This course will be taught over 9 Mondays:

8th, 15th, 22nd September

6th*, 13th, 20th October

10th, 17th*, 24th November

*Please note 16th Oct and 17th Nov will be taught on Zoom.

Lunch is served at 12.30pm and you'd be welcome to join staff and students for lunch, followed by Prayer in the Day at 1.20pm, with teaching starting at 1.45pm and finishing at 4.30pm (with a coffee break).

The first part of the course considers the biblical, theological, historical and practical foundations of church planting. This includes critical consideration of the ‘whys’ of church planting; the development of an initial theological vision for this ministry; two historical case studies of church planting movements; critical consideration of Paul's church planting journeys in Acts 13-21; and exploration of two key perspectives on church planting: missiology and ecclesiology.

The latter part of this module will hear from global voices in church planting; analyse the revivalistic and organisational dynamics of church planting movements; assess and critique different models of church planting; and explore case studies of contemporary perspectives on church planting.

The course is taught by Christian Selvaratnam.

Revd Dr Christian Selvaratnam is St Hild's Dean of Church Planting and founder of the Centre for Church Planting, the Church Planting Track and the Seedbed programme at St Hild College. Before this, he worked for fifteen years at Alpha International in various roles including as Head of Alpha UK and National Director, and concurrently for fourteen years as the Ordained Leader of G2, a Church of England church plant in York, and as the Pioneer Minister at St Michael le Belfrey, York.

As an undergraduate at Warwick University, he studied Mathematics and Theoretical Computation. Following this, he had several jobs, including working as a Church of England verger, the manager of a printing business and a pastor and church planter with Newfrontiers. Later, he trained for ministry in the Church of England at Cranmer Hall and was ordained in the first cohort of Ordained Pioneer Ministers in 2008.

Over the last twenty years, Christian has personally led two church plants and supported or supervised several others. He is now involved in various roles that support church planting and mission nationally and in the North of England. He is an Ambassador and Evangelist for the College of Archbishops’ Evangelists, a Fellow of the Gregory Centre for Church Multiplication, an Associate Missioner for Fresh Expressions UK, the Mission Advisor at Holy Trinity Boar Lane in Leeds, a board member of Exponential Europe, a member of the General Synod of the Church of England, and an affiliate professor at Asbury Theological Seminary and Director of Studies of the Doctor of Ministry in Church Planting (UK & Europe) Cohort 2021.

Church Planting in Perspective - Short Course