ACTS Cohort Builds Church-Planting Competencies at Baltimore’s Urban Life Center

Three church planters in the Chesapeake Conference’s ACTS cohort gathered Sept. 8 and 9 at the Urban Life Center in Baltimore, Md., for three half-days of training in different competencies, including coaching, affirmation, and empathy. The participants represent one current church plant and two potential plants.

Elvis Mogoy, pastor at Baltimore-White Marsh church; Jenner Becerra, pastor of the Living Word; and David Klinedinst led the sessions. Pastors Mogoy and Becerra completed ACTS in its early years and now teach as cohort leaders. The Urban Life Center, a church plant that grew out of the Reach Baltimore evangelistic campaign, hosted the cohort in its storefront space.

“The Chesapeake Conference is running ACTS for the fifth year. The program has helped produce more than 25 church plants through the conference’s 35 x 25 initiative,” said David Klinedinst, Chesapeake Conference Evangelism and Church Growth Director.

ACTS gives pastors and lay leaders a year of specialized church planting training. The Chesapeake Conference Evangelism Department and the North American Division Evangelism Institute (NADEI) provide the program, and church planters present most of the material. The program keeps cohorts small and requires participants to lead or serve in a current church plant, or to plan to launch one within 12 months.

Each cohort commits to four modules held once a quarter. Between modules, participants complete assigned reading and meet with a personal coach who offers guidance, encouragement, and prayer support. The September sessions equipped the planters to use those same coaching skills with the leaders and core team members they will recruit.

The 2026 cohort will complete its final module, “Worship and Launching the Plant,” Dec. 2 and 3.

Chesapeake Conference pastors and lay leaders attend ACTS at no cost. Participation is by invitation. Anyone who senses a call to plant a church in the Chesapeake Conference can learn more here.