Josh and Amanda Clark weren’t sure what to expect at the Send Network SBTC assessment retreat.

He was certain of his calling as a pastor and church planter—certain enough that he’d left behind a career with a major supermarket chain of more than 20 years. The couple had completed an extensive pre-assessment process.

And yet, there was some trepidation.

“There’s definitely some nerves,” Clark said, “some fear of the unknown. You don’t know what you’re gonna get.”

But Clark looks back now to that retreat in October 2023 with fondness, recognizing its importance in both clarifying and affirming his call.

“They basically turn out every pocket you’ve got and turn over every stone in your life,” Clark said. “They ask the right questions. … When you get there, at least for Amanda and me, we were excited to talk about what God is doing around us, to share our vision, to share our heart, and to hear these ministry leaders who’ve been doing it longer than we have who are so excited for us.”

The Vine Community Church launched Sept. 8 in Buda, a rapidly growing town south of Austin. And Clark now numbers among more than 140 pastors who have launched or soon will launch since the North American Mission Board and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention partnered to form Send Network SBTC. All participated in an assessment retreat, which is required for endorsement as a planter.

Though numbers are still being finalized, Send Network SBTC will endorse approximately 60 church planters in 2024—the most in the three years of the partnership, which has exceeded its annual goal by 10-20% each year.

While the numbers are encouraging, Send Network SBTC leaders understand the task is immense. Vance Pitman, president of Send Network, has laid out a challenging vision: a 1% reduction in lostness in Texas. The state’s population has climbed above 30 million. While approximately 10 million claim a relationship with Christ, that leaves 20 million lost. Reaching Pitman’s goal would mean 200,000 coming to faith in Jesus.

“That puts it into perspective,” said Jason Crandall, church plant lead for Send Network SBTC. “We’ve had great numbers, but our hope would be to plant significantly more churches. We’ve been doing well, but we see so much lostness. We want to do everything we can through the work of church planting to combat lostness.”

Send Network SBTC holds three assessment retreats a year. The most recent assessment retreat was held Oct. 3-4 in Houston. The third of 2024, it included 31 candidates and their wives and was conducted in English and Spanish (16 English-speaking candidates; 15 Spanish-speaking), reflecting Send Network SBTC’s recognition of the needs in Texas. The English-speaking candidates participated in an assessment retreat at Houston’s Sagemont Church, the Spanish-speaking candidates at Champion Forest Baptist Church.

Before candidates and their wives arrive at the assessment retreat, they’ve completed an extensive pre-assessment screening process that evaluates their calling, marriage, and leadership abilities. It includes references and background checks, as well as MinistrySafe training.

At the assessment retreat, they’re closely evaluated in nine areas: calling, spiritual and emotional health, family dynamic, vision, leadership, communication, missional engagement, disciple-making, and relational intelligence.

Clark describes the first day, which is filled with back-to-back-to-back interviews with assessors in each of those areas, as “intense.” That evening, each couple is given a gift card and sent on a date, with instructions to treat it as such.

“We did that,” Clark said, “but we were both super giddy. We wanted to talk about all that went on and download with each other.”

Each candidate has a sending church, because Send Network’s theological and philosophical conviction is that networks don’t plant churches—churches plant churches. Thus, a representative from the candidate’s sending church must participate in the assessment retreat (the Clarks’ sending church, as an example, is the Well Community Church of San Marcos, which is itself a Send Network church plant). As the candidates and their wives go through assessment, the sending church representatives are going through sessions designed to help equip them to care for, coach, and mentor the planters through launch and beyond.

Julio Arriola, director of Send Network SBTC, says each assessment retreat represents a “summit” of an intense process of several months, at least. After the assessment retreat, church planter candidates receive one of three designations: “ready to plant,” “development needed,” or “redirect.” But Arriola says because the pre-assessment process pares down the initial candidate list, very few candidates who participate in assessment retreats leave as “redirects.”

Once endorsed, the planter goes through more Send Network equipping as part of a cohort of planters and is assigned a coach and a care team in preparation for launch and beyond. The ultimate goal is to determine readiness, because as Crandall says, “church planting is so hard. There’s so much spiritual warfare. If you’re not called to it and not healthy, you’re gonna make a shipwreck of life. We don’t want that for the planters and their families—but also for the name of Jesus.”

For most, the process is similar to what the Clarks experienced: clarifying and affirming.

“One of my prayers is that (the assessment retreat) is a life-giving experience for anybody there, whether a candidate or an assessor,” Crandall said. “We don’t have ‘gotcha’ moments in the assessment. We’re gonna ask hard questions, but it’s all done with grace and kindness and pointing toward the gospel.”