Church Formation Incubator

Many pastors carry beautiful ideas about spiritual formation but often lack the time, space, and community to discern how they should implement formation wisely in their own lives and churches.

The Church Formation Incubator is a 9-month cohort for pastors longing for a culture of discipleship in their churches.

Integrate formation into your church architecture

Join a nine-month cohort for pastors that culminates in an actionable formation plan tailored to your unique context.

  • Two in-person retreats and twice-monthly calls

  • Intimate cohort of 20-30 pastors

  • Monthly assignments, 10-hour workload

  • Hands-on experimentation with your own formation roadmap

  • $3,800 + travel for two leaders

 
 What to expect

Build your church’s unique formation roadmap over nine months

  • Opening Retreat (In-Person)

    An orientation to the program, community feast, workshops, ministry time, and contemplative practices.

    October

  • Learning and Coaching

    Meet online twice a month with world-class teachers and spiritual directors and develop your unique formation roadmap.

    OCTOBER – MAY

  • Hands-on Experimentation

    Use our examples, tools, and exercises to begin trying ideas in your own community, beginning with your core team.

    OCTOBER – MAY

  • Pastors Conference Meet-Up

    Gather with the entire CFI community for shared learning, friendship, and ideation. (Attendance is optional.)

    JANUARY

  • Closing Retreat (In-Person)

    Present your customized formation plan to luminaries and peers for feedback, followed by a closing commissioning service.

    JUNE

  • Alumni Community

    Join a growing alumni community committed to walking together in the long, slow journey of formation.

    ONGOING – 
program design AND Outcomes

A place to be formed, coached, and equipped

 

It's going to be a beautiful but long, slow ride.

–Arthur, CFI Cohort 2024
 

Deeper formation as a leader

You’ll slow down for deep inner work during two in-person retreats and monthly group contemplative prayer with a trained spiritual director.

Clarity and expanded imagination

You’ll learn time-tested frameworks around formation, team culture, and ministry design from leading luminaries, with real-world examples to expand your imagination.

Access to world-class, curated resources

You’ll receive a library of curated resources that support you as you discern, design, and present a comprehensive road map for formation in your church.

A clear roadmap unique to your context

Be paired with an experienced formation coach who can help you clarify, refine, and integrate our content into your life and ministry context.

An ongoing peer community for the journey

Walk with both a small peer cohort and a growing community of prior participants, crafting your plan and processing your journey in a trusted circle of friends.

 

Who is it for?

The CFI is for two church leaders (typically a lead pastor plus a key implementer) who are committed to a shared vision of formation, are already working to implement formation, and use Practicing the Way resources.

Some things we look for

  • The CFI is for pastors aligned to Practicing the Way's vision for spirituality, as articulated in the Practicing the Way book and the Course.

  • The CFI is for pastors who are actively implementing formation and getting traction with their team and their church.

  • The CFI is for pastors who are running Practicing the Way resources, participating in events, and walking with us relationally.

  • The CFI is for leaders who are deeply committed to implementing formation into their church for the long-term, and have support from leadership (such as an elder board) to attend the CFI and re-architect the church around formation.

 

What pastors are saying

Hear from pastors who have participated in previous cohorts and are now bringing formation insights into their church communities.

 

 Meet your guides and fellow travelers

Our Church Formation Incubator is led by seasoned pastors and luminaries of formation, and alumni become part of a larger formation community that provides ongoing support.

 
 

John Mark Comer

John Mark Comer is a teacher, writer, and the founder of Practicing the Way.

After serving for two decades as the pastor for teaching and vision at Bridgetown Church in Portland, Oregon, John Mark and his family relocated to Los Angeles, where he serves as a teacher in residence at Vintage Church LA.

He is the New York Times bestselling author of seven books, including Practicing the Way and The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry. His podcasts, John Mark Comer Teachings, Rule of Life, and Practicing the Way, have been ranked on top religion and spirituality podcast charts in the U.S. and U.K.

 
Past Teachers

Take the next step

The next cohort runs from September 2025 to June 2026. Complete the interest form to get started.

You might be asking …

  • The CFI is for church leaders (typically a lead or executive pastor plus a key implementer from each church) who are committed to a shared vision of formation, to relationally investing in the CFI community, and to running Practicing the Way resources in their churches. Our cohorts have included new pastors and church planters, as well as more seasoned leaders in established churches. For all pastors, it is important to have full support regarding your participation in the CFI from key stakeholders and any governing bodies, such as your board of elders.

  • The CFI costs $1,900 per pastor ($3,800 per church). This fee includes lodging and food for both in-person retreats in October and June, but it does not cover airfare or ground transportation.

  • Scholarships are available on a limited basis. We typically ask those inquiring about a scholarship to first prayerfully identify how much they might be able to contribute to the cost. Please reach out to us with scholarship inquiries at hello@practicingtheway.org.

  • Participants will commit to two in-person retreats in California and twice-a-month online gatherings over the course of nine months. During this time, participants develop and present a formation roadmap for their church with help from CFI leadership and other cohort members. Because the Incubator is a peer community, rather than just a formation think tank, we ask participants to commit to engaging with their cohort and other CFI alumni beyond the nine-month term.

  • Each cohort will begin and end with a retreat in California. The cohort meets twice a month for online gatherings, which are typically held on Thursdays from 2:00-3:30 pm ET / 11:00-12:30 pm PT. Times are subject to change based on the availability of our luminaries.

  • The CFI is focused on producing an actionable plan by systematically working through what we call a Formation Design Canvas: an intentional, contextualized plan that provides a roadmap for your church moving forward. Our aim is to move from ideas to implementation and to help you sustain the long, ongoing work involved in creating a culture of formation.

  • Over the course of the cohort’s nine months, you’ll work through the Formation Design Canvas with your church partner to create a clear formation pathway for your community within areas like team culture & health, community rule of life, discipleship pathways and more. This creative process will include monthly homework, readings, interaction with luminaries, and a final presentation of your plan with input from cohort leaders and peers.

  • Unfortunately, space for the CFI is limited. We reserve space for two pastors per church, one of which could be your spouse if they are considered a key implementer.

  • At this time, the cohort is limited to two leaders per church.

  • We have had CFI participants across a wide range of church traditions and denominations, as well as sizes. Past leaders have represented everything from micro-churches and house church networks to megachurches with thousands of members.

Have another question? Email us at hello@practicingtheway.org.