FAQ

We plant churches worldwide may raise the question as to who plants the churches – network churches or the organization? The answer is YES. As we work together to identify, assess, train, support, and send out church planters around the world, lives will be changed by the power of the gospel. We do this work together.

Acts 29 has a single focus: church planting. Acts 29 is not a denomination. We are therefore open to dual-affiliation but ask that you inform the organizations that you are already affiliated with about your desire to join Acts 29.

Acts 29 supports church planters by encouraging church-to-church partnerships and relationships fostered in regions, cohorts and areas. These relationships form the foundation of our network and provide the most significant avenues for financial support. 

There are many ways to get involved in church planting with Acts 29. If you attend an Acts 29 church, you are already part of bringing the gospel to lost people through the planting of evangelistic churches. We encourage you to talk to your pastor about ways to engage further. 

We encourage Acts 29 church leaders to engage with Acts 29 through training events for their leaders (staff and lay), to build church planting partnerships with Acts 29 churches locally and globally, and for lead pastors to participate in a cohort with other Acts 29 pastors for training and development. Churches seeking to join Acts 29 should apply through our existing church assessment track.

Most of all, we ask that you would join us in praying that more people would hear the gospel because of the presence of healthy local churches, as together we plant churches worldwide.

Please visit the find a church page on our website to search for local Acts 29 churches and pastors, or submit a form through the website requesting further information.

Acts 29 assesses both church planters and churches for membership. To learn more, visit the Join area of the website.

Before becoming an Acts 29 church, the elders of your church will need to review and sign a partnership covenant with Acts 29, much like many of you ask members of your church to sign. Details of the covenant can be found here.

Acts 29 is a network of churches—it’s the church and not the individual that becomes the member.

If you are uncertain about whether to be involved in church planting, please take time to discuss this question within your local church. To aid you in this, Acts 29 has developed core competencies considered essential for church planting. We also offer church planting residencies for further exploration. 

The Acts 29 assessment process is for the lead planter. If there are co-planters, details can be discussed with the local assessment coordinator. If you are an existing church, we expect the lead pastor to initiate the assessment process, but the assessment will engage the whole eldership team. 

We believe church planting to be a theologically driven initiative. With that in mind, we ask that you not only agree with the theological distinctives, but actively embrace, teach and uphold them across your eldership and leadership team. 

If you have already planted your church or currently lead an established church, then you can apply at any time. If you are a first time planter, it’s best to apply when you are 12-18 months away from planting, in the process of putting together a core team and have clarity around the location of your plant—in most situations we would expect you to have relocated.

We ask that those applying to our church planter assessment or existing church assessment tracks are over the age of 28 and have had a minimum of three years ministry experience as an elder in their local church.

Networking. Engagement in your local network and region is essential before beginning the process. This can be done by attending local training events and getting to know local pastors.

Additionally, the eldership of your church needs to be in agreement with the Acts 29 Covenant before the assessment process begins.

Acts 29 is serious about maintaining and investing in high-quality assessment that brings significant added value to those who undergo the process. As such, Acts 29 does charge for assessment to cover these costs. The cost of assessment varies from network to network. 

Please contact your network or regional director for information on cost and financial aid that may be available if the cost is prohibitive.

Please contact your assessment coordinator or network/regional director for a paper copy of the assessment process.

Each network/region has an assessment coordinator who will walk you through the process and answer any further questions that you have.

From an initial application, it should take your church no more than six months to complete all online assignments and be ready for the final assessment. Following a successful assessment conference, churches will become member churches within a year, subject to the completion of any conditions set during the assessment.

Only Acts 29 assessment staff and your assessor team will have access to your personal information. In light of the sensitive nature of the information provided, special measures are taken to ensure it is treated confidentially. Full details of our privacy policy can be found here.

Please contact your network or regional assessment coordinator.

As a diverse, global network we seek to provide assessment in multiple languages, and one of our key priorities is to translate the process into more languages. This is a slow and delicate endeavor. We will do our best to accommodate your needs. Please contact your network/regional director to talk this through further.

Please apply to be assessed through the network you are planning to plant in. We have a specific cross-cultural assessment for those seeking to plant into a different cultural context.  Please contact your network or regional director for more details.

A lot! Find out more here. 

Yes. If you are applying to our existing church assessment track, or our church planter assessment track, all elders within your church must be in agreement with the Acts 29 Covenant. 

If you have any questions about this, please contact your network or regional director.