The Barnabas Factor - Part 2

October 28, 2009

Handling the ridicule and resentment from your own tribe/family/denomination, can add almost intolerable levels of unexpected pressure. In my case, regular encouragement from the pastors within my district would have given me added strength to carry on when things became unbearable. Instead, the open suspicion and verbal attacks from my colleagues pulled me in the opposite direction. The resistance I felt from my colleagues ultimately led me to question my own abilities. Because of my own experience, and a sneaky suspicion that emotional support plays a big part in success/failure, I sought to discover if science would back up thoughts. What I discovered was significant.

The research can be found in my book Planting Fast Growing Churches. Here are the questions I used to discover the issue of emotional support.

1.     How much encouragement did you receive from your superiors?

2.     How well did you feel you were supported by your pastoral colleagues?     

3.     How well were you accepted by surrounding churches in your denomination?

4.     Did you have regular fellowship with other pastors?     

5.     Was your work celebrated within the denomination?     

6.     How much negativity did you have to overcome from your sponsoring agency?

Out of the six questions asked, five significant differences were discovered in this section. The only question both groups responded equally on was the encouragement they felt from their direct superiors. Overall, planters leading fast-growing church plants experienced higher degrees of personal and emotional support than did those leading struggling church plants.

Planters leading fast-growing church plants felt significantly more support from pastoral colleagues, acceptance from surrounding churches, had more fellowship with other pastors, were celebrated more widely in the denomination, and experienced less negativity from their sponsoring agency. Perhaps this data shows that praise only goes to the victorious. Perhaps it’s easier to support a church on the move, but I don’t really think this is the case, nor does it matter. If a church plant is floundering, it needs support. This data, if only looked at in this way can also show support being pulled out from under struggling church plants because it’s floundering. In any case, more plants that felt encouragement from outside sources thrived than failed. This is entirely clear. 

It is vital that planters have adequate emotional support. The implications of this discovery reveal that the emotional health of the planter will have an effect on the emotional health of the entire fledgling congregation. If the planter is depressed, frustrated, feeling a lack of support and encouragement, then the church plant will suffer. Conversely, a strong sense of support from colleagues, churches and sponsoring entities can only be beneficial for the planter as well as the plant.

My wife, usually a very quiet and demure woman, spoke to a group of church planting leaders at a seminar in Jan 2005. She was prepared to make a few clear points about church planting, and oddly enough, I had never really seen things from her perspective until that day. She walked in with a dry erase board and drew two lines, dividing the board in half. Above one of her two lines, she wrote the words “Established Church”. Over the other line, she wrote, “Church Plant”.

“Tell me” she said, “what kind of things happen for the pastor and his family when they come to pastor an established church? What kind of perks do they have right off the bat?”

These leaders bought in hook-line-and-sinker. Like rapid fire, they began to name the usual things. 

            “Security,” someone answered.

            “A new spiritual family,” another offered.

The group continued listing things like: a paycheck, ready-made friends, a social network, and the list went on.

“Now,” she said, “what happens for the planter and his or her family when they arrive on the scene of a new city to begin their work?”

You could have heard a pin drop. Not one positive suggestion was offered, most had never really thought about it in those terms. Unlike transfering from one established church to another, planter's and their families, in most cases, have no support network. Like bricks falling from heaven, her point hit these men squarely over the head. It sunk in that the structures and support systems built-in to an already established church do not exist for the church plant.

What my wife did was simple enough, but it had an enormous impact on these church planting leaders. Without exception, each of them confessed their need to commit to a higher quality of emotional support for those on the field planting churches. Perhaps a few church planters or denominational leaders will profit from my wife’s presentation. I hope so.

Posted 10/28/2009 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment