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Join our Church Planting Residency

Be part of the mission to reach 10 cities with the beauty, truth and relevance of Jesus by planting 50 churches.

Express your interest

Express your interest in our church planting residency program by filling out the form below.

Immersive Training
& Development

Be Part of a
Movement & Vision

Ongoing Support
& Mentoring

The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

Inspired by the good news of Jesus and His desire to bring life, more churches need to be planted and more church planters need to be raised up.

To see thriving churches and persevering church planters, we believe preparation and ongoing support are vital.

Our Church Residency Program is a way for us to share our existing systems, structures and experience, and deliver immersive training for new planters.

How our church planting residency will help you

Develop

Gain a structured training program with group seminars, personal coaching, and preaching development.

Discern

Prayerfully and practically discover your suitability to plant a church in the future and how you can best serve Jesus.

Do

You will work full time with a local Lead Pastor or staff member, with opportunities to grow in skills and attributes.

We want to help grow healthy and thriving churches for the Kingdom.

Our story began as a church plant in October 2007, with a small team and a big vision to make a difference in Melbourne for the good of all people and the glory of God.

Since then, City on a Hill has flourished into a movement of men and women across Australia stepping forward under one banner: to know Jesus and make Jesus known.

To continue this good work we recognised the need for an immersive and intentional pathway to recruit, assess, train and commission leaders to plant new City on a Hill churches.

Church planters who have been through our residency program

“Church planters need a lot of faith, wisdom and encouragement to pioneer new gospel work. The City on a Hill residency lifted my eyes to Jesus, and reminded me of the harvest field, equipped me with wisdom from other experienced men and women, pushed me to read and research, while cheering me on along the way to trust Jesus – the one who builds and the church.”
Joel Deacon
“I’ve loved the residency. I’ve learned so much about the culture of our movement being embedded in one of our City on a Hill churches, and joining a team of seasoned planters is incredibly valuable for helping me plot the way ahead as I prayerfully prepare to plant too.”
Ben Hewitt
“Church planting is a challenging, stretching and at times overwhelming endeavour. The residency has reminded me that we are not alone in this effort. We are surrounded by people with a heart for Jesus, a passion to see the gospel proclaimed, and experience and expertise in planting churches to do just that. God builds his church, but by his grace he chooses to use us to do it.”
Pete Steven

Three steps to join the church planting residency

1. Express your interest

Fill in the form by clicking on the below button and tell us a bit about yourself.

2. Get Immersed in our movement

Training, support, development from a local church and pastor, as well as the wider movement.

3. Pathway to plant

The residency program goes for a maximum of two years and if we feel it is a good fit we’ll invite you to progress to our Pathway to Plant a future church.

Requirements for acceptance

Character

  • A deep love for Jesus and his church
  • A godly, humble, and teachable character.
  • Emotional intelligence.

Chemistry

  • Medium-high level of chemistry between the peak leadership team of City on a Hill and the applicant.
  • Medium-high level of natural affinity with City on a Hill’s DNA.

Competency

Demonstrated ability to:

  • Grow a ministry (entrepreneurial and pioneering skills).
  • Cast a vision and  lead a team in that vision
  • Manage conflict well
  • Resilience in ministry
  • Teach, and to do so in a way that embodies City on a Hill’s cultural distinctives.

Formal theological training prior to or during the resident’s time in the program is expected.

Join us in knowing Jesus and making Jesus known