NAThe Next AssignmentApply privately

For established pastors and ministry founders

You have already
built something.

The question is no longer whether you can lead. The question is what this next season is asking of you and who can help you discern it without needing anything from you.

Apply confidentially Read the private invitation ↓
The roomUp to 12 primary leaders
The journeyJanuary–September
The intensivesSan Diego, California
01

The invitation

There comes a moment when experience creates a new problem.

You know how to lead. You have carried people, navigated change, built teams, survived disappointment and remained faithful through seasons few people fully understand.

Yet the structure that carried one assignment may not be able to carry the next. A title can remain long after a season begins to change. And the more responsibility you hold, the fewer places exist where you can speak without managing the room.

“This is a place to tell the truth about what you have built, discern what is changing, and give serious attention to what may come next.”
02

The journey

Two gatherings. One trusted table. Time to listen well.

The Next Assignment is a private nine-month council, built around two intimate gatherings in San Diego and a confidential rhythm of conversation between them. It is deliberately spacious. The exact work will respond to the leaders who form the room.

Opening intensiveJanuary 28–29

Begin with presence, honesty and discernment.

We will gather for two days in Ian and Rachel’s home in San Diego. The setting is intentionally personal: shared meals, unhurried conversation, prayer and room to attend to what is happening beneath the visible demands of leadership.

A significant portion of this first intensive will be given to prophetic ministry with trusted prophetic voices. There will be time to receive, listen, test and process without pressure to manufacture an answer or make an immediate decision.

The months betweenFebruary–August

Stay at the table while clarity becomes action.

The cohort will meet monthly in a confidential online council. These are not webinars. They are working conversations shaped by the decisions, transitions and opportunities participants are actually carrying.

At different points, additional trusted voices may be invited to serve the group or an individual leader. The balance of counsel, coaching and outside expertise will be shaped by what emerges. It will not be fixed in advance to satisfy a curriculum.

Closing intensiveSeptember 23–24

Return with greater clarity about what comes next.

We will return to San Diego for a final two days together: reviewing what has shifted, testing what has been built, naming the next faithful steps and praying over the season ahead.

The goal is not a generic plan. It is a grounded way forward that honors the leader, the people they carry and the reality of their context.

03

Responsive by design

The people in the room will help determine the work.

This council will not make promises about specific outside experts before we know the leaders, the decisions they face or the support they already have.

What you can expect:

  • Substantial time for prayer and discernment
  • A carefully selected, confidential peer table
  • Honest attention to your actual leadership context
  • Practical counsel where it is genuinely useful
  • Outside voices chosen for the needs that emerge
  • Space to integrate rather than perform
04

Who belongs at this table

This may be for you if…

  • You have already led or built a substantial ministry.
  • You carry genuine responsibility for people, direction and resources.
  • You are facing a meaningful transition, opportunity or next-season question.
  • You want peers who understand the cost and complexity of leadership.
  • You are willing to be candid, contribute and act on what becomes clear.

This is not designed for…

  • Someone beginning a ministry from scratch
  • Someone still trying to identify whether they are called to lead
  • Someone primarily looking for general leadership content
  • Someone unwilling to engage honestly with peers
05

The details

A small room, held over time.

OpeningJanuary 28–29, 2027

Two days at Ian and Rachel’s home in San Diego

BetweenFebruary–August 2027

Monthly confidential online councils

ClosingSeptember 23–24, 2027

Two final days together in San Diego

The roomUp to 12 primary leaders

A limited number of joint applications may be considered

Investment$7,500

A $500 non-refundable deposit is due after your application is accepted. The remaining balance may be paid in full or through an agreed payment plan. Travel and lodging are separate. Hospitality and meals during both intensives are included.

Couples and co-pastors: The council is designed primarily for individual leaders. When two people genuinely share one leadership assignment and the transition being discerned, they may request consideration as a leadership pair. Joint participation is $9,500. Any outside experts or additional support will be assigned to the leadership pair together, not separately to each person.

06

Your host

Ian Carroll

Ian spent nearly two decades in pastoral leadership before stepping into a wider assignment serving leaders across the Church. He has built schools, mentorships, books, ministries and online communities. He has lived through the disorientation of leaving a role that once defined the work.

This council grows from that lived experience: the conviction that established leaders need more than another conference. They need trusted relationships, spiritual discernment and room to tell the truth about what comes next.

A confidential process

You do not need to explain why you do not apply.

Reading this invitation creates no obligation. No one will contact you because you visited this page. If the council speaks to the season you are in, complete the application privately. Ian will only follow up after you submit it.

Begin the confidential application Applications will be considered for fit, experience and the strength of the table as a whole.