M4 Team Process
Overview
M4 Team Process is a two year training that seeks to help the church planter and his team succeed in the first years of church planting. Success means that, at the end of the training process, the church planting team is prepared to launch a healthy reproducing church that glorifies God and impacts society. It is built upon four truths that stem from the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20: Master, Mission, Multiplication and Movement.
There are four significant elements that contribute to the success of M4 Team Process: assessment, coaching, facilitation and online learning.
Assessment
M4 Team Process begins with the church planter undergoing a rigorous assessment process. This is not a pass/fail evaluation, rather it provides honest and detailed feedback for the church planter on their experience in four main areas: calling, character, chemistry and competencies.
The assessment process consists of a self-assessment and an assessment interview led by a trained assessors’ team. In the end, a summary report with the assessors’ key observations and recommendations is presented to the church planter. These findings can provide a good starting point for coaching.
Coaching
M4 Coaching is a one-to-one relationship between the church planter and their coach to help the church planter and their team move from where they are to where they believe God wants them to be by following the lead of the Spirit in making them more Christ-like.
The role of the coach is to draw out what the Holy Spirit has put in and help the church planter and their team be obedient to what God is saying to them. The coach seeks to help the church planter be the most effective leader possible while helping make the church planting project as effective as possible.
Facilitation
One of the key components of M4 Team Process is the learning community gathering. A learning community is a collaborative process where key people have the best conversations around the most important topics that will bring about the desired results.
The facilitator is the person who ensures this process starts well, flows smoothly, and ends with each team having a clear action plan on what they will be doing for the next 6 months.
Online learning
The online learning course consists of approximately 80 teaching sessions and interviews with experienced church planters from the European context on relevant church planting topics. As each participant goes through the course, they are able to reflect on their own learnings as well as how that might apply to their context. The course is supplemented by a Journal with dynamic individual and team exercises. It provides space to write down personal reflections and serves as a spiritual formation tool.