Five out of the 11 fastest growing cities in the U.S. (in terms of percentage growth) are in Arizona according to census.gov. The Tucson Church of Christ seeks workers for this harvest field and is providing a unique incubator program for those who seek to do full-time ministry and to be goers for God.

What is a ministry incubator program?

A business incubator is designed to help young startups innovate and grow by inundating them with resources and mentorship. A baby incubator provides a safe, controlled space for infants to live while their vital organs develop.

Similarly, the ministry incubator program at the Tucson Church of Christ is offering young aspiring ministers and church planters an environment to grow in a fail-proof step-by-step progression. Financial support will be provided for each participant.

Step 1. Bread and Butter (Learn ministry basics through campus ministry). Campus ministry is a place where you can study the Bible with a large volume of people in a short amount of time in a controlled environment. You’ll be walking daily alongside an evangelist AND a full-time campus minister at the same time to learn the bread and butter of how to lead and grow a ministry. Training will be focused on how to love the lost, how to study the Bible effectively with people, how to help young Christians mature in their faith, and how to organize and lead evangelistic activities and devotionals. Previous campus ministry not required.

Step 2. Cyprus and Cyrene (Lead a mission team, with a safety net). Acts 11:20 tells of a team of ordinary, untrained men from Cyprus and Cyrene planting the early gentile church in Antioch. The Jerusalem church then sent Barnabas, who helped strengthen that church to become a major center of teaching and sending out. In the same way, having completed step 1, you’ll be sent out along with a mission team. An evangelist will go with you to a nearby city—as in literally move there with you—to walk with you as you lead the mission team and get a church planting off the ground. The geographical distance provides a unique blend of hands-on training as well as room to innovate and develop your own spiritual leadership.

Step 3. Titus and Timothy (Independently lead a church with the backing of an incredible Arizona leadership team) Lead your own church like Paul’s young guns in the Bible: Titus and Timothy. You’ll be supported and loved by an incredible all-Arizona staff. The sky’s the limit.

The kind of person we’re looking for

  1. Campus ministers. You have experience doing campus ministry and are looking to be trained as an evangelist and to learn how to plant churches and send out mission teams.
  2. Dreamers. You don’t have previous ministry experience, but you have a dream for God’s kingdom. A perfect opportunity for fresh grads.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if you’re young or old, male or female, single or married, these are the qualities we look for:

  1. Humble and hungry – You’re willing to be constantly molded and challenged to be more like Christ.
  2. Self-driven and self-determined – You are the driver. You push tasks and projects toward completion and push others to do the same, even when no one else is doing it. 
  3. “Whatever it takes” attitude – A willingness to do anything for the sake of the gospel.

Who is heading the program?

Rob and Pam Skinner have planted multiple churches in Oregon, Japan, and Arizona, all of which were started from ground zero and have grown to 100-200 members. They have also helped raise up and send out leaders or mission teams to Alaska, Washington, Hawaii, California, and most recently Flagstaff, AZ. Rob wrote the books How to Plant and Grow a Church: A Complete Manual for Small Church Growth and Courage: How to Make this Life Count. They are passionate about multiplying disciples, leaders, and churches. They have three kids David, James, and Anne who all currently live and attend church in Tucson.

Kevin and Erica Lu are full-time campus ministers at the University of Arizona. Kevin was baptized as a college student at UCI in Orange County, CA. Erica was baptized as a teen in Houston, TX. They met on the mission field in China, where they trained for campus ministry in an underground church setting. After six years serving there, they were refused entry into the country due to evangelism. They detail their experiences in chapter 18 of The Mission by Will and Kristen Lambert. They are passionate about inspiring their generation to rise up and answer the call to finish the work Jesus called us to do.

About Arizona and about Tucson

Arizona is an incredibly ecologically diverse state. Within a few short hours you can drive to serene lakes, huge mountains, and beautiful desert landscapes. Tucson is part of the Sonoran Desert, which is widely considered one of the most beautiful on the planet. It’s surrounded by four mountain ranges and deep valleys which are inhabited by everything from Bighorn Sheep to Mountain Lions. If you like the outdoors, you can hike and mountain bike to your hearts content. You can hunt. And the southernmost ski resort in the US is in the mountains overlooking Tucson at Mt. Lemmon.

In the city of Tucson, there are hundreds of great restaurants and live music venues as well as wonderful people. There’s a thriving arts community and a huge music community. There are theatres and art museums and festivals. It was the first US city to be named a Gastronomy Capital by UNESCO because of its food and culinary heritage. It is surrounded by up-and-coming cities like Oro Valley, Sahuarita, and Vail (all of these need churches to be planted!)

About the University

The University of Arizona has over 49,000 students, centrally located in Tucson. It is a top 20 public research university with one of the nation’s best D1 basketball programs. Eller School of Management offers an Information Systems program that is ranked third in the nation (after MIT and Carnegie Mellon). The UofA was recently selected by NASA to lead the Aspera Mission, one of four inaugural Astrophysics Pioneers missions, funded at $20 million.

About the church

The church has over 100 members in Tucson and the surrounding cities of Pima County, which has a population of over one million people. Our leadership team is mature, experienced, and focused on building a great teen and campus ministry. We are part of the Pacific Southwest Family of Churches and provide discipling and support for the new church planting in Flagstaff, Arizona. The Tucson church is itself relatively young, re-planted just ten years ago, and is diverse, unified, and eager to build a thriving campus ministry and to send out mission teams and build churches across Arizona.

If you are interested in the program, contact Rob Skinner at [email protected] / 520-273-7040.