Incubator
Jan 2025 - Dec 2026
14 online sessions & seven in-person meetings followed by a meal
Incubator
Incubator is City to City’s key two-year program to serve, train, and develop church planters in urban ministry and has been used around the world over the past 10 years and more. Each learning module addresses the specific needs of urban planters, including skills in thinking theologically about ministry, and growth in the various areas of urban ministry.
Who is it for?
The Incubator is designed to help church planters during the critical phase of launching their congregations. They get practical help with writing their action plan, the philosophy of ministry, crucial ministry development, and preaching, among other topics. But our experience shows it would benefit anyone in years 0-2 of church planting.
The Details
Urban Church Planter Incubator, initially designed for a two-year interactive learning environment, consists of sixteen modules that begin with the basics and progress toward increasing leadership complexity, simulating the typical life cycle of a new church. The training will focus on the following areas:
Gospel Renewal: First and foremost, this learning experience is designed to immerse church planters deeply in the gospel, help them to apply the gospel to themselves and understand how the gospel shapes and empowers every aspect of their church plant.
Contextualisation and Ministry Design: The Intensive helps planters to think through the following questions: How do we contextualise our ministry approaches to our urban context? What will the unique, city-focused ministry of our church plant look like for our neighbourhood?
Balanced Ministry: How do we plant churches that address the different ministry fronts in the city? How will the gospel influence and propel our preaching, evangelism, discipleship, faith and work, and mercy and justice initiatives and bear fruit for our city?
Planting a missional church: How do we gather and train a core group for a church plant? How can we implement a missional mindset into our community from the earliest stages on? And how do we lead this community through the various first steps of a church plant?
Modules in year 1 include:
Saturday | 18th Jan 2025 - 9.30AM - 5PM | Understanding the gospel and how it shapes everything in ministry
Wednesday | 12th Feb - 6.30PM - 9.30PM | Personal life of the Leader: including Ministry & Character, models of leadership, unique temptations in ministry (Part 1)
Wednesday | 12th March - 6.30PM - 9.30PM | Personal life of the Leader: including Ministry & Character, models of leadership, unique temptations in ministry (Part 2)
Saturday | 5th April 2025 - 9.30AM - 5PM | Culture and Contextualisation: including writing a contextual profile for your community and recognising cultural bias.
Wednesday | 14th May - 6.30PM - 9.30PM | Evangelistic Networking: including how to grow in consistency, creativity and winsomeness in our own personal evangelism and how to ‘network’ evangelistically (Part 1)
Wednesday | 11th June - 6.30PM - 9.30PM | Evangelistic Networking: including how to grow in consistency, creativity and winsomeness in our own personal evangelism and how to ‘network’ evangelistically (Part 2)
Saturday |12th July 2025 - 9.30AM - 5PM | Missional Ecclesiology: including how to develop ‘outward-facing’ and ‘balanced’ ministries along with how to read your city and how your theological vision relates to the city.
Saturday | 13th Sep 2025 - 9.30AM - 5PM | Grace renewal: including how to grow in personal transparency and gospel renewal in our own lives, how to practice a lifestyle of repentance and faith.
Wednesday | 8th Oct - 6.30PM - 9.30PM | Discipleship and Leadership Development: Knowing how people change and how to deal with unique hindrances to spiritual growth and renewal (Part 1).
Wednesday | 12th Nov - 6.30PM - 9.30PM | Discipleship and Leadership Development: Knowing how people change and how to deal with unique hindrances to spiritual growth and renewal (Part 2)
Saturday | 6th Dec 2025 - 9.30AM - 5PM | Kingdom-centered Prayer: meeting spiritual challenges with prayer, fighting Spiritual battles, and designing dynamic church prayer meetings!
Seven In-Person Meetings | Saturday 10AM - 5PM
14 Online | Second Wednesday of the Month 6.30PM - 9.30PM
Alex Brito - Trainer
Alex Brito is a City Catalyst for The London Project and pastor of Mosaic Multicultural Church in Elephant and Castle, London. Before church planting, he had a business background and studied Theology in Brazil. Currently pursuing a Masters in Theology at Union School of Theology, Alex, together with his wife Aluanna, is a proud parent of three daughters. He enjoys meeting people, reading, and barbecuing.
Neil Powell - Trainer
Neil is Director of The London Project and also works for City to City Europe. He came to faith as a student in London and got married to his wife Jane here. He divides his time between London and Birmingham. He has a heart to see churches from different tribes working together to serve the city for the gospel and has written about it in his book ‘Together For The City.’ He is excited by the opportunity to learn from existing churches, serve them, enable them to grow and to plant new churches across London.
Girma Bishaw - Trainer
Rev Dr Girma Bishaw is a City Catalyst for The London Project, with a particular focus on serving diaspora church leaders to be more effective in mission. He also serves as the director of Gratitude Initiative, a charity that exists to promote the sharing of gratitude to change the social imagination that leads to relational transformation, a fulfilled self, a sense of belonging, and a harmonious and just society in Britain. Before founding Gratitude Initiative, Rev Girma served as a pastor of the Ethiopian Christian Fellowship Church, where he played a key role in the planting of diaspora churches in London as well as across the UK. Girma is married to Yodit, and together they have a son and a daughter. Girma enjoys good food, a good book and good company.