Church Planter Assessment Report – SAMPLE #2

Candidate’s Name: Sam Candidate Assessment Date: July 4, 2005

Wife’s Name: Sally Candidate

Lead Assessor’s Name: Ben Cartwright

Assessment Team Members:

Assessment Status: Qualified Lead Assessor; Trained
Last Name First Name Assistant, or Observer
Cartwright Adam Qualified Lead Assessor
Cartwright Hoss Observer
Cartwright Little Joe Trained Assistant

Report written by (must be a qualified lead assessor): Ben Cartwright

Date of verbal follow-up to written report:

The following candidate descriptions, ratings and comments reflect the judgment of the
assessors. The category descriptions are common to all candidates in a broad
spectrum of cultures based on research done by Dr. Charles Ridley and others, and
serve as the criteria for predicting success as a lead church planter. Through a process
of research, reflection and biblical study, the EFCA National Church Planting Team has
developed the categories.

Please understand the Category Rating Scores are not a comparison with the general
population, but compare people with people who consider themselves potential church
planters and usually have completed a self-assessment process that has led to the
behavioral interview.

The following written report should be viewed as a tool in discerning one’s potential for
success as a leader of a church planting team.

I. CALL
A. Clear Sense of God’s Call
Category Description: Both husband and wife share a clear and compelling
sense of God’s calling to church planting. That calling is supported and
established by fruitfulness in specific areas of ministry and the confirmation of
other people in their church or ministry context.
Candidate Description: Both Sam and Sally clearly articulated a call to
ministry that has been affirmed by others and is characterized by fruitfulness
in winning unbelievers to Christ and by stimulating growth among believers in
a local church setting. Even during dark times of testing, God affirmed their
call as they fasted, prayed and waited. They are both energized by the idea
of starting a new church that will in turn plant other churches.

CP Assessment Sample #2 – Page 1

 Category Rating: 9

II. CHARACTER
A. Strong Marriage and Spousal Support
Category Description: Both husband and wife work together as a team with
agreed upon roles in life and ministry. They have a healthy marriage
relationship with a well-managed family (1st Timothy 3:4-5).
Candidate Description: The Candidates’ marriage is characterized by
transparency. They are conscientious about keeping short accounts. They
are comfortable in their respective roles and naturally complement each
other’s strengths. They enjoy exploring a variety of ways to keep their
devotional life fresh (reading books together, listening to on-line preaching
together, etc.). Sam’s established philosophy of protecting his time with his
family has led him to have an instinctive boundary that has been effective.
We will recommend that he think this through more completely.

Category Rating: 8

B. Godly Character
Category Description: The candidate is demonstrating godliness and
integrity in his personal, married and public life. The qualifications for biblical
eldership and servant-leadership are evident and he is growing in
Christlikeness. (1st Timothy 3, Titus 1, Acts 6) His devotional life is a vital
factor in his growth.
Candidate Description: As far as could be ascertained by this interview,
daily devotions seem to be a priority for Sam and he readily describes
faithfulness in ministry as obedience to the Lord, walking in a way that honors
God, and keeping an eternal perspective. He has established standards for
maintaining integrity but at the same time can readily acknowledge what his
greatest spiritual challenge is (discipline). Sam is conscientious about always
keeping an accountability relationship with a mature brother or elder. Sam
and Sally’s pattern of open communication is also a contributing factor to his
spiritual integrity.

Category Rating: 8

III. COMPETENCIES
1. Visionary Leadership Skills
Category Description: The candidate has a clear and compelling picture of
what the new church will look like in the future and the broad brushstrokes of
what it will take to get there. He is able to share repeatedly this vision in such
a way that others follow his leadership and help make it happen no matter
what the cost.
Candidate Description: Sam has a clear and compelling picture of the
church he is planting – it will be characterized by many new converts as all of
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 the gifts of the Body of Christ are used to bring people to salvation, it will be
inviting, experiential (upbeat, hard hitting worship), multicultural, well
balanced, marked by integrity, transparency and excellence, with a strong
emphasis on preaching God’s Word, and a readiness to launch a daughter
church as soon as possible. In his previous church, Sam was willing to
challenge the inward focus of the existing singles ministry, weather the loss of
most of the group, and rebuild it with a vision for mission and outreach. In
another missions program which he started, 30 out of 100 people were
deployed to short term missions as a result of his leadership. One outcome
was the planting of a church in another country.

Category Rating: 8

2. Starting-Gathering Skills
Category Description: The candidate has an entrepreneurial, risk-taking
spirit and has a history of starting new ministries, groups, or businesses from
scratch using only faith, vision and limited resources. He is able to recruit a
diverse group of other people to join with him in accomplishing his vision.
Candidate Description: Sam is a keen observer of life and people and while
working in the cattle industry launched a highly successful business (which he
later sold) that matched companies looking for employees with skilled
cowboys. In the local church setting, he started a Sunday morning Bible
study that grew from 8 to 50 people in 2 years, outpacing all others that were
being held at the time, and took ministry to the homeless to a whole new
level. He also told of a time when he was able to minister successfully with
someone who was clearly different from him.

Category Rating: 10

3. Communication Skills
Category Description: The candidate has a proven track record of
communicating the Word of God in a relevant and compelling way through his
preaching, teaching and counseling with the result that spiritual fruit and
growth are evident. He understands his community context and the
unchurched there and is able to communicate to them in their “language” and
culture.
Candidate Description: Sam has a passion to preach (and not just in
conventional settings) and has mentored 3 others in the art of preaching. He
especially enjoys preaching to the homeless and unsaved people come to
Christ regularly in response. He desires to preach messages that he has
“lived out”. He has a regular practice of exegeting the culture. Sam’s
preaching style is very informal and is more like a Bible study that assumes

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 people are Biblically literate and would be difficult for newcomers or non-
Christians to understand.

Category Rating: 6

4. Evangelistic Skills
Category Description: The candidate relates well to the unchurched and
unsaved and regularly does the work of an evangelist.
Candidate Description: Sam shared many stories of his interactions with
unbelievers from all walks of life. He recently shared the Gospel (in Chinese)
with a man from Beijing. Evangelism will be a high priority for the new church
plant.

Category Rating: 10

5. Discipling Skills
Category Description: The candidate has the ability to help develop
Christian maturity in individual believers by creating relational environments
that nurture spiritual growth.
Candidate Description: Sam conscientiously disciples new/young believers.
He takes a hands-on approach, adapting his methods to the specific need(s)
of the person being discipled. He relies on the Bible and life circumstances
rather than an established system or process. He will need to develop a
transferable process for disciplemaking.

Category Rating: 7

6. Equipping Skills
Category Description: The candidate demonstrates the ability to help others
discover, develop and use their spiritual gifts in suitable ministries.
Candidate Description: Sam evaluates both the actions and attitudes of
others, observing what “makes them tick” and then encourages them to get
involved in specific ministry endeavors. (For example, “Mike” had a real heart
for missions, but had never been on a mission. Sam challenged him in this
area and Mike not only did short term work in Afica, but is now serving a
missions organization in the area of technological development.) He will use
spiritual gifts tests to formally affirm an already identified gift-mix when
needed.

Category Rating: 8

7. Team Building Skills

Category Description: The candidate is a servant-leader who is able to
identify, recruit and build a team of people made up of others who
complement his gift-mix and role preference, and who follow his vision for
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 ministry. (A team gives leadership to on-going ministry development in contrast to (1) a task
force that organizes to carry out a short-term project or (2) a paid or volunteer staff that works
for the leader. True team members help each other build strategies that will carry out their
commonly-held vision.)
Candidate Description: Sam understands the importance of recruiting and
building a team around a goal rather than around a personality. He uses his
strong equipping skills to identify the variety of skills needed for ministry and
has willingly invested time, prayer, and much emotional energy into the lives
of others to prepare them to serve. He readily named his church plant launch
team; several of whom are ready to “sign on.”

Category Rating: 8

8. Group and Leader Multiplication Skills

Category Description: The candidate has the ability to unite diverse people
into groups that accomplish a common vision and which multiply. He is able
to multiply leaders and groups so that more can be accomplished. As a result
of his multiplying skills he can lead a new church to grow beyond the 100 and
200 barriers.
Candidate Description: Sam was readily able to give two examples of
situations in which he trained other leaders to carry on ministry, who in turn
trained others. He had begun a group multiplication at his previous church
and saw the church break the 100 barrier, but due to circumstances beyond
his control, the church closed and the multiplication process was interrupted.

Category Rating: 7

9. Knowledge of Church Planting

Category Description: The candidate possesses and applies a growing
knowledge of church planting, church health and church growth. He
demonstrates an observable and practical commitment to the vision of
“growing healthy churches that plant healthy churches.”
Candidate Description: Sam could readily describe a healthy church model
and has done extensive reading and research on church planting in the last
two years. He has successfully completed Church Planters BootCamp.

Category Rating: 8

10. Emotional Intelligence

Category Description: The candidate is able to easily adjust to the
challenging and rapidly changing environment of a growing new church. He
is flexible and adaptable and has demonstrated the ability to persevere and
bounce back quickly from even the most difficult circumstances while
pressing on because of a Spirit-guided inner call or motivation.

CP Assessment Sample #2 – Page 5

Candidate Description: In their 10-year marriage, the Candidates have
experienced 3 very challenging situations: One, disillusionment with the moral
failure of a Christian leader; two, the severe illness of their oldest child, and
third, betrayal by a trusted leader. In each case they prayed and sought God
in His Word and took practical steps to deal with each situation - for example,
keeping a journal of their son’s illness, willingly confronting in love the
problem person; patiently waiting and trusting for the truth to prevail when
Sam was falsely accused, etc. They have worked together to recover
emotionally, rather than burying their feelings, appeared free from any
bitterness, and are eager and enthusiastic about the ministry God has for
them now and in the future.

Category Rating: 9

CP Assessment Sample #2 – Page 6

SUMMARY

Overall Ratings: Call: 9

Character: 8

Chemistry: 8

Competencies: 8.1

Strengths related to church planting:

Sam is strong in every area related to church planting, especially:
 A strong call to the ministry, affirmed both by others and by fruitfulness
 A healthy marriage that has successfully weathered difficulty.
 A strong commitment to personal integrity.
 High gifting/skill in the areas of starting/gathering, evangelism, emotional
intelligence, and equipping.

Weaknesses related to church planting:

 There is a need for thinking through and establishing boundaries to protect the
marriage from the demands of ministry. Examples might be: What do I share
with my wife? What do I say in front of my children? How do I live out a healthy
relationship with female leaders and members of the congregation?
 In a church plant that is regularly bringing newcomers into services, Sam will
need to develop a compelling homiletical style that is different from a Bible study
leader’s style and to use illustrations that draw his hearers toward a response to
the truth.
 The lack of a transferable system for discipling new believers.

Church Planting Recommendations:

We recommend Sam as a lead church planter. Should he plant with EFCA West, we
also recommend the following:
 That Sam be mentored in developing a communication/preaching style that will
attract and keep the attention of his hearers, given the short attention span of
many in both churched and non-church cultures, so that they can hear the truth
with understanding.
 Begin the EFCA credentialing process.
 Begin a relationship with a trained church planting coach.
 Connect with a church planters’ network for ongoing encouragement and
support.
 Build a relationship with other EFCA pastors in nearby cities.


Approval as a church planter does not guarantee placement. Other applications and approvals may be
required.
CP Assessment Sample #2 – Page 7