Given that the purpose of WLC is to share the love and Good News of Jesus Christ in our homes, church, community, and world:

• Is planting a mission church and/or being an on-going church planting church a feasible and wise choice for WLC?
• Why or why not?
• If so, what are the best options to go about that?

Based on the research and findings on the following pages, of all the possible options, we recommend the following: a pastor who is established within the community (either from existing WLC staff or from outside WLC and specifically chosen for this purpose), most likely with one other new church staff person, be sent with a qualified launch team to plant a new congregation. We suggest starting this process immediately with a goal of a launch in the Fall of 2007, following careful and considerate initial preparation of this first plant birth.

Based on review of that initial plant experience, we recommend Woodbury Lutheran potentially become an on-going church planting congregation, utilizing Genesis worship as the church planting “launch pad” of WLC. Through this plant “launch pad” model, a new pastor would be called with the intent to lead Genesis worship and then plant a new church when the time is ripe.

The following pages provide additional detail in support of the recommendations made on page 1 of the report and illustrate the thought process the Feasibility Team went through in order to arrive at their recommendations.

1. The Process
2. Staff Input Page
3. Summary of Key Success Factors of Church Planting
4. Summary of Key Obstacles of Church Planting
5. Suggested Options of Plant Models
6. Church Planting Life Cycle & Sample WLC Plant Timeline
7. Sample Financial Projections
8. Demographics
9. Appendix

After being approved by the Church Council on February 13, 2006, the Mission Plant Feasibility Team began meeting on February 23, 2006 and met for 11 times total, concluding with the presentation of the final report to the WLC Council on May 8, 2006.

Meetings – Our meetings were generally 2-3 hours in length and included prayers, healthy discussions, creative brainstorming, and much sharing.

Significant Individual Research – In addition to the meetings, committee members did a significant amount of work individually, including:

• Interviews with many mother churches and church plants across the country, both within the LCMS denomination and otherwise
• Discussions with church planting organizations
• Discussions with LCMS contacts
• Discussions with Woodbury City Administrator
• Reading of various church planting books and articles

Note: Documentation of supporting information (interviews, etc.) is included in the Appendix of this Report’s Master Copy.

Pastor Dean Nadasdy – We invited Pastor Dean to one of our meetings and we had an informative and productive discussion with him related to his vision for WLC, church planting, and church history. In summary, Pastor Dean is in full support of church planting, WLC mothering a daughter church, and WLC becoming an on-going planting congregation.

Staff Input – Members of the team (Pastor Ben, Vicar Matt, and Lori Nixon) attended a WLC Staff Meeting on Tuesday, April 18, 2006. See the next Section & Appendix for results of this meeting.

WLC Staff members were given the opportunity to rank the concept of daughtering a church plant from WLC. They were asked to rank this idea on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being “it’s a horrible idea” and 10 being “you should do it as soon as possible.” Based on an average of 16 responses, the staff ranked church planting as an 8.25/10. Only 4 responders ranked the idea 7 or below, with the lowest rank a 5.

The staff was also asked to give three key success factors and three key obstacles related to planting a church from WLC. These responses were summarized and the team found that there was a high correlation to the staff responses and the responses the team had put together through our research and discussions. See next section.

Every detail of the staff input is available in the appendix in the Master Report.

After collecting internal & external data and researching the topic of church planting, the team put together a list of key success factors related to church plantings as follows:

1. The right motivation – to be a missional church, reaching the unsaved
2. A clear mission, vision, and ministry focus, based on demographics
3. Supportive Mother Church, including continuing relationship with Mother Church
4. Supportive Senior Pastor of Mother Church and pastoral leadership in general
5. Strong missional passion of the Mother Church
6. Qualified Planter Pastor (skill sets, personality, etc.) who has an established relationship within the plant community
7. Church plant launch team that has fundamental skills needed to run a new church and good relationships within the core team

Related to WLC:
The team concluded that to be done successfully, first and foremost, a WLC church plant needs to be done with a missional focus; the main goal has to be to reach the unsaved.

After collecting internal & external data and researching the topic of church planting, the team also put together a list of key obstacles related to church plantings as follows:

1. Lack of shared vision between Mother and Daughter Church
2. Lack of Resources – financial funding, people, etc.
3. Low long-term commitment level of core launch group; it is hard work
4. Lack of freedom of action given to Daughter Church
5. Lack of leadership of Planter Pastor 6. Difficulty of culture, meeting people

Related to WLC:
Woodbury Lutheran has a strong missional vision, but also has varied strategies competing for the congregation’s time, talents, and treasures. Therefore, the key obstacle is the congregation’s perception that a mission plant is not in line with our core vision or that it is stretching our missional vision too thin.

In response, we think a WLC church plant fits very well into our long-range outreach plans. A church plant would complement the other outreach strategies of WLC, including a 2nd site. We believe with strong leadership, clear communication, and most importantly, a missional heart, WLC can successfully pursue multiple strategies for reaching the lost.

The Feasibility Team discussed and explored many models for church planting. Among those models considered are:

1. House Church Plant Model: Associate pastor connected with mother church starts Bible study in house, moving towards facilities or multi-homes.
2. Worker-Priest Model: Planting Pastor works in secular job while starting church.
3. District Plant Model: District funds pastor to start church.
4. Vineyard Model: Build building. Plant resourced through other churches: franchised.
5. Mother Church Plant Model
   1. Grow From Within Model: Mother Church calls current or new pastor to one year (or longer) separate service (in Mother Church), with expectation of moving on.
   2. Engine “Launch Pad” Model: Mother Church uses 2nd worship group as core launch group; new pastor comes in to replace existing established Planter Pastor; overlap or no gap, with the intent that plant again (perhaps) in 3-5 years.
   3. Hive Model: Mother Church splits off part of congregation to make duplicate church.
6. Cold Pastor Model: Pastor sent to new territory to plant.
7. Team Church Model: Multiple churches plant.

Based on our discussions and research, we recommend the Engine “Launch Pad” model for WLC. This model would help a Mother Church become more unified as one church. The Senior Pastor would have a significant mentoring role. Both Mother and Daughter church would be missional, focused on reaching the unsaved. This model also allows new planting pastors to become accustomed to the community before planting.

Related to WLC:
Based on how WLC is structured, the Feasibility Team believes the ideal “launch pad” would be achieved primarily through Genesis worship. This model is well-suited for WLC because of:

• Current structure of two worshipping bodies within church facility
• Strong base of people within church that have missional focus
• Senior Pastor who would be an exceptional mentor
• Building uniquely equipped to support a launch of a new church plant in this way

Sample Projected Timeline

On the following pages are sample financial projections for a possible mission church plant from WLC. These projections are hypothetical, based on some general assumptions. Obviously, any actual financial projections would be based on the visions of a core plant leadership group.

We leave any WLC financial support decisions up to the Council without any preconceived notions of what that support might be. Upon approval of planting a church, the core leadership team would be expected to look into alternative funding sources such as the LCMS MN South District, the LCMS Center for US Missions, etc.

Independent of any financial commitments made for an initial church plant, we encourage WLC to consider a long-term and growing budgeted item for future church plants.

It is our hope that the church plant would become self-sufficient after three to five years of operations. Also, we recommend that any WLC financial support would not exceed ½ of the annual expected plant needs, in line with standard WLC treatment of sent missionaries. We also recommend a three to five year window of support.

Other Potential Plant Sources of Funding

• WLC Missions Board – Pastor Ben Griffin met with the WLC Missions Board on Tuesday, May 2, 2006. The Mission Board was receptive to the mission plant concept and is in support of the idea. The Mission Board is looking forward to discussions with Council related to implementation of this concept and future financial implications.
• Minnesota South District – $100,000 over 3 years
• LCEF – Loans to plant starts
• ARC – Interest-free matching loans
• LCMS World Mission – has earmarked funds for church-planting congregations
• Other – The above list is not exhaustive and the core leadership team will be expected to explore all avenues of additional funding.

Major Assumptions of Sample Financial Projections

1. General offerings are based on $1,867 per giving unit. This is based on the average contribution per giving unit contributing over $50 in 2005. This may or may not reflect actual giving at a church plant.
2. Loose offerings are based on 2% of general offerings, which is historically accurate for WLC.
3. Because the plant would have a missional focus, the sample projections reflect that 10% of the total income generated would be used for outreach/missions. (7.5% for general outreach/missions and 2.5% for multiplication/future planting.)
4. For the first two years, free housing for office space would be found.
5. Worship would be in a rented facility, such as a school gymnasium.
6. Sample Financial Projection #1 (recommended) assumes a pastor and a staff person; Sample Financial Projection #2 assumes a pastor with no staff person.
7. Based on field research, we have assumed a slower growth rate in Sample Projection #2 (with pastor as only staff.)

Sample Financial Projection #1 (Recommended)
Pastor & 1 Staff Member

Sample Financial Projection #2
With Pastor Only

A complete demographic study can be found in the appendix of this document.

Based on demographics, Woodbury and surrounding communities are well-situated for a new church plant.

Related to WLC:
Woodbury and the neighboring communities such as Cottage Grove, Lake Elmo, Oakdale, etc., are all potentially good locations for a WLC mission plant. Ultimately, the plant core leadership team will make the decision on the plant location. We fully anticipate that when making a decision on location, the leadership team will maintain sensitivity and consideration of the planned 2nd Site location of Woodbury Lutheran.