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Committee Charter — Mountain West Development

Whether the committee is national or regional, the workstreams are the same; only the scale, reach, and budget differ.

Mandate

To convene, discern, and advance Sovereign Grace's response to the Mountain West mission field over a 24-month exploratory term, organized around five work streams. The committee reports to either the SG national executive (national ad hoc form) or the MW/NW regional leadership (regional ad hoc form).

The committee does not relocate, does not pastor a local church together, and does not own field operations. It convenes the work, names the questions, makes recommendations, and supports the named partners on the ground.

Five work streams

1. Lead exploratory work in Kalispell, MT

Kalispell / Flathead Valley is one of the fastest-growing regions in the United States and a strategic gateway to a future Mountain West mission footprint.

• Identify a lay or pastoral host in the Flathead Valley to maintain continuity between committee visits
• Establish a regular visit cadence — quarterly at minimum, monthly if the work warrants — for relationship-building and gospel-centered gatherings
• Convene a small group of interested parties (existing residents, new movers, displaced ex-Californians, etc.) into something resembling a launch core
• By month 18, deliver a clear go/no-go discernment with a viable plant pathway identified if green-lit

2. Strengthen Center Church (Star, ID)

Center Church, planted in 2025 from Sovereign Grace Church (Gilbert, AZ), is currently the only SG church in Idaho — sitting inside the fastest-growing county zone in the entire 14-state region.

• Schedule sustained committee visits to Center Church across the term
• Provide leadership consultation, encouragement, and connective tissue to the broader SG family
• Support Jeff Palen in identifying a pathway to a second Treasure Valley plant from Center Church over a 10-year horizon
• Help reduce the geographic and relational isolation Center is currently navigating

3. Explore plant and adoption prospects across MT, ID, WY, and UT

The Mountain West mission field includes both unreached metros and already-formed churches that may benefit from coming under SG covering.

• New plant scouting: Treasure Valley expansion, Coeur d'Alene, Sandpoint, Bend, Idaho Falls, Bozeman expansion, Kalispell (per work stream 1)
• Healthy adoption scouting: existing non-SG churches, doctrinally and practically aligned with SG distinctives, where SG covering would be received well
• Build relationships with pastors and lay leaders in target locations — listen first, plant later
• Maintain a vetted, rolling list of prospects with discernment notes; bring well-discerned recommendations back to regional and national leadership

4. Cast vision across Sovereign Grace for the Mountain West

This is the work stream most resilient to whether the committee is national or regional, because vision-casting is location-independent.

• Develop and tell the Mountain West story across SG channels (in coordination with Joel Shorey and, where possible, Ricky Alcantar)
• Recruit potential relocations from across Sov Grace — especially professionally mobile, remote-capable families — for existing works (Bozeman, Roseburg, Star) and future plants
• Help build national-level launch teams for specific plant locations (Kalispell first, then Treasure Valley expansion)
• Mobilize prayer, financial support, and personnel across the denomination

Note for the regional fallback form: this work stream is formally out of scope for cross-regional reach. It can still produce internal MW/NW vision-casting and informal pastor-to-pastor advocacy.

5. Discern when the Mountain West is ready to stand as its own region

The committee is the body that holds the long question — when does the Mountain West become a region? — and brings the recommendation forward when the time is right.

• Watch for the maturity markers: established leadership pipeline, working financial model, multiple plants in various stages, regional cohesion
• Coordinate with the present MW/NW regional leader on the criteria and the timeline
• When the markers are present, draft and deliver the formal regional-formation recommendation

Success indicators (24-month horizon)

• Kalispell exploratory work has matured to clear go/no-go discernment with a viable plant pathway if green-lit
• Center Church, Star is more connected and strengthened
• A vetted list of plant and adoption prospects across MT, ID, WY, UT exists, with relationships and discernment notes
• A measurable increase in SG-wide awareness of, prayer for, and engagement with the Mountain West — including identified relocators
• Coordinated planning with Joel Shorey and Ricky Alcantar (national form) has produced a tangible national campaign or pipeline for Mountain West planting
• The committee has formed a clear, evidence-based recommendation on whether and when the Mountain West should constitute its own region