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Life In The Fast LaneJanuary 10, 2013 Leading a church requires focus, and hard work. Never a dull moment and never a moment of peace. The demands grow greater as the church begins to grow and soon we find that every waking moment is spent "doing" something in the church. "It’s our baby and we have to make sure it survives and thrives." We have invested our lives into this work and so we get busier and busier trying to make it better and stronger. The fact is the harder we work the more buried, behind and busy we get. God has created us to have rest. Don’t live life in the fast lane. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels like the day always ends about three hours too early. There are some days that pass me by and I’m wondering what happened. Dance lessons, ball games, music lessons, homework - before we know it, bath time and bedtime. Where does the time go on weekdays? We as adults are busy with these daily responsibilities in our fast-paced society. Microwaves help prepare quick meals, drive-throughs provide food on the run and while an occasional evening of "running" is okay, a lifestyle of being on the run can be very stressful. In fact life on the run exemplifies most families today. Does that resemble your life in any way? It does for millions of Americans everyday. Your day may not be exactly the same, but it’s just as hectic. Here is what I am learning. I hope it helps you to avoid my pitfalls. 1. Constantly running at break-neck speed is exhausting in every aspect of life physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Our bodies can only handle so much activity and when we live a hurried life we will begin to see signs of this lifestyle become evident in our health. We suffer with personal illness and depression. Stress, heart attacks, constant illnesses of all kinds and chronic fatigue. Some of you here today are seeing doctors right now for things that are related to the constant stress which you allow in your life. 2. Living a life without margins breaks down the family. I have found that my children suffer because I am not there to give them the full attention they need. Pro 22:6 says, “teach your children to chose the right path, and when they are older, they will remain upon it.” (NLT) Actions speak louder than words. If you want your children to grow up living the hurried life, teach them early and they won’t depart form it. My challenge, as well as yours is to sit down and learn to set proper margins in your life. Proper rest, quiet time with God, fun with the family are all godly endeavors. Sometime, as pastors, we get it into our mind that the harder we work for God the stronger our spiritual life becomes. In reality that is rarely the case | |
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Posted 1/10/2013 in Church Planting | 2 Comments - Add Comment |
Stop Saying, "Unchurched"?May 1, 2012 Had a very interesting conversation with a colleague today (Darrell MacLearn) about using the term “unchurched” to describe a person. It is a favored term among most of us in the church world. But, should we use the term to describe those outside the church?
First let’s set the terminology. When most of us refer to the church, in theory we mean “the people of God” however in our practice we often refer to the “Unchurched” to refer to those who have not entered into the doors of our location, place of meeting or at least someone’s place of meeting. Usually the term “unchurched” focuses in on conventional models of “church” and builds a case for doing it another way. In doing so, even those who look to another mode of “church” have reduced the use of the term unchurched to a program or method of operations. Does that make sense?
If that is the case, then we are saying, “if you fall into my node, method and style of “church” then you are good. Yet, we all know that there are many in today’s church, (conventional way of speaking) who are not Christians. By using the term are we inferring that if someone is no longer “unchurched” then they are ok? Could someone who attends our church become churched and yet unchristian? The quick answer is “Of course!” (if you are using the term church incorrectly). Darrell was right!
Secondly, as my colleague shared, speaking to someone about being unchurched is like saying they are “un-bingoed” our goal is to make them Bingo players and therefore bingoed. They goal has little to do with their soul. As long as they are bingoed, they are ok. So the goal becomes to get people “churched” and less focus is placed on life-transformation.
Ben Sigman, pastor of Timberlake Church and a good friend of mine said, “we should stop using unbiblical terms to define the church like; attractional and missional, which you fin no where in scripture and talk about transformational churches.” It was a good point and one we should all pay attention too.
Maybe we should be careful as well using terms like “unchurched” and find a way to talk in terms of those not yet transformed by Jesus. That levels the playing field doesn’t it? What do you think? | |
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Posted 5/1/2012 in Church Planting | 3 Comments - Add Comment |
Validating The Call To LeadershipMarch 5, 2012 There can be no more fundamental step in the process of watching a church become healthy than finding the right spirit filled and god-gifted leader. Those called of God, prepared for ministry, and wired to plant new life-giving churches. Whether you are planting a fast-growing church or a more organic house church, who leads is often the most important issue to be determined. Too often the wrong people are placed in the wrong circumstance, with the wrong expectations and a new church becomes at best anemic or at worst, dead.
When will we learn that a personal proclamation or desire to plant shouldn't be the qualifying factor for sending someone out on the field? Just because I say I am a brain surgeon, doesn't make me one! (I am open for appointments if you want to believe it.) Yet too often well-meaning leaders are moved by an individual's "call to plant" and send these self-proclaimed leaders out into field. Whatever happened to "do not be hasty about the laying on of hands"? (1 Tim 5:22) have we become so anxious to start a movement or make a name for ourselves as "movement leaders" that we hastily overlook a very fundamental issue?
It has become increasingly important to help an individual discover God’s shape for their ministry in order to ensure the long-range survival of a new church. The task is far more complex than a simple nod of the head or pat on the back. Neither is it an issue of trained clergy or laity. As Jim Collins wrote in “Good to Great”, it is about getting the right person on the bus.”
Over the last decade the war has raged on in the church-planting world over models and methodology. We have clamored for the latest and greatest way to plant a church. A myriad of solutions have been offered in an attempt to suggest “the right way”. (If it weren't so sad, it would almost be comical to watch.) Whenever a God-ordained, God-gifted leader starts a new church with great success, everyone jumps on the "new" wagon and proclaims a “new way" of doing church.
One man plants an organic church that explodes across a city, multiplying many times over and the pendulum swings. Across the state a woman leads church as a bi-vocational pastor and experiences great success: The pendulum swings. Then out of nowhere, a planter rises up through the ranks as social justice leader without any intention to plant and church. He experiences great success: The pendulum swings.
My point is this; We watch an exceptionally gifted leader start and grow (not always numerically) a ministry and we automatically proclaim that this leader must have discovered the new “way”. Worse yet, if the leader grows a church in an unconventional way or something that smacks against the norm of the established methodology, then we proclaim that a “new era has arisen”. We mark the birth of this new movement as proof that our culture has changed.
So, the solution is reduced to a thought processes, which might sound something like this: Frank planted a church as a bi-vocational leader. He was given no resourcing and needed no salary to begin with. So, since he was successful like this, things in our culture have changed. We now need to teach pastors to become bi-vocational, then we would experience greater efficacy. Right? What they fail to take into account is the simple fact that if bi-vocational ministry was the issue, then we should already be winning the war. The greater percentages of pastors today are bi-vocational!
Maybe we should stop throwing so much money at a church plant and do it on a shoe-string, then we would have greater success. Jane Smith did this and had great success. Yet, if that was the solution, the Church around the globe should be knocking it out of the park. The average church works with paltry sums of money from which to do ministry.
Use any other argument you want. You cannot properly draw a universal positive from one instance of success.
The clear answer must be then that we should simply become better disciple-makers, (as if this is a new problem just now plaguing the Church) then we could see a real move of God. Over the last ten years, I have watched whole denominations change strategies every time a "new way" was discovered.
While all of these issues are worthy of a discussion, are they the primary, foundational issue? The problems are many and far more complex than reducing it to a simplistic model or methodology. In fact, there is a whole plethora of issues we could bring to the table. But, models and methods “how we do church” has been elevated above everything else.
I believe we have focused for too long on the wrong issues. I would dare say that ninety-eight percent of the speeches you have heard about “doing” church–planting centers around “how” rather than “why” and the call to plant. It ceases to amaze me that through all the smoke and mirrors, we have failed to stop and look at one primal issue: The leader! | |
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Posted 3/5/2012 in Church Planting | 0 Comments (1 awaiting approval) - Add Comment |
School of Hard KnocksFebruary 7, 2012 Church planting reminds me of the Indiana Jones movies. Every plant is a new adventure full of excitement and potential doom. Indiana was always chasing the elusive prize and never knew what pitfalls he would face around the next corner. None the less, he pushed ahead and faced each problem in a new and creative way. Church planting will make you feel alive, and it can push you to the brink of insanity. It will give you a new sense of God’s presence and convince you that Satan is alive and well. You will celebrate the birth of a new church with unearthly joy, and experience betrayal from friends and family in ways you never thought possible. As a church planter, you will experience high highs and low lows. It’s dangerous and dramatic. As they say on television—kids, don’t try this at home. After 16 years of pastoring established churches, God called me into the arena of church planting. God called me, Stephen Gray, a skewed and flawed individual. What kind of a guy am I? I’m one of those driven individuals. I don’t like to win; I like to dominate. My little ducks, though they stand in rows, need to be smiling and looking directly into the camera. I’ve been diagnosed as a type "A" personality along with a very useful case of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. And God called me. My preparation for this new ministry adventure was both difficult and frustrating. As I prepared for this new adventure, I quickly discovered that church planting was not a very refined process. A multitude of varying models, philosophies, and conflicting opinions existed under the umbrella of church planting. With confidence and authority, each expert offered their opinion about the process and procedure and every seminar or book led in a different direction. In a short time, the whole church planting idea became overwhelming. I felt like writing these expert names on a dartboard, putting on a blindfold, and chucking a few darts. In truth, all of the books, the seminars, and the opinions were helpful, but none of it actually prepared me for my actual church planting experience. Bottom line is this: planting a church is tough and most, if not all will go through the school of hard knocks as they set out to plant their church. The only thing that will help you through those trying times is an overwhelming sense of God's calling for this ministry. Likewise, we should always keep in mind "that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes." Dan 4:25 If you understand that simple truth, you will be able to weather any storm that comes your way. God has called you. God has placed you in your position because he chose to do so. Your position of authority is not based on your wisdom, your knowledge, or your good looks. Nor is it based on another's desire for you to be in a position of authority. | |
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Posted 2/7/2012 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment |
How Much Does It Cost To Plant A Church?December 2, 2011 How much money does it take to plant a new church or multi site campus? I can't tell you how many times i have been asked that question. But, that question has no easy answer. Understanding the delicate balance between over-funding and under-funding is a complex question. There are many variables to consider when asking that question.
Six questions you must consider when planning a planting budget.
1.Where are you planting? A city-center or hyper-rural area? Theses two areas are the hardest places to plant and take radically different approaches.
2. What are your expectations? If you are looking to plant a church of 75 you don't need the whole enchilada. If you are trying to plant a church of 1,000+ you will need more dollars.
3. Who is planting the church? If it's you, do you really have the chops necessary to plant the church in that location and realistically reach the expected outcome?
4. What model of plant or style of plant are you starting? High-impact/fast-growing or core-to-crowd/slower growth?
5. Can the place you are planting sustain the model of plant you want to launch?
6. How much are you bringing to the table? Listen, if you can't raise money for a plant, then you can't create buy-in nor cast vision very well. Those are two essential ingredients in launching a church successfully. If after a few months you can't raise substantial dollars, you may want to reconsider if God has really called and gifted you to plant or whether you are planting out of rebellion.
These are just a few of the questions you have to ask before designing your planting budget. All that being said. If you are not willing to invest multiple thousands into a church plant, don’t even begin. Remember the old adage, “you get what you pay for”? Whoever coined that phrase must have been a church planter. If you are a denominational leader and you want to start a fast-growing church by rubbing a couple of dimes together, remember, “You get what you pay for.” The quickest to kill a church plant or at least doom it to a life of anemic survival is to shortchange it. On the other hand, if you are a church planter and you think that a denomination or sponsoring church should give you everything your heart desires, you’re wrong as well. Too much money can have a negative effect on a new church. Church plants are intended to become self-supporting as quickly as possible. Far too often, the cries from church planters for “More! More! More!” is answered with more, and the plant falls into a welfare pattern. Church planting is, in many ways, a lot like raising a child. You would never think of having a child and then not spending some money on her. The baby cries out with hunger pangs, you buy formula and feed her. The baby yawns; droops in your arms, and you supply her with a crib. You would naturally tend to her basic needs. As she grows and learns to walk and talk, however, she will begin to desire different things. But you don’t give her everything she reaches for, do you? If you give a child everything she asks for, she becomes spoiled and dependent. A church plant is exactly like this. It will have many needs, but that doesn’t mean a denomination or sponsoring agency should supply all those needs without question. | |
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Posted 12/2/2011 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment |
Reblog: What Defines A Successful Church?October 18, 2011 Success is not neccesarily a numbers issue. I know plenty of large churches that may look successful on the outside, but are not doing God's work. I also know of small churches, considered by many as "faithful guardians of the truth" who are nothing more than a social club. The reverse is also true, there are plenty of churches, both large and small, doing great work for the Kingdom of God. Although, numbers are not the only thing we should look at, every number represents a soul and so numbers are valuable to God. So, if it's not numbers that reveal whether a church is successful or not, what can we look at to define success? What are the landmarks of a succesful work? Is it determined by the radical new children's program, quality of worship, size of congregation, bank account or building? Here are twelve markers of success. In my line of work, success of a new church is too often determined solely by the size of launch and a maintained growth pattern. Both are important, but not the only factors to use when determining whether a new church is successful. A successful new church should… 1. Financially self-sustaining within two-years. (Urban Plants may be longer) 2. Self-governing after two-years. 3. Multiplication minded. (Involved in planting other churches from day one.) 4. Giving 10%, from day one, towards missions (Out of weekly offerings). 5. Growth which comes primarily through conversion. 6. At least 45% of attenders actively volunteering in the church. 7. Engaged in transforming the community. (Not just individuals) 8. Growing numerically. 9. Developing new leaders for ministry. 10. Members are continually and actively inviting their neighbors to church and sharing their faith journey with those around them. 11. At least 80% involved in small groups by year-two. 12. Actively involved in foreign missions work. | |
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Posted 10/18/2011 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment |
The Call of A Thousand VoicesOctober 3, 2011 In 1976 Sally Field starred in the Emmy Award winning movie Sybil. Sybil was a young adult who suffered severe abuse as a child and as a result developed a coping mechanism that enable her to disassociate with the reality of her pain. Over the course of her young life, Sybil developed thirteen different personalities. Some of these personalities made her appear psychotic; some of them made her appear as a sweet reserved little girl. One of these alter egos made her want to kill herself on a daily basis. However, as Sybil grew up and started to live in the adult world, her once helpful coping mechanism made it increasingly more difficult to be a productive person in society. Her different personalities became a barrier to maturity. No one knew the real Sybil. In fact, the noise of a dozen voices, made it hard for even Sybil to discover and make sense of her own identity.
As Jesus was traveling to the Gerasenes, as recorded in Mark 15, he met a man filled with a thousand voices. While we are never privy to this man personal life nor how he got into his present situation, one thing was made very clear; his condition was very severe.
“Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.” (2-6, NIV)
As this man came close to Jesus the evil in him cried out, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me.”
Jesus asked, “What is your name?”
The evil spirit answered, “Legion, for we are many.”
Imagine the inner turmoil of a thousand voices, each competing for his attention, each telling him to do something evil, cruel or harmful. Never a moment of rest, never a sense of peace, never an opportunity to think rationally. Each voice competing to be heard, each voice screaming louder and louder for his attention. Each one claiming to be right, each one offering suggestions and direction.
As I sit here staring at my bookshelf and I see dozens of church planting titles, by godly men and women over the last two decades. People like Bob Logan, Rick Warren, Peter Wagner, Lyle Schaller, Aubrey Malphurs, Ralph Moore, Ed Stetzer, Brian McLaren, Robert Webber, Alan Hirsch, David Garrison, and George Hunter. Each of these individuals are heroes of the movement. Each of them have forged new paths and opened new doorways that have propelled church planting to new heights. Yet, each of these authors and churchmen are distinct and teach varying degrees of what the church should be, do, and how it should be planted. I wonder, as I think about the future of church planting in the next few decades has the movement become fragmented? Is this movement taking on the characteristics of Sybil, or legion? Have we created a schizophrenic and confusing “call of a thousand voices” each competing for the attention of the new generation of church planters? Each voice competing to be heard, each voice screaming louder and louder for attention. Each one claiming to be right, each one offering suggestions and direction.
Since my book, Planting Fast Growing Churches hit the market two years ago; I have become more and more aware of the multiple controversies that exist in the church-planting world. While healthy in many ways, I fear these controversies could cause a rift in the movement. In fact, in many ways this has already happened.
Just google church planting and you will discover endless pages with thousands of voices; each proclaiming their particular discipline is the only way to plant a church in this new generation. Will your new church be Missional, incarnational, or attraction? Will it be programmatic, purpose driven, cell-based, organic, or a house church? Each of these new planting disciplines are vying for the attention of our young entrepreneurial, church planters. Can we find any sanity in the midst of the voices?
There is common ground among the voices. We can find timeless principles that all agree on and we can create a new system that incorporates the best of the Missional, Incarnational, and Attractional disciplines. I believe that the next generation of church planting will depend on how well we are able to integrate the best practices of each model into a holistic approach. | |
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Posted 10/3/2011 in Church Planting | 1 Comment - Add Comment |
Planting Principle Driven ChurchesJuly 4, 2011 Webster’s dictionary defines a principle as a fundamental or primary rule, or general law from which everything is derived.
If we are to find success in church planting, we have to focus on planting principles not processes. Processes will come and go, but principles will last forever. Regardless of what process you decided to use, these five principles will keep you on track. | |
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Posted 7/4/2011 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment |
Planting A Church For MenJune 26, 2011
A Study in 2000 from Switzerland provides insight on the importance on male attendance on the religious development of children in the country. 'In summary, if a father does not go to church, no matter how regular the mother is in her religious practice, only one child in fifty becomes a regular church attendee. But if the father attends regularly, then regardless of the practice of the mother, at least one child in three will become a regular church attendee. Even though that research was done in Switzerland, I believe that it will hold fairly true in the U.S. as well. The disparity between "one in fifty" and "one in three" is huge! Just stop and think about those numbers for a while. That should cause us o consider how we are designing our church plants. From the color of the curtains to the use of PowerPoint backgrounds, we need to target the men. If we are honest, much of what we do appeals more to women. While we need and are thankful for those women who have faithfully served our churches over the decades, we must reach the men. I heard Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle share on a video The Good Soldier, if want to win the war, you have to win the men. Steve Gallimore, pastor of Tennessee Valley Community Church, recognized this need several years ago and launched a NASCAR series. The church was located in an old car dealership and the stage and worship room was completely set up for this theme. The stage had a set of gummy tires from a racing car and when the service started the speaker roared with the sound of squealing tires and smoke machine added a sense of realism to the burnout. While many may find that kind of service sacriligious God used this series to bring hundreds of men into a saving knowledge of Christ and kept them active in the church. | |
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Posted 6/26/2011 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment |
Urban Planting Is Harder Than ExpectedMay 14, 2011 Over a year ago I felt driven to look at church planting within the urban centers of our nation. After releasing my findings over two years ago on Planting Fast-Growing Churches, I felt compelled to take these findings and refine them for a more Urban setting. In the next couple of weeks I want to share with you 15 key findings of the study. The first key finding has to do with the level of difficulty of planting in a more urban environment. Here is what we discovered. Rapid growth is very difficult in urban settings.
In my study of fast-growing church plants in 2007 i discovered that 7% of plants across the U.S. were reaching 200 within three-years. So, while the number of fast growing churches in the Urban settings my be a little discouraging, these churches are growing at a stronger pace than their suburban counterparts. We asked the planters themselves to what they attributed that difficulty. Here were some of their responses. 1. Finding a facility is tough. Locations are not always the best and the cost factor limits what we are able to use.
2. The cultures we encountered in the city was not something we were prepared for. (more on this later)
3. A strong consumeristic attitude is prevalant in the city. More so than what was encountered in the suburban setting.
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Posted 5/14/2011 in Church Planting | 1 Comment - Add Comment |
Four strategic parts to making the "ASK" (fund-raising)April 26, 2011 Today I attended a pre-conference session at Exponential 2011. It session was hosted by Generis. Lead by Jim Sheppard (Generis) and Chris Willard (Leadership Network); it was, in my opinion, it was one of the best nut and bolts, practical sessions on fund raising I have ever heard. Bar-none!
Making the “ask” is one of the toughest things a planter will ever do. It is the planter’s responsibility. If it doesn’t happen, it is your fault. Yet, asking for funds is fear above all else. Why? 1. The fear of rejection 2. The fear of not being liked 3. The fear people will view you as a money-grubber or beggar 4. The fear that you may ruin relationships while asking for funds.
Fund-raising should not be looked at as something that will get you to where you want to go. Rather, it should be seen as an opportunity to help people grow in their walk with God. (The pocketbook is often the last thing to be saved.)
Today’s session covered multiple areas, but here is a quick synopsis. Four strategic parts of making the “Ask” every planter needs to know.
1. Discovery – Who are the donors. Get to know them. You shouldn’t ask for money until you’ve a heart connection. Don’t view potential donors as a check or a person to be manipulated. Rather as people who have been called by God to grow and discover how they can make a difference. Find out what they are passionate about and then help them connect in ministry through giving. 2. Cultivate – Spend time raising the temperature of your relationship with the potential donor. People give to vision, but primarily to relationship. 3. Solicitation – Enough said. “ASK!” Often this is done without the other two steps. 4. Appreciation – Make sure you continue to show overwhelming appreciation for a donor’s gift. No matter how large or small. Your act of appreciation will actually cultivate your relationship that could further cultivate the donor for future giving.
I am part of the discussion panel tomorrow and will share more from that session. Stay tuned, I will blog about Exponential everyday this week. If you can’t be here, at least I can pas along a few nuggets. | |
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Posted 4/26/2011 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment |
Take Care Of Your FamilyApril 11, 2011 Church planting can become an all-consuming task. You have to become a Jack-of-all-trades and hardly ever a master of anything. The tasks required of a planter can simply overwhelm them. Recruiting meetings, strategy sessions, fund raising, vision development, marketing and outreach events, and much more are all necessary if a planter what to be successful. But that is just the beginning. In reality, every planter has three jobs; planter/pastor, husband/father, and leader.
So, what does the typical planter do? Work harder, pray harder and worry more! What too often takes place in this process is the loss of intimacy in the family. The work of planting the church causes you to push aside your life with your children and your spouse. While your investment in the church plant grows, your investment in family slows and sometimes halts altogether. Anyone who has planted church can attest to pressures between family and the mountain of work needed to accomplish the plant.
According to some of the latest research, by the Religious Research Association, divorce among the clergy is a growing trend. Around 24 percent of women and 19 percent of men, in the pulpit, are getting divorced. That is an astounding statistic. It simply goes to show that even the pastor’s home is not free from the potential problems faced by every married couple on the planet.
Peter Scazzero, author of The Emotionally Healthy Church, wrote something I think we all need to pay attention too:
The overall health of the church or ministry, or plant (my words) depends primarily on the emotional and spiritual health of its leadership. In fact, the key to successful spiritual leadership has much more to do with the leader’s internal life, than with the leader’s expertise, gifts, or experience.”
I don’t know about you, but that causes me to stop and reevaluate. We must be willing to accept the fact that the best gift we can ever give our church plant is a spiritually and emotionally healthy heart, mind, and family, particularly as it relates to our family relationships.
The greatest advice I, or anyone could ever give you is to have a plan before you get into the battle. Jesus was teaching the crowds one day and he was trying to tell them about the importance and cost of discipleship. Jesus said; “What king, going to make war against another king, does not first sit down and consult whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?” His point! Don’t be foolish, understand the situation you will find yourself in and have a plan for how you will handle it. | |
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Posted 4/11/2011 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment |
Don't Be Married To The ChurchMarch 1, 2011 Don’t be married to the church? What? Why would anyone ever blog about that? As a preachers kid I understand this problem in ways I wish I didn’t. As a pastor of 21 years I have not only experienced the effects of this problem in my life, but also helped to promote it in many ways. In my father’s generation, it was widely accepted that the church always came before the family. Why? Somehow his service, to the church, was considered an act of sacrifice and showed real commitment. Anything short of total life sacrifice simply wasn’t true commitment to the high calling of pastor. Donald Joy, a professor at Asbury Theological Seminary, reminded me of this danger today as I was reading Men Under Construction. Joy said, “The church has one husband: Jesus. That’s enough! We can’t have bigamy scandalizing the church. Be the husband of one wife…and Jesus will affirm you for it, but don’t go flirting with His bride.” (page 108) I think that sums it up nicely. Don’t make the mistake of sacrificing the gift of family with a a new mistress called the church. God’s call to you is to be a Christian first, a spouse and parent second (if married) and a pastor third. The consequences of getting this out of a proper perspective can be catastrophic in more ways than one. | |
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Posted 3/1/2011 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment |
Starting A Multisite CampusFebruary 24, 2011 Day one at the Radicalis Conference Geoff Surratt shared, in a church-planting break out, about multi-sitting. Geoff shared his wisdom about when and how to start a multisite campus. Here is a brief outline of lessons he learned.
1. The Sr. or lead pastor must own and have a compelling vision.
Why not to start multisite campus: Kick starting growth. If you are not growing now, starting a campus is not a solution.
When to start a campus: § After you have utilized multiple services and are out of room. § Can’t reach any more people fro Christ due to room issues. § You find an area where there is no life-giving churches reaching lost.
2. Chose the right leader - Five Characteristics of a good campus pastor § Enthusiastic, visionary leadership from the 2nd chair. § Team Builder § Self-starter with a managerial work ethic § Good communicator § Genuine care for people - Five characteristics that will sink a campus § Unavailable or unapproachable § Non-delegator § Inflexible § Responder rather than initiator § Lacks Passion
3. Choose the right location § Right distance from the original campus – The better the main campus, the farther away the campus will need to be. § Right size – seats 300 to 500 § Right address § Right Price – price it according to how many you envision starting
4. Offer the same experience – You need to reproduce yourself or they won’t come. § Good worship experience § Good teaching § Good children’s ministry § Good technology
5. Embrace a one-church philosophy. | |
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Posted 2/24/2011 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment |
The Granola FactorFebruary 23, 2011 Church plants attract all kinds of people from every walk of life. Many times they also attract every freakish, nut-job in the community. That is the nature of the beast. These fanatics will come into your church with all kinds of presuppositions about how a church should be governed, what it should be believe and how attendees should dress. Some will want to argue end-times eschatology. Others will tell you that any music played in a minor key is of the devil. You may even have some fruitcakes come into your church who want you to trim your mustache to a certain length or wear white, long-sleeved shirts like Jesus. While many will come in your doors to experience something new and exciting, make no mistake, others will come in with personal agendas seeking to impose their will on you. Jesus dealt with people like this all the time. The Pharisees wanted him to perform only the miracles and signs they insisted were proper. Jesus was never to perform any miracle on the Sabbath and he and his disciples had to wash themselves in the prescribed manner. Some of Jesus’ followers didn’t want him to talk about hard issues like eating flesh or drinking blood. Even, Peter himself tried to hijack Jesus’ agenda by trying to convince him that dying on a cross was foolish talk. What do you do with people like this? You use them to fulfill the work of God’s kingdom. Building critical mass is the challenge of every church planter. It is imperative that a planter builds momentum as quickly as they can. That means you can not be too picky! I heard Andy Stanley once say that momentum is caused by the concepts of something being new, improved or improving. That is why church plants are so successful in the very beginning. No doubt, in every new church plant, there will be people who show up, get involved, begin to give and then show their true colors. But you need them to build what God has called you to build. A new church plant will need everyone it can to join in on the fun. Basically, when we started, if you had a pulse, we could use you. We are not talking about providing care for our children but just about everything else was fair game. We connected with and included many people in ministry that we would probably not put into ministry at this stage of the game. We would even ask people to just show up and fill a pew. Those first weeks and months are so important from an energy and momentum standpoint. The more people involved, the more energy in the service. When new people would show up, they observed all this scaffolding and thought, “There must be something going on here.” Some of those new people will ‘stick.’ They will see the ministry going on, resonate with it, and join you in serving in the new plant. But it can get kind of tricky trying to see through their ‘offer to help.’ On the one hand, some are genuinely looking for a place to serve and help. Others may have a personal agenda or less than true motives. Judging someone’s motives and intentions is a difficult and dangerous endeavor, but you must try to evaluate everyone who gets involved in the church. Trust your gut instinct, it is often right. Many times, these freakish people want to serve but only on their terms. Many come from a ‘congregational’ governance background. Others have a bad experience in a previous church, and want to make this new church to fit their liking. They want to serve the church but they hav | |
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Posted 2/23/2011 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment |
Friendly FireFebruary 1, 2011
According to Webster’s dictionary the word fidelity means “The quality or state of being faithful.” Fidelity is synonymous with words like devotion, faithfulness and allegiance. No doubt these are qualities every planter or planting team hopes to find in the people that surround them. Yet, far too often those on the front lines, planting new churches experience the exact opposite. Sometimes even from the most unexpected people. In war they call it friendly fire.
As in the case of Jesus, sometimes our most avid and staunch supporters end up denying they even knew you. Many church planters have been blind-sided and sidelined by the loss of fidelity from co-workers, primary investors, friends, team members, denominational supervisors, district leaders, even family members. You may think that it will never happen to you, but think again.
So why do church planters experience a loss of fidelity from friends, family, supervisors and colleagues once they start the church planting process? Every planter has experienced this at some level. While our list is not exhaustive, by any means, we believe that these are the top five reasons.
1. The Call This particular reason is most prevalent as it concerns your extended family. Can you imagine what Abrams family thought when he told them his plan for moving? God called to Abram “Get out of your country, from your family. Imagine the humor in the conversation Abram had with his family about his new journey. The conversation probably went something like this. “Abe. What are you doing?” “Leaving.” “Where are you going?” “I don’t know!” “Then how will you know when you’ve arrived?” “I don’t know.” “How will you provide for yourself?” “I don’t know.” “What will happen if things don’t work out?” “I don’t know,” “So, why would you do something so crazy?” “Cause God told me too.” Maybe you have already had conversation like this. When God places a call on your heart and you begin to follow through, many will not understand it. We have heard of parents turning their backs on their own children because the parent felt their son or daughter was off on a fool’s errand. 2. Money More battles have been fought over this issue than we care to mention. Church planting takes an endless stream of money and many in the established church don’t understand. Furthermore, some feel that the money should go to help struggling churches rather than toward a new church. If we have heard it once, we have heard it a dozen times, “Why are you spending so much money on planting new churches when you should be helping us?”
3. Territorialism This is probably one of the most prolific complaints against church planting. The problem is this complaint doesn’t come from those outside the walls of the church but by those in the church. Most of the time the person heading the charge is the pastor.
It doesn’t really seem to matter how far away you are, you will always be too close. After all, the little church of 50, already established, has a claim on the 200,000 people of their city. The own the mud! They have been in this city for 50 years and have reached an average attendance of 50. But they are on the verge of breaking out, if only they had a bigger building, more money, less competition from other churches, etc…
We call this an “Empire” mentality. Honestly, most pastors seem to be more interested in building their own little empire than building the Kingdom of God. They will passionately fight for their ability to hold sole rights to the souls of their community even though their facility will not hold even a fraction of those who live on their own block. 4. Style of Worship The style of worship you chose to use could also become a sore spot and cause a loss of fidelity, A young planter in the Tennessee area fund this out the hard way. After launching his new church with a format and style foreign to the rest of the churches in his district, he was ostracized and shunned. Still to this day, even though he has the largest, healthiest, and strongest church in the district, his own colleagues won’t have much to do with him. 5. Jealousy Truth be told, this is probably where most problems rest. Almost every pastor I know talks about how they would like to see the hand of God on their church in a powerful way. They would like to see the Holy Spirit move and bring hundreds of new people into a live-changing relationship with Jesus. The only problem is their prayer is more focused on them and their ministry than on the actual move of God. Most love to talk about growth and salvation unless it is someone else’s.
Many pray for growth and hope God does marvelous things and when it starts to happen in someone else’s church the pastor immediately disapproves God’s movement by claiming that the other church is either watering down the gospel or behaving in a way that is not proper. Isn’t that strange? We all want to see revival, as long as it happens in our way and on our turf. | |
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Posted 2/1/2011 in Church Planting | 1 Comment - Add Comment |
Life In The MarginJanuary 29, 2011
Dr. Swenson starts the book by sharing how progress, which was suppose to give us more time to do the things we want, has actually robbed us of proper margins in our life. The technology that was suppose to take our work and simplify it, has actually served to help us live marginless lives that are destroying our relationships, emotions, finances and spiritual selves. As I was reading this book I kept thinking to myself, "This is a really good book for church planters to read." Church planters live outside the margin most of their life. Planting a new church is a call, in many ways to live outside proper margins. We race around setting up meetings, organizing marketing campaigns, setting up gyms, theaters and cafeterias, only to tear it down again. Often the week becomes a blur and planters get burned out while running on the hamster wheel. Interestingly enough, I find myself on the same wheel. Traveling from state to state, working with multiple planters, staff members, lay people and board members. How easy it is to get trapped in the vicious cycle of performance. If you are a Type-A, you struggle with this more than most. What is the answer? Slowing down and creating proper boundaries in life. Remembering that God's call to us is primarily to be in relationship with Him and then with the family he gave us. Neglecting these areas of our lives was not God's intended purpose when he called us and yet I see the train wrecks many planters make of these two relationships. Here is a plain and simple statement: The best gift you can give your congregation and staff is a healthy emotional, spiritual and relational you. If you can keep that in perspective, God will do the rest. Don't fall into the trap of losing the margins in your life. Busyness does not equal effectiveness. | |
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Posted 1/29/2011 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment |
Over the last few days I have been engrossed in a book called
The 6th thingJanuary 21, 2011 Since I blogged about The top 5 things planters wish they had known before planting a church" multiple people have asked me; "What was the 6th thing?" So here it is. The sixth issue: Where to find, and how to develop leaders? 58% of those who responded to the survey found finding leaders to be a challenging and surprising problem. It's a great question and most planters struggle with this issue. When I planted in Springfield, MO. I expected everyone would want to jump on board. After all, my vision for a new church was stunning. How could anyone resist joining me on my adventure? (Oh Brother!) I was very naive and over confident in my abilities. I'm sure I'm not alone with my confession. Finding a good leader is tricky. Developing them is essential. Check out Christianity Todays articles on developiing leaders. How have you found and developed your leaders? | |
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Posted 1/21/2011 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment |
Top Five Things Planters Wish they Had KnownJanuary 20, 2011 Last week I sent out a tweet inviting church planters to answer one basic question: What are five things you wish you had known before you planted. A hundred of you took the challenge and answered the question. Here are the top five recurring things these planters shared.
1. How lonely, stressful, and hard on my family planting would be.
I heard my friend Gary Baldus make this statement at a church planting training event: “ 100 percent of church planters have no idea what they are getting into, 100 percent of the time!” How true! No mater how much you prepare, until you are in the heat of the battle, you will never fully know. The pressures on the marriage and family are one of the reasons most organizations won’t pass a planter through assessment if the marriage has problems. The pressures of planting will only amplify any problems.
2. How much Spiritual warfare we would experience.
My simple response to that is: What did you expect? Satan is not going to roll over and let you pass without a fight! Satan hates pastors! I am convinced he has a special kind of hatred for church planters. This is why developing a strong prayer network is the first thing every planter must do. Most planters are “Type-A”, driven people and pay little attention to less tangible issues until they are overcome.
3. How difficult it would be to raise up new leaders who would own the vision.
Raising up leaders is hard to begin with. Add to that process downloading personal ownership of the vision and you have twice the work. Good leaders often come with personal agendas, so be careful who you invite into your structure. A bad leader can quickly hijack your new church and destroy all you’ve done. How do you avoid this? Don’t give titles or roles away for at least six months. Rather, give jobs away. BTW: the best leaders will always be those you lead to Christ and disciple. Spend the vast majority of your time developing these individuals as leaders.
4. How to understand the culture in which you are planting and create something that will connect with culture.
The fact that this was mentioned gives me hope for planters. There is really no easy answer to this problem except hard work. I have found the best way to understand the culture is to live I the area you are targeting for 6 to 9 months, with a secular job, before you start the planting process. I know that seems like an eternity for most planters, b ut you can't rush this process. If you can’t wait that long go to the community leaders, take them out for a meal and ask them to give you a clear picture of the community.
5. How big of a blessing is would be to lead something that transformed lives.
What can I say about this? Nothing! It speaks for itself. | |
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Posted 1/20/2011 in Church Planting | 1 Comment - Add Comment |
10 Common Church Planting MistakesJanuary 15, 2011 Church Planting is tough and always carries a potential of risk and catastrophic failure. So what are the top ten mistakes made by leaders as they plant new churches? These are the mistakes I have seen repeated time after time with the church planters I have trained and coached.
1. Planting a church around your own likes and dislikes instead of contextualizing for the culture your in.
2. Failing to take spiritual warfare seriously.
3. Allowing complainers to shift your original vision.
4. Launching in haste – (Premature Launch)
5. Placing all effort on the launch with little thought of what to so once the church goes public.
6. Failure to focus on evangelism after launch.
7. Fear of talking about money until your pressed into a corner.
8. Placing people in leadership too quickly.
9. Failure to focus on your family properly.
10. Failure to plan for anything but the Sunday morning service.
If you have experienced these mistakes reply and share your story. If you have one to add, by all means share your story. | |
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Posted 1/15/2011 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment |
5 Strategic Church Planting QuestionsJanuary 14, 2011 Planting a healthy growing church is a lot like baking. You have to get all the ingredients right in order to make the perfect cookie. Over the last few years I have developed a recipe for success that has helped launch dozens of healthy, growing churches with proper leadership.
Here are the 5 strategic questions every person has to weight out.
1. Who will and what leadership ability do they have? (Matt 25:14 -30)
Three basic types of leaders: - Five Talent - Two Talent - One Talent “each according to his ability” Matt 25:15
We have to come to terms with the fact that not everyone can lead at the same level. Church planting expectations should equal a planter’s abilities.
2. Location – Where is the plant going to be launched? Each context has different, leadership, funding and ideological needs.
P1 – Urban Setting P2 – Suburban Setting P3 – Mid-sized to Small Town Setting P4 – Rural Setting
3. Size of church – What size of church is a win? All sizes are valid and should be celebrated if they are Great Commission churches! The size of a church should be determined by the leadership ability and setting of a church.
AC – Anchor Church (500+, no lid) RC – Regional Church (400-600) CC – Community Church (200-400) FC – Familial Church (150 tops) HC – House churches EC – Ethnic Church CP – Campus/satellite
4. Methodology - What methodology will you use? No method has a biblical mandate. Therefore no method should be considered right or the only way.
- Missional - Attractional - Both
5. Funding – How much will it cost? Here is the one no one likes to talk about. Every planter wants more money. However, funding should be determined by taking into account the other four strategic questions. | |
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Posted 1/14/2011 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment |
Fast-TrackingJanuary 6, 2011 According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, putting something on the fast track means “to speed up the process or rapidly advance.” One of the greatest temptations many planters will face is the desire to launch their church before the proper time. Yet, launching the church prematurely could destroy the church’s potential. Rarely will the end turn out well if a planter fast-tracks the launch of their new church. Unfortunately, it happens more often than you might think. Why? This what we have experienced as the top three reasons. 1. Pressure 2. Pride 3. Poor Planning One of the strangest stories Jesus ever told is found in Luke 16. Jesus is talking with his disciples and begins to tell a story about a lazy manager who is mismanaging his master’s household. The manager finds out that he is going to get fired and starts to make friends by cutting in half what some business owners owe the master of the house. In effect, he is stealing from the master to ‘make nice’ with some potential future employers. Jesus closes the story out like this; “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”
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Posted 1/6/2011 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment |
The Barnabas FactorDecember 27, 2010 Have you ever stopped to think what Paul’s ministry might have been like without a Barnabas? It is true; Paul was a driven man. Paul had go-go-go galore, and had he taken the church planter evaluation, he would have passed with flying colors. I’m sure, even without a guy like Barnabas next to him, he would have had a great impact on the culture, planted a few churches and even enjoyed a time of measurable success. Yet I have to wonder; did Barnabas play a role in the success of Paul’s ministry? I think so!
Paul needed Barnabas! Let me explain. By the time Paul was converted, he had a black reputation among the Jews. Paul, formerly known as Saul, was infamously known as a violent, hateful, murderous, persecutor of those that followed Jesus. Where the blood of new coverts was spilled, there was Saul, like a vicious predator, drinking in each death. Like a twisted and evil James Bond, he had a license to kill. Obviously, he was good at ferreting out new believers because everyone was afraid of him. As Saul, he was probably one of the most powerful Jewish leaders of his time. He describes himself as a Jew who was, “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless” (Phil. 3:5-6 ESV). Paul was no small player!
Suddenly, Saul is converted, and he is claiming that none other that Jesus himself saved him. I’m sure this far-fetched story was met with a great deal of skepticism from his contemporaries. I bet Jews and Gentiles alike thought Paul was going undercover to get to the kingpins behind this budding religious movement. The Christians of that day were suspicious of Paul. They realized that if they allowed him into their inner circles and he turned out to be an imposter, their lives and the lives of their families might be snuffed out in the middle of the night. Would you trust Paul? I’m not sure I would. At any rate, the scripture helps us to understand that he wasn’t trusted. Most would have been quite comfortable to let Paul fend for himself.
Now let’s return to Barnabas. Barnabas was involved in the new Church, and he had a good reputation among converts. He was upstanding among his peers…and he accepted Paul. The Bible never allows us into this conversation or series of conversations between these two, but somehow, Barnabas was able to believe in Paul’s conversion. If it had not been for Barnabas’ belief in Paul’s intentions, it is likely that Paul would have never been accepted into the ranks of the converts, given their stamp of approval, and sent on missionary journeys by the church in Antioch. Barnabas was the key Paul needed to enter into his new life’s mission. God used Barnabas in a very important way. His trust propelled Paul’s ministry to a whole new level. Those who formerly distrusted Paul soon stood behind him, and like Barnabas, they too sought to elevate and support Paul’s calling to go forth and spread the good news.
So what is my point? Church planters are often treated like Paul, beginning their new position as outsiders. As they go about the business of planting a new church, they are viewed with suspicion, seen as competitors, misunderstood, and left to fend for themselves. In many ways, they have a tide of emotional stress that constantly threatens to pull them under. Too often, the personal and emotional support of a church planter is overlooked. The pattern of planting usually goes like this: “Here’s your training. Got it? Good! Here’s your money. Take care with that. Oh, here’s how much freedom you have to shape your church with. Understand? Good! Okay buddy, go get-em!” This all sounds good, but this leader goes out into the big bad world of church planting alone - alone with their mission, alone with the pack of emotionally stresses that will soon eagerly surround them.
Ministry, in general, can be lonely, and church planting, being what it is, has an enormous potential to amplify this loneliness. Many church planters I have spoken with over the years have felt isolated, detached, and misunderstood. Often dropped into a new city with no support structures, and no immediate friends, from which to draw strength pressure builds and a sense of loneliness can turn into, depression, or burnt out. Too make matters worse, many of those who lead new churches have a extra portion “rugged individualism” built into their DNA. Instinctively they push away those whom they need the most. These two factors combined create enormous potential for catastrophic failure – both in their personal life as well as in the life of the new church. Encouragement is an absolute necessity among church planters. The level of emotional support a church planter receives will ultimately play a huge part in the emotional well-being of the plant itself. | |
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Posted 12/27/2010 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment |
Attracting A Crowd Is Not A SinDecember 2, 2010
It really amazes me how heated this battle seems to be. Honestly, I grow weary of the battle. Attraction, missional, incarnational, blah, blah, blah... I think the assumption of those that watch attractional churches is that they are all about the numbers. Well, maybe so but who cares? Honestly, I know of NO attractional style churches that have NO desire to preach the truth and win people to Christ! I do not know of ANY that have NO desire to disciple, and send people on mission. On the other side of things, I do not know of any anti-attractional churches that blame their lack of growth on preaching the truth. The “”truth, according to the scripture, both attracts and repels people. Many of those in the organic church movement pride themselves in being “biblical forms of community” and yet from everything I read of the birth of the Church in Acts, a truly “biblical” community can’t stop growth! Read Acts and tell me about the small house churches without incorporating the phenomenal and rapid expansion of the church, (even in large settings). These two things don’t exist separate from one another, they go hand in hand. (Don't misunderstand me, I am not anti-organic church. I am pro Church! Whatever form it takes.) Why can't we take into account that God uses certain people to draw big crowds? Could that be God's Design? Listen, If God truly "draws" people, then growth is God's desire when a church explodes on the scene. Right? God draws people not the craftiness of the planter. Let’s keep the movement of God’s Holy Spirit in its proper context. Honestly, there are some who are “attracted” to the "organic" movement. Shall we not then label it “attractional” as well? I know what your thinking, “Why is he ranting about this? This is a stupid blog!” Exactly! Your right! But the battle rages on, and on, and on. Do we seriously have to find something else to fight about? In a speech to educators in 1985, former United States Assistant Secretary of Education Diane Ravitch stated, “The person who knows "how" will always have a job. The person who knows "why" will always be his boss.” In other words, to know “why” is always a higher calling than knowing “how”. Isn’t it interesting that Jesus never spent his time telling the Disciple’s “how” to do ministry? He never told them which methodology was the best for reaching new people. He never told them how to hold a church service. He never told them how to ordain another priest or how to serve communion. In fact, you will be hard pressed to find Jesus telling us the “how-to’s” of anything, with the exception of prayer. All of the debate in the church-planting world about how to plant a church has little value if the ideas behind why we plant churches do not take a primary role in the discussion. If we don't start with a good foundation, then our "how-to" methodologies of church planting won’t really matter. We must clearly understand that the Great Co-mission is NOT an issue of traditional or contemporary. It is NOT an issue of attractional versus incarnational methodologies. It is NOT an issue of modern versus post-modern ministry philosophies. It is not an issue of organic movements over the traditional and established ways of doing church. The bottom line is this: If you don’t fully understand “why” ministry is done, then “how” doesn’t really matter. The fact is, God blesses every form, every kind, every style and every method of church movement and organization that: puts Him first, is obedient to His word, and is doing the work they were commissioned to do Paul made a statement in Phil 1:8 Paul writes "But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice." As I see it we need more rejoicing as less battling. God will sort it out in the end. | |
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Posted 12/2/2010 in Church Planting | 2 Comments - Add Comment |
Evangelism through church planting.July 27, 2010 Peter Wagner stated some 25 years ago that "church planting was the most effective evangelistic methodology known under heaven". His statement still rings true today. New churches, by a large margin, are reaching new people with the gospel with far greater efficacy than their established counterparts. That may not be a very popular statement, but research has verified Wagner's assumption. If that is true, then why aren't more churches intentionally focused on pouring their resources into new churches? Instead the typical church today pours the vast amount of its resources into taking care of the sheep rather than expanding the fold. In doing so, these churches lose their missional passion for the lost and soon drift into an era of plateau, decline and death. Typical church programming often steals energy and time from the original mission focus of the church. I have always believed that "church planting" while never explicitly used in the Bible, was implicitly understood within the context of the Great Commission. In other words, every church should be involved in the process of evangelism through church planting. Imagine what might happen if churches caught the vision for evangelism through planting and started investing thier limited resources in new churches! But is this truly evangelism? Tim Stafford says it best in his article, in Christianity Today: so follow this link and read this great article. | |
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Posted 7/27/2010 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment |
Fade AwayJuly 9, 2010 In 1979 Neil Young came out with a song on his Rust Never Sleeps album called, “My, My, Hey, Hey.” Now, that song my not ring a bell with you, but out of that song comes a lyrical phrase that most have probably heard, “Better to burn out than to fade away.” That phrase became even more popular after it was found April 8, 1984 in the suicide note of Kurt Cobain, lead singer of Nirvana. In both cases, that lyrical phrase had to do with the death of a rock icon. The first was Elvis Presley, the second was Kurt himself. No one desires to simply fade away into oblivion when they die. In fact, most spend a lifetime trying to build some kind of legacy that will last beyond their time on this earth. Local churches are really no different. Like individuals, most churches desire to leave a lasting legacy as well. Sadly, many churches have experienced vision drift and their original passion has faded away. If you do a google search on the average size of the American church, you are likely to be frustrated by the facts. No one really knows for sure, but it is estimated that attendance, in 75 percent of American churches, ranges somewhere between 75 -100 or less on any given Sunday. To make matters worse, the median age of those attending church is on the rise while the median age of the unchurched, continues to decline. Many churches are quietly fading away with little to no trace that they ever existed. Some mainline denominations are experiencing a major crisis due to the age of general membership. According to David T. Olsen: “In the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the average age of church members is 58. For United Methodists, 61 is the average age. Sixty percent of Episcopalians are over age 50; 38 percent are over age 60. The older the members of a church are, the slower the church grows. Why? Older members do not have children, so they do not help the church grow through reproduction. Older members also tend to adjust slowly to cultural changes.”
The early years of a church plant are chaotic, to say the least. As the church begins to mature and grow, the church experiences greater financial stability, membership starts to climb and the chaos of the early years begins to fade. Many planters welcome this sense of calmness. It is often during these times that the planter must re-engage the vision. The planter or planting team will need to choose between change or stability; between being conservative or remaining bold. | |
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Posted 7/9/2010 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment |
A Thousand VoicesJune 23, 2010 In 1976 Sally Field starred in the Emmy Award winning movie Sybil. Sybil was a young adult who suffered severe abuse as a child and as a result developed a coping mechanism that enable her to disassociate with the reality of her pain. Over the course of her young life, Sybil developed thirteen different personalities. Some of these personalities made her appear psychotic; some of them made her appear as a sweet reserved little girl. One of these alter egos made her want to kill herself on a daily basis. However, as Sybil grew up and started to live in the adult world, her once helpful coping mechanism made it increasingly more difficult to be a productive person in society. Her different personalities became a barrier to maturity. No one knew the real Sybil. In fact, the noise of a dozen voices, made it hard for even Sybil to discover and make sense of her own identity. | |
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Posted 6/23/2010 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment |
Moving At Light SpeedApril 25, 2010 Church planting requires focus, and hard work. Never a dull moment and never a moment of peace. The demands grow greater as the church begins to grow and soon we find that every waking moment is spent "doing" something in the church. "It's our baby and we have to make sure it survives and thrives." We have invested our lives into this work and so we get busier and busier trying to make it better and stronger. The fact is the harder we work the more buried, behind and busy we get. God has created us to have rest. Don't live life in the fast lane. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels like the day always ends about three hours too early. There are some days that pass me by and I’m wondering what happened. Dance lessons, ball games, music lessons, homework - before we know it, bath time and bedtime. Where does the time go on weekdays? We as adults are busy with these daily responsibilities in our fast-paced society. Microwaves help prepare quick meals, drive-throughs provide food on the run and while an occasional evening of "running" is okay, a lifestyle of being on the run can be very stressful. In fact life on the run exemplifies most families today. Here is what I am learning. I hope it helps you to avoid my pitfalls. 1. Constantly running at break-neck speed is exhausting in every aspect of life physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Our bodies can only handle so much activity and when we live a hurried life we will begin to see signs of this lifestyle become evident in our health. We suffer with personal illness and depression. Stress, heart attacks, constant illnesses of all kinds and chronic fatigue. Some of you here today are seeing doctors right now for things that are related to the constant stress which you allow in your life. | |
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Posted 4/25/2010 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment |
No More Lone RangersJanuary 11, 2010
The Lone Ranger is a piece of American entertainment history. On Feb 2, 1933 the Lone Ranger episodes were launched on the radio. On Sept 14, 1949 it air for the first time on ABC and aired until 1957. Throughout this run, Americans all across the nation tuned in to see their favorite masked hero, take on the bad guys. Every episode ended with this lone figure yelling out a hearty “Hi-Yo Silver Away!” while his horse reared up and they rode off into the wilderness. Americans loved The Lone Ranger because he stood for truth, justice and the American way. The Lone Ranger, riding solitary and into the sunset, became an American icon and a symbol for the rugged individualism that built this great nation. Today, the phrase “lone ranger” is used by many preachers to denote what may be a spiritual loner or an outcast who doesn’t seem to fit neatly into the body of Christ. Ironically, most pastors fit this bill very well and sadly, most pastors feel a lot like The Lone Ranger. These lone ranger pastors feel deeply that they are expected, by their congregations and denominational leaders, to embody the rugged, individualistic spirit of a self-made man. They are expected to ride in, save the day and ride off into the sunset while onlookers whisper amongst themselves, “Who was that masked man?” This expectation has cause an epidemic of health problems, burnout, infidelity, and depression among pastors in America today. While the American pastor may suffer from this syndrome, church planters are even more susceptible. Many church planters tend to be the rugged-individual type. Their natures tend make them willing to take on the world and their problems through their rugged, solitary will. It might even be that they prefer to take on every challenge alone. And as it stands, our current mode of operations surrounding church planting, encourages this sort of methodology. Church planters are sent out to do the work like The Lone Ranger. Most don’t even get a Tonto. As leaders I think we must ask ourselves: Is sending out our church planters without any shoulder-to-shoulder or personal support even biblical? In the sixth chapter of Mark, Jesus sent his disciples out to minister in groups of two. A quick read through the book of Acts will show that the early church sent their missionaries out in groups of two. Come to think of it, whenever I watch the television show COPS, even they are sent out in groups of two. Like law enforcement, ministry is dangerous business. Don’t we need to take some precautions? There is strength and safety in numbers! It’s time to bring this biblical concept back into the arena of church planting. It’s hard enough planting a church, let alone, planting it solo. Instead of one entrepreneurial planter going out to start a church on his own, why not send a team? In his book Planting Missional Churches, Ed Stetzer explains that a church-planting team provides “a division of gifts, and a strong leadership base”. Church plants that start off with a team and share the workload stand a much better chance of reaching the two hundred mark quickly. But, does the data back that up? Yes! One of the most significant discoveries in the study of church plants (Planting Fast Growing Churches) has to do with "Lone Ranger" leadership. Each planter involved in the study was asked if they planted the church on their own or if they started with a church planting team. A whopping 88 percent of the fast-growing church plants had a church planting team in place prior to public launch. By contrast, only 12 percent of struggling church plants had a church planting team. That is a difference of 76 percent between these two groups! Ouch—did I just hear the Lone Ranger take a bullet? Team planting does have a positive impact on the growth of a new church, and it is a major factor that distinguishes fast-growing church plants from the comparison plants. Before the results came back to me, it was my belief that a team approach to church planting would produce a synergy unlike anything else. Because of my own experience, I already knew in my bones that those who attempted to plant a church in true Lone Ranger fashion had a much greater likelihood of struggling. What I found even more interesting, perhaps even disturbing, was the degree of loneliness and isolation that those leading struggling church plants found themselves subjected to. Each planter was asked to indicate how many unpaid volunteer staff they had. The results were eye opening. Not only did the majority of solo planters have no paid staff, it is significant to note that 73.1 percent of leaders involved in struggling church plants indicated that they had a grand total of zero on their voluntary staff. By contrast, a majority of planters leading fast-growing church plants, 65 percent, had at least one or more volunteers to rely on. What should this tell us? NO MORE LONE RANGERS! | |
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Posted 1/11/2010 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment |
The call to plantDecember 7, 2009 Let me preface everything I am about to say with this firm conviction: The Local church is the only hope this world has! The church is not a human invention or a manmade organization created to oppress and control the people of the world. It is a divine, God ordained, Christ commissioned organism, designed to be extension of the work of Jesus Christ, offering salvation, wholeness, healing and transformation to a sin-sick world. It is the only hope humanity has of finding forgiveness and proper standing before a holy and righteous God. Without the church, the world has no hope. If you don’t believe that, then there is no use in planting any churches. Close shop, go home and forget you ever considered planting a church in the first place. I can hear a few of you saying, "No, without Jesus, there is no hope." True, but the church has been called ot be Jesus' hands and feet. The Church, His bride, has been called to do "even greater things" than he did. The Church, lives because God called it into existence and ordained it to be His representative. Just as Jesus and the Father are one, a dichotomy does not, or at least should not exist between Jesus and His Bride. Throughout his ministry, Jesus shared the importance of evangelism as a driving force in the church. The Great Commission in Matt. 28:19 was his call to the church to participate in the practice of evangelism: “Go and make disciples of all nations”. Just before his ascension, Jesus reiterated these words: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). In my opinion, the Great Commission was understood as a call to start new communities of believers wherever the Disciples traveled. Any serious reader of the Bible will quickly come to understand that God’s nature is at the root of mission. The living God portrayed in the Bible is a sending God. He sends because of his love for the world. The Church is called to be the living expression of the kingdom of God on this earth and to express the love of God by fulfilling the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18. However, the Great Commission given by Jesus in the New Testament is not a new calling to God’s people. This commission, given by Jesus, is built upon the call to Abram found in Genesis: "Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will provide for you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; and all the peoples on the earth will be blessed through you." (Gen. 12:1-3) This call to Abram shows God’s desire for Israel to become a movement that would touch the entire world. God's call to Abram was not a call to become a regional, stagnate, inward focused tribe. God’s design in this calling was to push the future nation of Israel to think beyond socioeconomic and ethnic borders. God’s desire was to bless the world through Abram. Abram’s obedience to God, then, would be the beginning of the people called Israelites and, ultimately, today’s Christian. Clearly, God’s intention, from the call of Abram, was to create a people group that would reach out to every nation. They were to be God's Blessing to an entire universe! So, Genesis 12:1-6 stands as the foundation upon which the Great Commission rests. According to the New Testament, Israel is no longer those who were, by blood, considered to be of Abram’s linage. Rather, the true Israelite is understood as he or she who receives adoption into the family, through the blood of Jesus. paul stated it best in Romans 9:8 “It is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring” Clearly Paul knew thast those who are the followers of Jesus Christ and part of his Church, are now called the “children” of Abraham. This classification becomes significant, as followers understand that the Great Commission is a reaffirmation of the original call given to Abraham. The Church, like Israel, is not to become a stand-alone organization, rather a life-giving organism that can influence the world. Church-planting is not new to denominational bodies. It was and is the lifeblood mission of the church from the very beginning. Church planting is the “intentional pursuit of lost people” that flows out of the Great Commission. God’s original call to be a blessing to the world is alive in the Great Commission. My firm conviction is that this calling was a call to spread the kingdom of God primarily through the means of planting new churches. As the church involves itself in this work, it is fulfilling the original call, given to Abram, to be a blessing to the nations. ∫Many New Testament Scriptures can be used to show the importance of church-planting. The book of Acts offers the reader a unique opportunity to witness the actions of the early Church in response to the Great Commission. Acts becomes an important dynamic because it best illustrates the early believer’s behavior after Jesus commissioned them. In essence, the book of Acts becomes the history of a church-planting movement. Although the phrase “church-planting” is not explicitly mentioned in Acts, I believe it is implicitly understood as a “normal expression of New Testament Missiology”. Church-planting was, without question, at the center of early Church activity. It was a primary means of spreading and establishing the gospel of Jesus Christ. | |
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Posted 12/7/2009 in Church Planting | 1 Comment - Add Comment |
The Power of 10November 16, 2009 God is doing some amazing things through the "Power of Ten" challenge. Some churches have adopted the "Power Of Ten" as a church-wide challenge and others have used it as a Sunday School Challenge. Everday God is bringing us new churches, leaders, and church planting opportunities. God is up to something big and it is exciting to know that we are a part of His great plan. Over the next few months I expect to see our opportunites expand to even greater possibilities. Don't miss out on the opportunity to be a part of this big vision! If you have not taken the challenge, why not! Imagine the life-change we will celebrate this year as God continues to work through our movement!
You have an opportunity to be a part of this great vision! Take The Power of Ten Challenge. Be one of the 10,000 people who will be praying for 10 minutes a day as well as giving $10 a month until 10/10/10.
If you would like to sign up CLICK HERE. | |
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Posted 11/16/2009 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment |
The Barnabas Factor - Part 2October 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. 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. | |
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Posted 10/28/2009 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment |
The Power of TenAugust 14, 2009 Our national event, the Missions & Ministry Summit, was a tremendous success. Wednesday night, July 29th, I was given a brief opportunity to share my thoughts and cast cision for what I believe God would do 2010 through National Missions. If you would like to sign up CLICK HERE. | |
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Posted 8/14/2009 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment |
Breaking 200July 11, 2009 A church plant is a lot like a boulder on a barren mountainside. You’ve seen this same rock in many adventure movies. Perhaps you’ve seen two nondescript cowboys desperately prying it loose, and then watching it fall. It quickly picks up speed, knocking other smaller rocks loose. Rocks smash against other rocks, breaking them from their resting places. All at once, a clamorous noise ensues, dust rises, and suddenly the entire mountainside is alive with the violent motion of falling boulders and debris. This landslide is what the cowboys were hoping for, and they whoop and holler at their success. A successful church plant is a lot like this scene.  | |
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Posted 7/11/2009 in Church Planting | 3 Comments - Add Comment |