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The purpose of the Sherwood Residency Program (SRP) is to train godly, gifted men to become effective church planters, leaders, and senior pastors.
Our desire is to come alongside sending churches (in a supportive role) to encourage their planters and to help fulfill their vision to plant strong and healthy churches.
SRP will help generate a network of like-minded churches that serve Christ in fellowship with one another, collaborating and assisting each other as one body in Christ.
SRP trains church planters in the seven primary church planter tasks.
SRP is a comprehensive, post-seminary, paid residency training program that will train and equip called men to plant or revitalize churches as God leads. Its primary goal is to broaden the ministry skills of called and gifted men, enabling them to plant a church fully equipped. SRP is not an internship for motivated disciples to consider full-time ministry. Instead, SRP is designed to hone the already proven/emerging gifts of a called pastor.
SRP has a six-month and twelve-month track. The length of the track will be determined prior to acceptance in the program and is based on ministerial leadership experience.
Path 1 is a full-time, in-person residency designed to help a church planter grow in leadership and ministry skills to plant a healthy church. (IPR-FT)
Path 2 is a full-time, in-person residency designed to help ministry leaders work through their calling and/or gain the understanding and experience needed to eventually serve as pastors, church planters, missionaries, and ministry leaders. (IPR-FT)
Path 3 is a focused, in-person training designed for those who want to engage God’s mission and explore God’s call while maintaining current jobs. (IPT)
Path 4 will offer focused training online before planting a church.
Path 5 will offer full-time training to help restore, rebuild, and revitalize struggling churches.
Path 6 will offer focused training and counseling before the possibility of reentering the ministry.
Our first calling is not to ministry; our first calling is to intimacy. Ministry is what God does out of the overflow of intimacy with Christ. SRP focuses on helping leaders understand, develop, and live out of the overflow of intimacy with Christ.
While God is omnipresent, there are times when He chooses to show Himself in ways where His presence is more easily recognized, His activity is profoundly visible, and His favor is so unmistakable that people say, “God is present and at work.” When you experience it, you want more. We want to help ministry leaders understand and pursue the manifest presence of God in the places they serve.
Sherwood maintains a constant emphasis on the gospel and discipleship. SRP residents will be provided with and trained in gospel resources for discipleship. These resources emphasize our created purpose and train people to live in right relationship with God, the church, and the world.
Each month of the program will provide a new leadership emphasis. Each part develops the person and encourages a lifetime of leadership growth.
Communication is crucial. Every ministry leader needs the ability to cast vision, share God’s Word, communicate needs, and direct staff or volunteers. Each participant will work on communication the entire time they are in SRP.
Therefore, SRP emphasizes key aspects of personal and ministry health. Part of establishing health is learning to live out of the overflow of relationship with God. Another part of health is developing key disciplines early in ministry to stay grounded while facing continual changes and pressure. We want to see ministry leaders making a positive impact for God’s kingdom for decades into the future.
If a kingdom focus is not taught from the beginning, it is very difficult to develop over time. We will train SRP participants to cast vision for the kingdom, to think in kingdom ways, and to work with a kingdom perspective.
We don’t want anything to distract from learning and growing as much as possible. To accomplish this goal, Sherwood has already made a significant investment by purchasing, renovating, and furnishing beautiful homes for our full-time residents. We pay for utilities, provide a small salary, assist with health insurance (in approved paths and cases), and offer opportunities for eligible school-aged children to attend Sherwood Christian Academy while their family is in the program.
Unfortunately, everyone doesn’t get an opportunity to grow up in a healthy church environment. Wounds, misconceptions, and poor practices in a church can adversely impact decisions and direction for future ministry. Sherwood is a healthy church and provides a safe environment for learning.
Participants will have opportunities to build deep relationships with others in the program and with staff and members of Sherwood. Our desire is to continue relationships long after individuals graduate from the program.
Paul Gotthardt has served as the Senior Pastor at Sherwood Baptist Church since 2021. He graduated from the University of Georgia in 1998 with a B.A. in World Religions (with an emphasis on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). He received his M.Div. in Biblical Languages from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in May 2003 and completed his PhD in Christian Counseling from Adonai University in March 2009.
Paul has led four churches in three states (North Carolina, Nevada, and Georgia). He planted his first church in North Carolina in 2002, and God tremendously blessed during that time. After transitioning that church to another pastor, Paul and Brea moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, to plant Life Baptist Church. They served at Life for the next 18 years.
Life began around a dining room table with four adults, a dream for discipleship, and a lot of prayer. Along the way, the church met in 14 different locations including a house, casinos, schools, churches, professional buildings, club houses, parks, and even parking lots. In God’s time and through a miraculous answer to prayer, Life was able to purchase property and build a beautiful campus in the center of southwest Las Vegas.
In 18 years, they saw more than 2,000 people come to faith in Christ. Life was recognized for over a decade as being in the top 1% of the most evangelistic churches in the SBC. The church grew an average of 30% each year for 18 years and had more than 2,300 people gathering in biblical community. Due to the high transiency rate of Las Vegas, Life discipled and sent more than 5,400 people to other cities and churches around the world. Through partnerships and kingdom engagement, Life worked in more than 30 nations and helped plant 20 churches in nine states.
Paul has authored three books: Eight Questions and the God Who’s Asking, Christ Is All You Need, and 1 Samuel. He also wrote and developed the resources for ThisIsTheGospel.com and much of ChristLifeResources.com. In addition to his duties as senior pastor, Paul mentors church planters, writes extensively about discipleship, and trains pastors primarily in the Middle East, Central America, South America, and Africa. With more than 25 years of vocational ministry experience, he freely shares about what worked, what didn’t, and what he’s learned. He and his wife Brea have been married since 1996 and are blessed with two daughters.
Patrick Sebesta serves as our Sherwood Residency Program Director. He graduated from Kennesaw State University in 2009 with a B.A. in History (with specific focus on cultures and civilizations). He continued his education by completing an M.Div. in Mission Strategies from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 2015. Patrick has served in part-time and full-time ministry positions since 2007 at two large churches in Georgia. He began his ministry journey at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church outside of Atlanta and he’s been at Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany since 2016. He has been blessed to serve on short-term mission teams across the United States and on five continents around the world.
Patrick is skilled at training leaders, developing teams, and creating systems that allow ministries to operate smoothly. While serving in sports and recreation ministry, his leadership and administrative experience allowed him to recruit and lead hundreds of coaches and volunteers who engaged tens of thousands of people from the community. Whether hiring staff, addressing staff problems, partnering in the community, equipping volunteers, teaching Bible studies, creating systems, or even leading a national movement in mentoring sports and fitness directors, Patrick has seen success and failure at every level. He has proven experience and incredible wisdom to share with church planters.
Patrick serves alongside his wife Lindsay. They’ve been married since 2010. They have a passion for investing in people and helping them walk through the joys and sufferings of the Christian life (Philippians 3:10). In addition to serving church planting families, they want to see people awakened by the gospel to a life of knowing Christ and making Him known. Patrick and Lindsay have two children, Daniel and Elizabeth.
God uses different personalities to plant healthy, growing churches. It would be unwise to subscribe to a stereotypical view of what a church-plant pastor must be.
However, it is also true that the role of senior pastor is a high calling. Therefore, to be selected, SRP would like to see strength in five key areas:
The NAMB Send Network desires to send potential planters to SRP. The SRP Director will establish and maintain positive relationships with the Send Network leaders. More information about the Send Network can be found
As you prepare for your interview, think about and be prepared to articulate the way you discerned God’s call to vocational ministry and His call to plant a church. It is helpful to write down some of the ways your family supports this call and how your church family stands with you. Your spouse will be involved in each part of the interview process.
We rely on the assessment process of the Send Network to help us better understand the strengths and weaknesses of each couple. If you have not already completed the assessment, you can do so at www.namb.net/send-network/church-planting/assessment/. We need their assessment to move forward.
Please mail official transcripts to:
Sherwood Residency Program
2201 Whispering Pines Road
Albany, GA 31707
one page maximum
We are specifically looking for recommendations from those who recognize your calling to be a senior pastor. (3 maximum)
Copies of Ordination/Licensing Certificates
This document outlines the vision for how you would lead a church plant and disciple people, what the church would “feel” like, your burden for kingdom advancement, and how this church would be unique and different than other churches. (1-page maximum)
SRP is quite different from a seminary. SRP will build upon the important skills the seminary provides. SRP will emphasize important leadership traits required for church planting, including how to call people into committed service, how to build committed teams, and how to lead and administrate church ministry teams. This will be accomplished while remaining faithful to preaching God’s word and maintaining a balance in family and spiritual disciplines.
The primary instructors are the staff and leadership of Sherwood Baptist Church. Through their relationships, many other ministry leaders and seasoned church planters will provide training throughout the program.
The typical week includes four days of instruction, coaching, group discussion, guided reading, case studies, sermon preparation, and church plant planning. Significant ministry involvement is also expected on the weekends and some evenings, including opportunities to preach and teach. Occasional trips, site visits or conferences will take us out of the office from time to time.
Not exactly. Almost everything is accomplished during the day, but reading and sermon prep are required. Some of this preparation may be required in the evening. Additionally, residents are expected to be part of a Connect Group and to take part in selected church leadership meetings.
SRP has a six-month and a twelve-month track. The length of the track will be determined prior to acceptance in the program and is based on ministerial leadership experience prior to entry.
We believe God will use different personalities to plant healthy, growing churches. We do not subscribe to a stereotypical view of the church-plant pastor.
What we do look for, and what the high calling of a senior pastor requires, is strength in five key areas. SRP residents must:
We require a minimum of thirty-six hours of Bible and theology on the graduate level. Preference is given to those who possess a Master of Divinity degree. Exceptions may occasionally be made for candidates with significant ministry experience and exceptional preaching and leadership gifts.
Due to the rigorous nature of the program, it is not feasible for residents to work in addition to their studies.
The three major options are home school (inherently flexible), private school (Sherwood Christian Academy onsite), or public school. There are advantages and challenges unique to each, and no one choice fits all resident families.
Sherwood has dedicated 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom homes within walking distance of the church. The homes are near one another, providing both proximity for the wives and a measure of personal space.
Yes, although couples need to count the cost. The program is just six months in duration, but we understand that certain circumstances may make working outside the home necessary.
