The Denver Metro Area
Denver is the capital of Colorado. It is located on the South Platte River, just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. Denver is the 19th-most populous U.S. city, and has grown by 19% since 2010. It is nicknamed the Mile High City because its official elevation is exactly one mile above sea level. The metro area has an estimated population of 3.5 million.
In 2016, Denver was named the best place to live in the United States by U.S. News & World Report. We are known for world-class cultural attractions, thriving craft breweries, a great food/music scene and immediate access to hiking and skiing in the Rocky Mountains.
The Need for Church Plants
Church planting is a vital need in the Denver Metro area. The growth capacity of established churches and the rate of church planting has not nearly kept pace with population growth, especially among millennials. In an increasingly post-Christian Denver culture, there is a huge need for evangelistic PCA church plants that are seeking to make new disciples.
There are many great, bible teaching, gospel preaching churches, but not nearly enough to meet the needs. In a metro area with 3.5 million people, there are only 11 PCA Churches (including church plants).
The Host Church
Deer Creek is a growing multi-generational PCA church (500+) in beautiful Littleton Colorado, a southwest suburb of Denver. We are a church for people who aren’t perfect and who don’t pretend to be, committed to making disciples who Reach Up in Worship, Reach In to Community and Reach Out in Service to Others. We have seen God move in powerful ways in the last few years and are excited to be a part of the work we see him doing in the Denver area. We hope to continually send out people to establish new churches where the Gospel is preached and new disciples are made.
Our Residency
Deer Creek Church trains church planters through our residency process. For 2 years, a resident joins our staff and works on relevant skill and character development needs for church planting. They take leadership of significant areas of ministry at Deer Creek, join our staff Executive Team, preach consistently, start at least one new ministry or initiative, learn the culture, and begin developing relationships with potential core team members.
In the 3rd year, residents shift their focus to the launch of the church plant. They identify a location, gather a core team (from inside and outside of Deer Creek Church), work on a website/logo, make connections in the target community, purchase equipment and settle on a launch date.
An ideal residency candidate has some ministry experience, but is looking to grow as a leader, pastor and preacher. Experience living in Colorado, or at least visiting is extremely helpful. We are looking for someone who is humble, teachable, entrepreneurial, evangelistic, a good communicator, and open to being challenged about contextualization issues.
You can find more residency details here: Deer Creek Church – Church Planting Residency Opportunity
Our Church Planting Network
Deer Creek Church is a member of the Western Church Planting Network (WCPN). WCPN is an association of churches in the Rocky Mountain Presbytery (CO, WY, and MT) that are passionate about planting churches. We pool our experiences, skills and resources to plant new churches in the West. You can find out more about WCPN here.
Recent Church Plant: Elevate Hope Centennial
In September, 2019 Deer Creek Church commissioned Brett and Erin Weston, along with over 40 members of Deer Creek Church to go and plant Elevate Hope Centennial in Centennial, CO. Learn more about EHC by watching this video and going to their website!
Interested in learning more?
If you would like to explore starting a residency at Deer Creek Church, we would encourage you to check out a full worship service by going to the videos on our Facebook page. That will give you a feel for our church culture.
After that, please send any materials that you have (MDF, resume, sermon samples, etc) to our Executive Pastor, Tim Ringquist, at tim@deercreekchurch.com and he will set up a time to talk with you.