The Dublin Church Planters Forum
The Church Planters Forum is the central gathering of the Dublin Collective, bringing together church planters and church leaders from across Dublin to encourage one another and strengthen the work of the gospel in the city.
Why?
Church planting is critical to reaching the many different people and communities across Dublin. There are still many geographic areas and demographic networks that are not actively being reached by an evangelical church.
Healthy church planting also strengthens and resources the existing body of Christ within the city.
But church planting is not easy.
For this reason, the Dublin Collective exists to support, encourage, and train church planters and leaders, so that more healthy churches might be planted across the city.
Our vision is not to plant churches together, but to together plant churches.
The distinction is subtle but important.
Each church and denomination continues to plant within its own structures, while we walk together relationally as we serve the city.
“The likelihood of survivability increases by 135 percent when the church planter meets at least monthly with a group of church planting peers.”
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For anyone involved in church multiplication in Dublin, including the following stages of church planting
Planning for a future church plant (whether as a ‘sending leader’ or the ‘sent leader’)
Preparing to church plant
In the process of church planting
In the early years of a church plant
Have a desire to explore church multiplication
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The first Thursday of each month (September to May)
9.30am - 1pm
There is an option to go to lunch together afterwards, 1-2pm
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Irish Church Missions (Bachelors Walk, by O’Connell Bridge)
What We Do
Each month the Dublin Collective gathers church planters and church leaders from across Dublin for conversation, encouragement, and learning together. Our time typically centres around two things.
First, we create space for the formation and support of the leader. Each month someone from the group has the opportunity to share something from their ministry, either a case study of something that has been encouraging, or a challenge where they would value the wisdom and perspective of the wider group. This has proved to be one of the most valuable aspects of the Collective, as leaders from different denominations and traditions come alongside one another to listen, advise, and pray. Over time this has fostered deep relationships and a sense that no one is planting alone.
Second, we engage theologically with ministry in the city of Dublin. Each year we work through selected papers, articles, or book chapters related to urban mission, church planting, and gospel ministry. Participants read the material beforehand, and during our gathering we discuss, wrestle with, and apply the ideas together as practitioners. The goal is not simply knowledge, but thoughtful contextualisation and practical application for ministry in our city.
The schedule below outlines the themes and resources we are working through this year.
2026/2027 Training Topics
| Date | Module | Session Description |
|---|---|---|
| 3rd Sept 2026 | Gospel Renewal: Why Good Churches Drift | How do we keep the gospel central not only to what we believe and preach, but to the way we lead and minister? This session will explore the ways ministry competence, doctrinal conviction, activism, growth, or tradition can begin to occupy the place that belongs to the gospel, and what ongoing gospel renewal looks like in the life of a church and its leaders. |
| 1st Oct 2026 | Divine Dependence in a Culture of Competence | What does genuine dependence on God look like alongside good planning, strategy, competence, and hard work? Scripture and church history repeatedly connect renewal with leaders who recognised their need for God and sought him in prayer. This session will explore how prayer and dependence on God shape the culture, priorities, and expectations of a church. |
| 5th Nov 2026 | The Formation Gap | Healthy churches care about more than attendance and activity. We want to see people becoming mature followers of Jesus. In a culture where work, technology, consumerism, relationships, and individualism are continually shaping us, how can our churches intentionally help people become more like Christ? This session will explore discipleship as formation and consider the practices, relationships, and environments through which people grow. |
| 3rd Dec 2026 | The Gospel in a Dublin Accent | What does faithful gospel ministry look and sound like in Dublin? Every church expresses the gospel through particular forms, language, practices, and culture. This session will explore contextualisation as part of faithful ministry: understanding the people and place God has called us to serve and considering how the unchanging gospel can be communicated and embodied meaningfully within that context. |
| 7th Jan 2027 | The Gospel and the Common Good | What does it mean for a church to seek the good of the place in which God has planted it? Scripture gives us a rich vision of justice, mercy, concern for the vulnerable, evangelism, discipleship, and public witness. This session will explore how these belong together and what gospel-shaped engagement with the life of Dublin might look like. |
| 4th Feb 2027 | Raising Leaders Before We Need Them | How can leadership development become a normal part of discipleship rather than something we address only when a role needs to be filled? This session will explore how leaders are recognised and formed through relationships, apprenticeship, meaningful responsibility, encouragement, and spiritual formation. We will consider how our churches can become places where emerging leaders are noticed, invested in, and given room to grow. |
| 4th Mar 2027 | Planting Is Not Enough: Fostering Multiplication Norms | What would it look like for sending leaders, planting churches, and multiplying disciples to become part of the normal imagination of our churches? This session will explore the culture and practices that help churches reproduce, including how we identify and release people, hold resources with open hands, and develop a long-term vision for multiplication. |
| 8th Apr 2027 | Kingdom Collaboration and Gospel Movements | The Collective exists out of a conviction that the kingdom of God is bigger than any one church, denomination, or network. What becomes possible when churches work together for the good of the city? This session will explore collaboration, generosity between churches, shared mission, and the conditions that can help gospel movements develop across a city. |
| 6th May 2027 | Finishing Well: Faithfulness, Fruitfulness and the Long Haul | Ministry begins with questions of calling, mission, and what God might do through us. Over time, another question becomes increasingly important: how do we remain spiritually alive, relationally healthy, and joyfully faithful over a lifetime of ministry? This session will explore the practices, relationships, and patterns of life that can help leaders persevere and continue bearing fruit over the long haul. |
Learning Archive
Since 2020 the Dublin Collective has gathered monthly to reflect together on urban mission, church planting, and gospel renewal in Dublin. Below is a record of the sessions and topics we have explored together in previous years.
Tip: On smaller screens, rotate your phone for the clearest view.
Join the Collective
If you are involved in church planting in Dublin and would like to explore joining the Dublin Collective, we would be glad to hear from you. We usually welcome new participants each September and ask for a commitment to attend most of the monthly sessions so that the group can grow together consistently.