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www.VAST.church
Launch Plan
Capital Region, New York
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Table of Contents
Beginning with the End in Mind
Mission
Values
VAST Code
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Beginning With the End in Mind
28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and
estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the
foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying,
‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
Luke 14:28-30
We believe that in the beginning, God’s creation was good. Humanity was created to
be in community with God and each other. But through our own mistakes, darkness and
evil entered into the story and are now a part of the world. This devastating event led to
our relationships with God, ourselves, and others being fragmented — a shadow of what
they were meant to be — and in desperate need of redeeming.
We believe Jesus’ path of suffering, crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection brings
life to all of creation. Jesus is our only hope for returning to a peaceful relationship between
God and humanity. Through Jesus, we have been forgiven, and restored to full community
with God. Because of this, God is now likewise restoring us to each other, and ourselves.
Jesus calls for his followers, his church, to be a blessing to the rest of the world. Through his
spirit, God fills us with gifts, guides, comforts, counsels, and directs the church to be an
expression of himself in the world.
We believe the church, when functioning as God intends, is the hope of the world.
We believe the church should be a breath of fresh air as Jesus was, instead of oppressive as
the empires which fought against him. We believe God blesses the church so that we in
turn can bless others. The church is a global movement following Jesus’ example. Through
love, peace, sacrifice, and healing we embody the resurrected Christ–who lives in us and
through us–to a broken and hurting world.
We believe there will be a day when injustice no longer exists, and all things will be
restored to God’s original desires. Jesus will return to his creation, and God will rule forever.
All of creation’s pain will disappear, and God will live among us in a restored world. On that
day there will be no more oppression, no more violence, there will be no more death, and
God will wipe away all our tears. Our relationships with God, others, and ourselves will be
whole. All will finally be as God intends.This is what we long for, hope for, and why we are
giving our lives to live out that future reality, now.
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The better answer is that God is calling us to plant a “Life-Giving Church Planting
Movement.” I believe God calls us to plant new churches because each one reaches
different people. God creates unique people so why shouldn’t he create unique churches to
reach his creation. God has been preparing my wife, Lisa, and I to plant a unique church
that will reach people in the Capital Region that no one else is reaching. Lisa and I are
equally assured of God’s direction to build for his Kingdom in The Capital Region (Albany
area) and of the vision he has placed in our hearts for the church we should strive to
create. When God is calling us to this task and equipping us with the resources to
accomplish the mission how can we say no?
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Vision
In May 2017 I picked up a side job driving Uber to pick up some extra money. Day
after day I would drive around the Capital Region of New York and Pray. As time would past
my heart would come alive driving around this region. A voice had grown from a whisper to
a shout Proclaiming ”This is what’s next. This is where you are to go. This area needs to
know God’s love. This area need to know God’s heart.” I knew this vision wasn’t mine. This
had to be divine.
I soon learned that the Capital Region is the least Bible-Minded region in America. I
began to think what a life without my bible would be like. I couldn't imagine not having the
wisdom, strength, hope, love, and peace that it has brought me. A book that has radically
changed every part of me. This book has given me true purpose to live my life. How could a
person live without believing and reading the greatest book to exist? The more I prayed
and continued driving, the more I learned about the region. I was then I knew in my heart
something had to be done. God had spoken and said to start this movement called VAST
Church. A church VAST im love and generosity. A church so VAST in influence the whole
world will knows how VAST the love of Jesus is.
We believe that God is sending us to plant not just 1 church but to see many
locations planted all over the capital region of new york and beyond.VAST will be a church
that helps people find their true purpose in life. A place where they can find true answers
to why they exist and are alive. VAST will be a place where people don’t have to be perfect
to belong. It will be a church where people can find true genuine relationships and
encounter real people and do life together.
A church so in love with Jesus and so filled by his spirit it will do whatever it takes to
share him with the world. A people who model Christ with their lives in such a way that it
attracts everyone they meet. We see a church that is radically committed to taking the
message of hope beyond the walls of the church to the hopeless and helpless that have yet
to hear of this life changing love. I see a church where lost people are found. Where sick
people are healed, And hurting hearts are restored. VAST will Be a church that never stops
going, never stops growing, and will never stay content until the whole world knows of this
love. I see a church that leads history changing generosity that impacts New York's story for
all time to come.
A church that is crazy enough to try to out give God with their time, talent, and
treasure but fails miserably every single time. The church I see Is one where everyone
brings their best. A church with a focus on excellence, honor, and hard work. I pray that this
church would be a light that shines so bright, and make such an impact, that all the world
would stop to watch and see. A church with a power that is so real and life changing. They
would see signs and wonders that only a real God could do and explain. Where JESUS is
famous, the bible is the basis, and this radical reckless love leads their lives.
I truly am not deserving or qualified for what is to come from VAST. I am though,
willing to say yes and trust that voice. I am choosing to believe in all he is going to do and
stick to what he has Promised. This isn’t about a church, a pastor, or a name. This is all
about one. The one person that has yet to hear of the VAST love Jesus.
This movement will take a VAST amount of people, a VAST amount of money, and a
VAST amount of prayer. So I ask you what is your part in this movement? What is your part
in this vision? What is God putting on your heart? Don’t wait… act now…and take your next
step in this VAST story.
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Mission
With a vision for a church in our hearts, we began to create structure that would
make the vision a reality. It was clear that we wanted a simple yet an amazing mission that
people could devote their lives to accomplishing, a mission that aligns with God’s heart for
the people of Upstate New York and beyond:
VAST church exists to lead people to the incredible life that God offers us through
Jesus Christ in all areas of life. We believe that the life God gives starts with a relationship
with Him, but flows into finances, relationships, careers, parenting, and every other area
possible. As we are saturated in our relationship with Jesus, every area of our lives will
begin to become Saturated. As we are transformed, the world will be transformed by how
we live and what we do.
VAST hopes to accomplish the mission by leading people to Jesus in three ways:
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Values
We believe each of these values must be present in a life-giving church. The 8 core
values we hold at VAST are:
2. Gift Oriented Ministry – Helping people learn and function in the gifts God has
given them. The idea here is that people shouldn’t serve where they don’t
belong.
This allows the church to be shaped by the gifts God has placed in the
Church. For
example, if no one likes kids there would be no kids ministry.
3. Passionate Spirituality – Faith is lived out with commitment, fire, and enthusiasm.
We don’t have to do it, we get to do it!
4. Functional Structures – Kill what is not producing or working. Stop doing what
does not work or does not fulfill the VAST vision.
6. Holistic Community – Meets the needs of everyday life in smaller group settings.
Touching people’s lives where they are. Holistic community is when people find
community, people find practical help, and have spiritual interaction.
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VAST has set a goal of 400 people in attendance on launch Sunday, February, 2019.
Statistics state that 80% of church plants that start with less than 100 people will fail.
Therefore we do not want a goal that is too low.
For various reasons the vast majority of churches who have less than 200 people in
attendance will struggle for many years to reach and surpass the 200 person barrier. Most
churches do not grow past this barrier. Therefore it seems beneficial to reach or surpass
that barrier on day one.
Launch expert’s state that the number of people on the day of the launch will be
reduced by half in two weeks. The number in attendance after two weeks is what can be
expected as the base level of the church. By targeting 400 people on the day of the launch
we can expect a base level attendance of 200. With the goal of 400 people in attendance on
the day of the launch, VAST is positioning itself to be in the minimum best strategic
situation for future growth.
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- Psalm 127:1
A goal of 400 people on launch day is an achievable goal when you consider that
with God nothing is impossible. We believe we must begin to petition God to fight our
battles for us to make this dream a reality. It is essential that VAST will win the war in the
spiritual before it attempts to win in the natural.
When we want territory we must defeat kings. In Joshua chapter 1, God commands
Joshua to be bold and courageous and promised that everywhere Joshua set his foot God
would give it to him. Yet Joshua had to go to war to take the land. It’s not easy to take land.
By chapter 13 Joshua had defeated 31 kings. If we are to take possession of the dream that
God has placed in our hearts it will require spiritual victory before we can see natural
victory.
1. The first step in accomplishing the goal is to create a culture of prayer at VAST. We
have enlisted a minimum of 25 intercessory prayer partners and continue to
seek
out more.
2. Each member of the launch team will spend one day each week in prayer and
fasting for The Capital Region of New York.
3. We will keep the intercessory team updated using social media and e-mail with
prayer needs specific to each step of the process so they can pray with us to
overcome the amazing challenges of launching a church.
We must have God’s blessing before we do any of the following steps or they simply will
not work!
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Developing the Launch Team
Teamwork makes the dream work. In order to reach our goal of 400 people we have to put
together a fantastic Launch Team.
We will build a contact list of every person we know in The Capital Region and meet with
each person on the list to recruit them for the launch team.
1. Have integrity and model the way. People first follow the person‒then the plan.
2. Communicate the vision. Envision the future by imagining exciting and ennobling
possibilities then find those who will listen to and share your dream.
3. Allow them to challenge the process (not the vision). Encourage people to step
out
and have new ideas.
4. Let leaders lead. Build teams and empower people.
5. Create an atmosphere of encouragement. Recognize contributions and celebrate
victories.
The minimum number of members on the Launch Team to properly staff a church of 400
people is 40 adults.
Every member of the Launch Team will participate in our Next Classes. In this newcomer
class each team member will discover their gifts and learn the discipleship approach of
VAST LAUNCH prior to the launch.
Post launch each of these teams will no longer serve as the Launch Team and they will
function under the heading of VAST Teams. Each team will meet as a small group once a
month for fellowship, training, and spiritual growth.
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Location, Location, Location
In order to have a successful launch it is extremely important to find a great location. It is
critical that we find a location that meets the following criteria:
3.Size – the size of the room can be too small or too big. It has to be able to create critical
mass in the room dynamic.
4.Cost–stay away from permanent situations, and look for a location that is 35% or less of
the budget.
When a location or venue is found, we will then observe three other church planters in a
similar venue to discover the best utilization practices of the location.
Once we launch multiple portable locations over the next 5 years we can begin to
discover our process for revamping facilities. The dream is to partner with existing dying
churches all over upstate New York. We have seen the new trend coming of Rebirthing old
congregations all over the united state. We Believe we will be positioned to take on existing
churches and relaunch their facilities into life giving churches again.
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Marketing and Outreach Strategy
A marketing strategy is a plan for reaching pre-believers with the Gospel message.
VAST church has adopted a 5 stage strategy to accomplish the mission:
1. Awareness– We are going to ensure that every single person in the surrounding Zip
Codes will be reached and is aware that VAST CHURCH is coming to The Capital
Area. This will be done through radio advertising, direct mailers, door knockers, yard
signs, invite cards, street team events, and more!
2. Connection– We are going to connect with at least 5,000 people in the same zip
codes by canvassing door to door, prayer walks, and community fundraising events.
Every person we meet will have their name recorded and submitted to the prayer
team.
3. Relationship– We are going to build
relationships with 2,000 people in Capital
Region area by intentionally fostering
multiple contacts with the people we
interact
with on a daily basis. The goal of
relationship is to build true community and
earn
the right to spiritually invest in lives. This
will be accomplished through the use of
social media such as e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In, Vimeo, and YouTube. Each
member of the Launch Team will be equipped with social media kits to connect
within their circle of influence. Relationship does not begin with social media but it
can be tracked and maintained through the use of social media. It is critical to reach
2000 relationships because for every 5 personal invitations to attend VAST there will
be one affirmative response allowing us to reach our goal of 400 people in
September, 2018. With a Launch Team of 56 this will require 36 personal invitations
per team member.
4. Discipleship – Discipleship should and can occur prior to Evangelism. If we have
properly built relationships we will be able to find opportunities to positively
influence people on a spiritual level. The goal is to move people one step closer to
Jesus. This is often done through service and loving conversation regarding spiritual
truth. Each member of the Launch Team will be challenged to identify 8 people they
are intentionally leading to Jesus and into a deeper relationship with Him. Again this
will allow for the potential of 400 people in attendance on Launch Sunday.
5. Evangelism–The natural result of intentional spiritual engagement /discipleship is
connection to Jesus! Discipleship cannot help but end in relationship with Jesus. It is
not the goal of VAST to reach the churched. It is our goal to reach pre-believers and
see their lives transformed by Jesus!
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2. Intentional Connection
1) The Experience Host Team will give each attendee the VIP treatment
2) Parking Hosts– Directing traffic (Cars and pedestrians) with a smile.
3) Exterior Hosts– Welcome to VAST, Good morning, pointing toward entrance.
4) Interior Hosts– Open doors, shaking Hands, identify guests, escort and provide
map, assist with child check-in and extra bags for mothers, ensure everyone knows
where to go and that they get there.
5) VAST Café – provides free coffee and Snacks.
6) NEXT Hosts – answers questions and inform about next steps in the #VASTLIFE plan.
7) Weekly Guest Greeting during worship service. Will promote 3 Sunday
invitation,
NEXT, First Wednesday Prayer, and Welcome Parties.
8) Weekly NEXT Environment – during the service guests will be encouraged to
visit
NEXT directly following service. NEXT will always inform each guest of the
following
ways to get plugged in at VAST.
9) Monthly Welcome Parties, Get to know the pastor, Get plugged in to small
groups/Leaders, Vision and mission of the church. Get them signed up for the next
classes!
10) First Wednesday Prayer Meetings- A separate environment where we will pray for
the needs of the church that is placed on contact cards during the TVE. An
environment for the operations and freedom of expressing the Gifts of the Spirit.
This is an environment that lends more towards the insider.
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Governance and Stages of Growth
It is the goal of VAST to have a Parent Church (PC) partnership that will allow VAST to
become a Parent Affiliated Church (PAC). An exploration of the churches in New York with
the assistance of the District Office will help to yield a willing Parent Church. We have
achieved this goal and will be partnering with Two Rivers Church in Binghamton New York.
Here are what the Steps to establishing a PC and PAC relationship are:
1. Agree in principle with a PC for the general purpose and basic operational
relationship.
(See Appendix A – PAC Packet)
3. File a PAC charter with the General Council of the Assemblies of God (See
Appendix A –
PAC Packet)
The critical element in the parent and PAC relationship is a properly defined MOU. In order
to properly develop a MOU it is recommended that leadership from both the PC and PAC
participate in a Clarification of Assumptions and Expectations Meeting.
The participants should consist of the senior leader from the sending church, the senior
leader of the site/church plant and an informed third party facilitator (NY District or Steve
Pike – Director Church Multiplication Network) who can help the sender and the affiliate
clarify their expectations and assumptions. A “scribe” or recording device should be utilized
to capture the points of agreement as the expectations and assumptions are clarified. This
meeting should take place very early on in the process...after the decision to move forward
with the project has been made, but before any substantive actions have been taken to
make the new plant a reality. There are at least four crucial categories of
assumptions/expectations that should be explored. The facilitator can guide the
participants through these categories and make sure that each category is thoroughly
clarified.
1. Money-
How much money is the parent church prepared to invest in the project?
2. Style-
What forms of worship style are not acceptable to the sending church?
Does the sending church expect the new church/site to be a clone or
s
omething very different?
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3. Governance-
What will the relationship of the new church/site be to the sending church?
How often should the leadership of the site/new church be in touch with the
leadership of the sending church?
4.Ethics-
How may the leader of the new site/church interact with the members of the
existing church?
Whom may the new site/church leader invite to be part of the launch team?
How should the site/plant leader communicate with the parent church
r
egarding guests who show up at the new location who typically attend the
sending
church?
How can the site/plant leader appeal for money and prayer from members of
t
he sending church?
It is the desire of TRA that the Parent Church will assist in the following
areas:
4. Accounting services
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When VAST has reached predetermined milestones built into the MOU it will
transition from a PAC to a General Council Affiliated church. As such VAST will need to
apply for and meet the criteria to complete the following documents:
4. Articles of Incorporation
As a General Council Affiliated church it will be the goal of VAST Church to re-invest
the money and assistance from the Parent Church to plant a new church. VAST’s only
expectation as a new PC being that the new PAC retain this goal for itself and any future
churches it plants.
1. Prayer Focus
2. Leadership
3. Strategic Planning
4. Workforce Focus
5. Operations Focus
6. Customer Focus
7. Finances
Each category will be measured and assessed to determine how well it is functioning
to accomplish the 8 indicators of success (Life-Giving Characteristics of a church Adapted
from Christian Schwartz – “ABC’s of natural church development”)
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has placed in the
Church. For example, if no one likes kids there would
be no kids ministry.
f) Holistic Community – meets the needs of everyday life in smaller group
settings. Touching people’s lives where they are. Holistic community is
when people find community, people find practical help, and have
spiritual interaction.
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Operations Management Timeline
December 2017: 13 Months Out
1. Receive District Approval / Phase One Consideration
2. Develop Prayer Partners
3. Develop Fundraising Plan And Partners
4. Begin Exploring Parent Church Affiliation
2. Financial Administration
● Incorporation
● Get Financial Software (E.G. Quickbooks Or Dime-simple Serve)
● Consider Hiring An Accountant To Establish Books And Procedures
● Set Up A General Budget
● Set Up A Spreadsheet For Tracking Income And Expenses
● Fill Out Payroll Tax Forms
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Make Sure You Clarify Expectations For Launch Team Members. Let Them
Know What You Want From Them, What Events They Should Attend, And When
They Should Be There. Also, Remember To Set A Goal For The Number Of Team
Members You Want By The Time Your Church Launches.
2. Marketing - Build Awareness In Your Community
● Website Goes Live
● Social Media Promotion Of Church Page
● Google Ads For Website
● Apply For Nonprofit Status With Usps For Future Mailers
● Create And Publicize Calendar Of Events Leading To Church Launch
3. Fundraising Strategy
● Establish Fundraising Goal Based On 6-month Operating Budget
● Clarify Giving Expectations For Launch Team
4. Community Involvement
● Host Your First Community Event
● Host Monthly Interest Meetings
● Join Chamber Of Commerce, Volunteer At Schools, Run A Benevolence
Ministry
● Create Relationships With Other Pastors And Churches Nearby
5. Determine Our Top Five Venue Choices
6. Up Date Prayer Partners
7. Develop Logos, Letterhead, Sign Design.
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● Figure Out Who Counts The Offering
● Connection Cards - Follow Up
● Background Checks For Volunteers To Work With Children And Youth
● New Believer Follow Up
● Volunteer Recruitment And Assimilation
● Volunteer Roles
● Outline Weekend Logistics
4. Location
● Clarify Expectations With Venue Owner
● Obtain Liability Insurance (E.G. Corporate, Event And Property, On Storage
Too).
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March 2019
1. Up Date Prayer Partners
2. Easter Push
April 2019
1. Update Prayer Partners
September 2019
1. Up Date Prayer Partners
2. Measurement
B) Management Surveys (To Predict How Management Thinks We Did In Each Of The 8
Areas) And Results Collected.
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October 2019
1. Up Date Prayer Partners
2. Leadership Retreat
a) Spiritual Renewal (Prayer And Fasting One Week Prior To Retreat)
November 2019
1. Up Date Prayer Partners
December 2019
1. Update Prayer Partners
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