VISION

We're passionate about helping men and women start Jesus-centered communities of faith.

For the past 10 years, we’ve had the honouring of equipping planters to join God's mission in the renewal of all things, inviting others into compelling environments of shared life, radical discipleship and courageous mission. 

The New Leaf Design Shop has been created and routinely updated alongside a collective of Canadian leaders and practitioners who are in continuous engagement with the frontiers of church planting. With the ever-changing shifts in the Canadian landscape, we've built a resource that doesn't assume a "one-size fits all" approach to what an ideal church plant is. We believe that discerning and self-aware leaders need principles, attitudes and competencies to equip them to start new worshiping communities with contextually effective DNA. We create space for the Spirit to speak and for the willing planter to hear. 

 

Upcoming events

info about future events coming soon. Stay tuned!

 
 
 

The Church Plant Design Shop…

has been developed over more than a decade, with a collective of Canadian leaders in continuous engagement with the frontiers of church planting. It is a 2- or 3-day workshop experience that is fast-moving, interactive and practical. 

 
 

PROCESS

The New Leaf Design Shop gathers Church Planters from all stages in the process, from considering, in the process of planting or have already planted. Regardless of where you find yourself, the Design Shop has something unique to offer you.

This uniquely Canadian church planters training is not your mother’s cookie cutter “10 Easy Steps to Planting a Church” kind of event rather the Design Shop equips planters with contextual thinking, cultural responsiveness, and mission adaptability that will apply to contexts and neighbourhoods they find themselves in.

The Design Shop is taught by a diverse team of missional practitioners that have experience planting churches in various places and spaces in Canada. If you’re looking for help, a chance to think out your plan, and to hear life-saving advice for the road ahead, the New Leaf Design Shop is for you.

We equip planters with tools for the following:

  • Culture awareness – we equip you to identify and work among the cultures that make up your particular Canadian context.

  • Adaptation – we help you develop mindsets, resiliencies, and patterns of leadership that help you adapt to an ever changing Canadian landscape.

  • Gain Clarity – we help you learn how to craft ideas, processes, and structures that are clear and shareable with other Canadians (including your core team).

  • Practical Realities – we equip you with practical tools and frameworks for every stage of your church plant’s development building communities on mission

  • Hearing from God – we teach you how to hear from God and integrate what you hear into your leadership, your structure, and the culture your church plant lives out.

 
 

The Church Plant Design Shop

 
 

What benefits will a potential Planter receive?

  • We provide tools that a church plant can use to understand their context and respond with Kingdom Good News.

  • Our unique approach to experimentation and learning sets the attitudinal framework to be resilient in the face of unpredictable results

  • Initial application begins in session so planters experience basic competence with the tools and see how they integrate with their project and context

  • Our highly relational interactive and diverse environment builds supportive relationships that last throughout the planting journey

 

What benefits will a Church Plant Coach Receive?

  • We equip coaches to journey alongside their planters through all of the ups and downs of the journey by exposing them to the same content as their church planter

  • We offer a pre- and post- coaching plan consultation & resourcing

  • We provide online curriculum base for preparation and review

 

What benefits will a Denominational Leader receive?

  • Our unique insights into the Canadian context and the planting challenge will inform their own leadership efforts, and give them hope in the next generation of church planters & leaders.

  • Our unique approach to “failure” as prime learning opportunities predisposes planters to tackle more than one project. Experienced planters make the best coaches and recruiters as well as being the most effective planters.

  • Our training is created alongside practitioners and current church planters. It is our belief that planters will leave their time at the Design Shop feeling inspired, challenged and equipped for the road ahead

 
 

Quotes from Participants

 

"I value that this process has been created and is lead by those who have direct experience in starting new and innovative expressions of missional church. I felt community and connection with like-minded practitioners and valued that there were representations from different denominations across the Country"

"I am so glad this exists. I think back on the previous church planting workshop I attended and though I learned some good things, it was not as robust and comprehensive as what I received from New Leaf. Thank you"

The opportunity to present my ideas about my community especially helped me clarify my language around how I understand my context and where our new community of faith can fit in the middle of it.

"Instead of a "church plant in a box" as the 80s and 90s tried to sell us, New Leaf brought us new rhythms. Not the “how to do it” but the “what to do to reveal it”

"I would highly recommend the New Leaf Design Shop. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in leading into creative expressions of church"