One of the greatest responsibilities of a church planting organization is to evaluate and develop potential church planters. Because church planting has a tremendous affect on the planter, the family, the sending organization and church planting resources, a formal assessment process is critical. Assessment is the process of discerning whether a person is called to plant a church and whether they are gifted to carry out this new work. Assessment is often broken down into a pre-assessment and a formal assessment, an assessment by an independent group or organization.
Pre-assessment typically includes the completion of a series of written tests to determine your strengths and giftings. Below are respected pre-assessment surveys to consider:
Additionally, you can find these and more assessments at PlanterApp, a great resource to help you discern your fit in a particular network or denomination. PlanterApp takes assessment to the next level by aggregating your results into an integrated dashboard view. After completing the assessments required by participating networks and denominations, you can submit your church planting application to that organization with a single click.
Formal assessments can be as short as one day, or 3-5 days in length. A formal assessment is often done in a group setting with other potential planters and includes a combination of interviews, group exercises, essays, and assignments. The evaluation team observes the potential planters in a number of different situations. Most assessments result in a detailed report and a formal out brief. Below are some respected formal assessment centers: