponsored by the Evangelical Free Church of Canada and ACTS seminaries. It was led and taught by three national leaders in the church planting ministry of the Evangelical Free Church of America - George Klippenes, EFCA Church Planting Director, Dave Page and Ray Chang.


A total of 27 modules or sessions were taught over the five days. The content and individual sessions are the product of 10 plus years of experience in hosting and leading Church Planting Bootcamps across the USA. This was the first Evangelical Free Church Bootcamp offered in Canada with the intent that more will be held on Canadian soil in the Canadian context.


Day one of the Bootcamp covered six foundations. Day two included training in six dream dynamics (Mission, Vision and Values). Day three focused the students on six gathering strategies. Day four was all about five disciple-making stages, steps and classes. And Day five concluded the training with equipping for critical startup ministries.

What follows are some of my personal opinions and observations based on this Church Planting Bootcamp experience.

This experience is essential for the church planter and church planter wannabe. And that includes district or denominational church planting team leaders.

The genius of the Bootcamp experience is found in a combination of factors. There is teaching by experienced church planters and coaching by the trainers and other church planting leaders in attendance.
Small group interaction and fellowship throughout the event plus practical in-class assignments based on the content being presented add value. Combine that with hands-on personal and practical application of the content and the awareness that one is learning survival skills in church planting ministry. Many of the ideas and principles can be put to immediate use. Some models are presented and analyzed, but the important exercise is discovering the principles that can apply whatever the model chosen. Most importantly, the Bootcamp experience depends heavily on prayer and the leading of the Spirit of God in applying what is taught.


Some of the content needs more work on making it more adaptable in the Pacific Northwest and Canadian cultural settings. There was some apparent pushback when the concept of launching large and large church sizes and growth. The Pacific Northwest and Canada are more “post-Christian” and therefore need more tools to adjust church planting vision, strategy and tactics. More work needs to be done on identifying the principles behind missional/incarnational church planting.

The Bootcamp experience will be most effective and successful when it is combined with individualized assessment of potential planters and on-going coaching.

This Bootcamp is a good example of how partnerships between countries, denominations and districts can be used by God to advance His kingdom and build His Church.

I anticipate more opportunities for offering the Church Planting Bootcamp and other good training venues in the Pacific Northwest and Canada. And my prayer is that God will use me to train and coach many more church planters and church planting leaders.

Care to share your thoughts about the Church Planting Bootcamp experience?