7 Reasons Your Church Plant Won't Make It

Sorry I have been so slack on the blog lately.  Here is an article that I think is great advice.  As I speak to potential church planters I would absolutely reinforce these 7 checkpoints to see that the planter is going into this venture with the correct motivations and mindset.  Follow this LINK to Mike Lukaszewski's blog, planter and pastor of Oak Leaf Church.

Church Hospitality

We have all been to churches that made us feel like you didn't know the secret handshake or had bad b.o. Hopefully your church is thinking through their weekend experiences through the eyes of first time guests. Our guest relations team puts great thought, creativity, and effort into wanting each person to feel anticipated and valued. With that in mind, I found a great article by Evangelism Coach International on church hospitality today. Thought I would pass it along to you...

Lessons from the Journey--Life @ A Sustainable Pace

As a leader of a church it is my responsibility to not only build a darkness penetrating, sacrificial, outwardly focused church but also to do this in a manner consistent with a balanced, healthy life. The first part of my job description as listed above is on most pastor's radar but what about the second part? We all know that it is impossible to be unhealthy and yet produce something healthy!

As the cultural architect of this young church it has been heavy on my mind and heart lately that Discover Church must start at a sustainable pace that works for your God and your family. Is this a possibility? Most of the stories I hear that are equated with success are of all the "sacrifice" and pain that is infected into families in the name of "God's calling". As I attempt to lead Discover Church through this VERY difficult balance here are some thoughts that I am implementing to create a culture of health and balance. I am really just digging into what this could look like. Please feel free to add your own suggestions or ideas...

• We must keep church life simple and healthy
• The Gathering (our worship service) must not ask so much of people's time that it ends up reinforcing the "busyness" cycle of unhealth
• Sacrifice is expected but should not come from essentials (family, time with God, etc.)
• Leadership Team must model the health wanted replicated in the church
• Their must be an atmosphere of trust/accountability/vulnerability to assist in maintaining healthy pace
• Everyone of our team members MUST be a part of one of our Gatherings (Discover Kidz or Adult)
• Set up/Tear down environments MUST NOT be beyond our ability to complete in a reasonable amount of time (preferred 1 hr)
• Pursuit of "health" is not a viable excuse for the lack of the hard work and sacrifice expected of a follower of Christ.
• If I lived a balanced/healthy life how much time would be a sacrificial offering to present to God?

Lessons from the Journey--what I am learning

More lessons learned starting Discover Church

1. in our largely unchurched area (95%) most of the people who could be "core team" material are already invested significantly in their church.
2. it is extremely challenging to find people willing to consider leaving their existing church for a church start. Many do not desire to put forth the effort necessary to get a new church started and succeeding.
3. church planting is very hard.
4. God is very good.
5. in details, preparation, communication, etc present yourself and your church for where you are going not for where you currently are.
6. pray with your wife every night before you go to bed
7. if there is any way to have a true mother church then do it! They can help you overcome so many hurdles ($, core team members, facilities, insurance, accounting procedures).
8. investigate the "pool of potential" core team members in the area you will be going and adjust expectations accordingly. Things to investigate: % of people who attend church, % of claiming being "born again", % of those who live within 20-25 mins of area, and divide by .25 [amount of churched people willing to sacrifice enough to leave an existing church to be a part of a plant].
9. so many things are uncertain (people, $, locations to meet, etc.) spend time on what is certain (time with God, committed people, core team meeting prep).

Lessons from the Journey--what I am learning

Some of the lessons I am learning as I start Discover Church...

1. Under promise and over deliver. Disappointment comes from unmet expectations, resist temptation to raise them too high or spend a lot of time encouraging your core team.
2. No model will fit you perfectly.
3. God provides!
4. God has been bringing people into the community for years in preparation for your church.
5. Keep dreaming.
6. So comforting to remember that Jesus is the One building His church not me.
7. Planting with a team is essential
8. Be prepared to step up your commitment to spiritually lead your family.
9. Closely connect the dates for your community serving event and your Vision Cast. We waited about two weeks in between and it was too long. Lost momentum.
10. Make sure you have fun with your team. Church planting is so serious, taxing and sacrificial it's more important to have a blast too.
11. You must hemorrhage your vision for your people to bleed it.
12. My faith is weak.
13. Vision leaks, constantly revisit it again and again.
14. You must spend money to raise money.
15. Stay flexible on non-essentials especially if you are in a more transient culture.
16. Personal time with God is mandatory for confidence, wisdom, peace, vision, and compassion.

Lessons from the Journey

Here are some more thoughts on what Ive found during weeks two-three while starting Discover Church.

1. There is never the money you have hoped and planned for.
2. Fundraising requires creativity.
3. Place sabbath periods of rest as immovable objects during your week.  
4. Discouragement comes.
5. Discouragement is a tactic of the enemy; respond to it with the spiritual weapons available to us as Christ-followers (prayer, God's Word, faith).
6. There are far more well-meaning, cooperative pastors than territorial mean-spirited ones.
7. Fight the temptation to judge success by the scoreboard.  Especially early on, numbers are not an accurate determination of success. (see #4)
8. Your spouse needs to be your chief encourager.  Her words carry far more weight than most anyone else's.
9. Take as much pride in your study prep for 8 people as you have done for larger numbers of people in the past.
10. Find blogs, books, people that are not too far ahead of you and remember the early stages of a church start.
11. Stress on your teammates quickly becomes stress on you. Proximity enhances contagion.  

Lessons from the Journey

Been in Jupiter, FL now for over a week and focusing on starting Discover Church on a committed basis for 7 days.  I by no means have figured anything out and truthfully have learned how much I have yet to learn but maybe this will be helpful to those who come behind me next week or next year.  If so, I will try to keep these coming on a semi-regular basis.  These are some of the things I have learned/relearned during my first 7 days starting Discover Church...

1. A supportive, enthusiastic spouse is essential and I have the best!
2. Having an advisory team of experienced, wise, talented, Christ-pursuing pastors prevents blind-spots and is catalytic.
3. Establishing a prayer network months in advance of relocation prepares the way in immeasurable levels.
4. Planting in your hometown or a place with significant familiarity is tremendously helpful as it cuts down on the learning curve and allows you to "be" the area quicker and more streamlined.
5. Network, network, network--somebody always knows someone who knows somebody.
6. Be flexible in methods and in schedule but dogmatic when protecting the vision from day 1.
7. Listen to those who have gone before you very carefully (see #2).
8. Don't forget that this is also new for your spouse (and kids in applicable). Careful, intentional communication has been very important for us.
9. Connecting with area pastors provides great wisdom and networking.
10. Connecting with area pastors can be discouraging but resist becoming jaded.
11. Spend time building relationships with potential core team members.  Each person adds texture, connections, and credibility (not to mention tithe) to a new start (see #5).
12. Plan for a separate environments for core team and seekers--seems simple but a mistake I have already made.
13. An intentional vision/plan for multiplication of churches disarms people who immediately assume church planters are about building their own kingdom.
14. Work hard--set a schedule and keep it like you would if are working for someone else.
15. Planting a church with a team allows for much more to get accomplished in a more effective manner and is MUCH more enjoyable.
16. Share your vision as often as possible; it is God's stamp of legitimacy and limits the sting of discouragement that will surely come.
17. Visit area churches and learn from what is going well and what is not.
18. Communicate with your spouse about the day you plan to begin to shift from unpacking mode to church planting mode.
19. Prayer walks are powerful for vision, compassion, motivation.

10 Qualifications of a Church Planter

Church planting is a unique calling and one that comes with many sacrifices.  One of the most influential voices in church planting is Mark Driscoll and the Acts 29 Network.  Pastor Scott Thomas, director of Acts 29 Network, wrote an article on 10 qualifications of a church planter based on their detailed assessment.  For those who have interest in starting a church this provides some clarity as to the type of person that Acts 29 looks to invest.  The starting of a local church is the single greatest evangelistic tool in the world!  So everyone should consider it at least...

Behind Scenes Church Plant Video

Really helpful and impressive behind the scenes video from OakLeaf Church.  This video shows how they transform a movie theatre into their church.  A lot of really helpful resources that they have discovered and pass along to us.  Thank you Michael and OakLeaf..

Oak Leaf Church Behind the Scenes from Oak Leaf Church on Vimeo.

Breaking Ground Church Planting Event

On Friday night at the Muse Coffee Shop we had a great time talking church planting and general leadership principles with Daniel and Tammie Floyd.  Daniel is the pastor of LifePoint Church in Fredericksburg, Va.  LifePoint, under Daniel's leadership, is a tremendously generous church and we saw it firsthand as they hosted us last month.  We learned so much from them!  It is so great to reconnect with Daniel and to see guys I went to undergrad with at Liberty doing so well.

Matt Willmington's list of top 20 lessons from a church plant

One of the blogs I keep up with is a former professor, of youth ministry at LU, who has recently returned to Thomas Road.  Matt has been a tremendous influence on me over the years and I am VERY excited to have him around for my last year.  Below is a list of the top 20 lessons he learned from being in a church plant that he hopes will stay in his life in the years to come.  I thought they were great and wanted to pass them along to you.  Check out his blog it's great and so is this list...

Living close to the pages of the Book

Starting with a fresh page, no rules, only possibilities

Desperation of the staff and people for God

“Lifeboat” spirit among the staff and people – we MUST work together to survive

“Lighthouse” spirit - connection with and burden for the community

Speed of change that is possible

Commitment to excellence, no room for mediocrity

“Its all up to me” feeling – I have to show up for my volunteer job every week or church won’t happen

“No net” abandonment

Creativity unleashed

Need to rethink biblical positions – no room to hold to pat answers I thought I knew in college - “What does the Bible actually teach?”

Dependence on the Holy Spirit

Right-sizing my financial priorities

Doing life together

Courageous living by faith

Seeing the impossible happen

Experiencing grace in my life and the lives of broken, outcast people

Meeting a bigger God than I ever knew

Living like pilgrims on an adventure

Having my wife and children experience all of this with me.

Innovate Conference--Day 3

The conference concluded today with a huge bang.  The theme for today was church planting, which for me is comparative to a kid getting to spend a day in a huge bowl of chocolate pudding.  The morning opened with Ed Stetzer, church planter, author, and lead missiologist for LifeWay, who spoke on the value of diverse approaches to church and the visible benefits of reaching diverse people.  One of the things he said that I fully endorse is that the very methodology that is encouraged in foreign missions, learning culture to aid in the effective communication of the gospel message, is discouraged in the mission of state-side churches.  I am NOT advocating the changing of the message, simply the methods!  Methods are not timeless the message is and therefore is applicable to all generations.  The contextualization of the message has adapted throughout the generations and should not stop today for the sake of the gospel.  

Later in the morning there was a church planter panel, moderated by Ed Stetzer, geared to expose several effective associations and churches' approaches to church planting.  The men on the panel were Brian Bloye (West Ridge Church), Elmer Towns (Liberty University), Jamie George (Journey Ecclesia), Billy Hornsby (Association of Related Churches), and Matt Fry (C3 Church).  Only time will tell how many churches will be planted and consequently people will be reached for Christ by exposing so many existing church pastors to church planting!

The conference ended with our Center for Ministry Training board meeting.  These pastors and their churches make a significant financial and influential investment to the practical wing of Liberty University and Seminary.  We had a great lunch and our director Dr. Dave Earley was able to celebrate many wonderful things that God had done over the last calendar year.  Thank you to all of our board members for their commitment to invest in the next generation of world changers!  If you would be interested in connecting with the Liberty Center for Ministry Training we would love to hear from you.  Just follow this link.