Reason #5 - You Plan to Cannibalize Other Churches
It's bound to happen, you plant a church and new people begin to attend. Some of them will have little or no church background, while others will come from churches where they are dissatisfied with there experience. While your church should be open to people who are coming from other churches, if you plan is to build a church for Christians who are dissatisfied with their church, be prepared for them to be dissatisfied with yours before too long.
I've seen several strong churches (100-200 people...some as large as 600 people) close there doors after loosing large (70-80%) numbers of people to the new flavor of the day church plant in the community. Sorry guys, just seems like pretty bad missiology to me.
This one is probably my greatest personal struggle. It's easy to fall into the trap of believing that if you want something done right, you should do it yourself. Problem is there's nothing biblical about that statement.
It's great that you know how to play guitar, plan a worship service, or use Photoshop (elements)...but just because you can do something doesn't mean that you should do it.
Ephesians 4:10-12 challenges us to "equip people for works of service"...a church will never reach it's full redemptive potential unless it unleashes the entire congregation to service.
If you've got a Messiah complex, it's best to stop now and deal with that before starting a new church built around you. Get alone with God, come face to face with the only real Messiah, and then get about the work of equipping people to be the body of Christ.
Okay, so I started this series and called it "5 Bad Reasons to Plant a Church", but the real question my friend asked was, "Give me 5 reasons I shouldn't plant a church?"
So since I'm the author of this thing I thought I'd change the series to "Five Reasons Not to Plant a Church". (Hey if you don't like it...don't read it) ;) - yes I just used a smiley in a blog post...you want to make something of it!
Reason #3 - You Lack Courage
Now I'm not talking about being scared by the thought of starting something new. I'm not even talking about worrying about if it will work or not.
What I'm talking about is lacking the courage to call for commitment, deal with conflict, and battle church trolls.
If you're going to plant a church you'll have to regularly challenge people to commit themselves to Jesus, to participate in the life of the church, to sacrifice their personal preferences for the good of others.
If you're going to plant a church you'll have to regularly address conflict, shut down gossip, protect the mission and vision of the church, and ensure that the church is led by people who love Jesus more than themselves (it's harder than you'd think).
If you're going to plant a church I promise you will find yourself in a battle with a church troll at some point. What's a church troll? It's someone who attempts to use their power, position, time of service, money, or other means to bully you into doing what they want you to do. If you're not ready to fight that battle, I recommend you save yourself the pain, stress, and sleepless nights and go get a nice quiet job where you can keep your head down, collect a paycheck, and hopefully retire someday. (fortunately there are not many of those jobs out there, so you'll likely get the chance to suck it up and learn how to lead at some point)
Yesterday I posted Bad Reason #1 that people plant churches, and today's follow-up probably should have been Bad Reason #1.
Bad Reason #2 - Because You're Bitter
People plant churches for all kinds of reasons, but one of the worst is because they are planting out of bitterness or because the existing church just doesn't get it (and of course they do).
Often this happens when people become frustrated with the established church and out of bitterness they decide to start something new with people of "get it". While sometimes their motive is about reaching people disconnected from the church, the danger is that they are driven to prove to the people who don't "get it" that they are/were wrong, and that the planter is/was right.
The problem here is that anything that is birthed out of bitterness, anger, or pride is fighting a loosing battle. Jesus never promises to bless those type of attitudes. In fact the work of the Holy Spirit is to eradicate these very things.
I had a friend ask me earlier this week for 5 bad reasons for planting a church. I shot him a quick e-mail reply, but thought why not post a little bit more on my blog. So here ya go!
Bad Reason #1 - Because It's Cool
God is doing some amazing things in a lot of different church plants today. It's easy to look at what Steven Furtick, Perry Noble, Mark Driscoll, Craig Groeschel, or whoever your flavor of the week is and say, "wow, that's cool...I think I want to be like that!"
Problem is that God didn't call you to be Perry, Steven or Mark...He called you to be you!
I'm reminded of the story where David puts on Saul's armor to try to fight the giant Goliath. He couldn't go in someone else's armor. He took it off and fought out of his unique gifting.
My advice...take off the false-self you've put on and live the unique calling that God has for you!
Along those lines...here's a sweet video that makes this point really well.
Had a great time at the Velocity Conference a couple weeks ago with our team from BridgeWay. One of the highlights was getting to hear Rick Warren speak in the closing session. It was great to get to hear him speak from his heart for the first 20 minutes or so before he got into his actual presentation. Pretty much every paragraph the man said was rich with meaning and worth writing down, but here are some of the things that stood out...especially from the opening off the cuff stuff.
Nothing matters more than the church.
Few nations that existed 1,000 years ago exist today, but the church has remained.
1,000 years from now many nations will cease to exist, but the church will still exist.
Because the church is so important, we must be all the more HUMBLE.
The higher you LEAD, the more humility you NEED.
Do you want to be a church that is a mushroom or an oak tree. One grows fast, the other grows strong.
A crowd is not a church. Move people from the crowd into the committed.
Churches must move people from "come and see" to "come and die".
You measure a church by it's SENDING capacity, not its SEATING capacity.
If you want the anointing of God, you have to get over yourself.
To lead well, you must build your life on INTEGRITY, HUMILITY, AND GENEROSITY.
You don't have to be COOL or CLEVER to be a LEADER.
We're not tempted at our area of weakness, we're tempted in our strengths.
Humility is not denying your strengths, it's being honest about your weaknesses.
If you can learn from anybody, God will honor you.
We must do what Jesus did, disciple people and release them for ministry.
Stop worrying about building the church, and start building people.
Great stuff from someone who's living what he teaches.
While the church is not about money, it takes money to plant a church and sustain effective ministry within a community. One of the top 8 barriers to effective church plants is simply that they have insufficient resources to really make an impact within their community. How much money a church planter needs to launch varies from city to city and planter to planter. But, regardless of setting, planting a church with insufficient resources is like trying to drive from New York to California on a half tank of gas. I don't care how ecconomic your gas milage is...you're still gonna run out of gas before you reach your destination.
One of the criteria that is often overlooked in church planting is the pastor's ability to raise adequate resources to fund their plant. Planters often assume as long as they've got a great team, a great location, and God's blessing that they can succeed without adequate funding. Unfortunately, I've learned this lesson the hard way.
This past year we launched a campus of BridgeWay in a nearby town. We had a great leader, a great team, a great (but too expensive) location, and what we thought were "just enough" funds to support the work there. We were wrong. Thankfully, most church planting mistakes are not fatal, and this one wasn't either...but it has forced us to plan our financial systems more carefully before we set sail with our next campus or church plant.
So what can a planter do to ensure that lack or resources doesn't become a breaking point for their church plant?
1. Accept responsibility for funding the mission of your church plant. Too many Lead Pastors refuse to accept the responsibility for the financial integrity and stewardship of the church. Pastor, it is your job to ensure the mission is well funded and people are being discipled in all areas of their spiritual growth...that includes financial stewardship.
2. Refuse to launch until you've met your funding milestones. Did you budget to raise $70,000 to fund the launch of your church, but have only raised $30,000? Don't launch until you've met your milestone.
3. Don't expect a bailout. Too many planters are looking for a handout from a denominational partner or network, but haven't displayed the ability to develop a strong giving base. Now why would a partner want to invest in someone with no track record of casting vision and developing an existing giving base? A good rule of thumb is to expect to raise 70% of your budget outside of denominational partnerships.
4. Develop all potential sources. There are dozens of ways you can develop the start-up funds needed to launch a church. Here are just a few: your launch team, your friends & family, writing vision letters, making the big ask, bi-vocational ministry, parent church partnership, partner churches, "deputation" services, online, e-mail, and a whole bunch of others...
5. Check your motive. Is your desire to fund your vision, or is it to help the people who are giving accomplish their purpose in this world. Here's a secret, your plant is not for you...it's there to impact a community and move people towards God's purposes for their lives.
6. Set two goals. Set a goal for pre-launch funds needed, and for post-launch expenses for continued operations. Too many plants can get out of the box, but have to go back in the box because of lack of operational funds...learned this one the hard way.
7. Create a campaign. Call it something..."The Revolution"..."Advance"..."Makin' Noise"...whatever, but call it something that speaks to your vision and mission. Then use that campaign to rally support.
8. Create a simple website. This is not a website for your plant, but for your campaign. Buy a domain, create a blog/website, provide updates, communicate vision, provide opportunity to give online.
9. Create some print pieces. Yes this cost money, but you need something tangible to give people that communicates vision and moves them to action.
10. Create a "baby registry" for your baby church. This makes giving tangible. Some people prefer to give items rather than cash. Also this makes the numbers tangible.
11. Get off your "tail" and get out there. If you're not willing to work hard to fund the mission and vision, and to help people develop their gifts of stewarship you should probably consider doing something else.
Thanks to Casey Graham at The Change Group for some of the ideas presented in this post...if you're a pastor you should really check out his group!
So what are some other things that a planter might do to make sure that lack of resources doesn't become a barrier to effective ministry?
Reason #5: No Team
Church planting is not an individual sport. Church planting is a team sport. Trying to plant a church without a strong team is like trying to make it to the Superbowl with just a quarterback and a middle linebacker (and you thinking you can play both sides of the ball).
I heard someone say recently "The first Reformation gave the people their Bible back...what's it going to take for them to get their ministry back?" I believe that church planters are uniquely positioned to help people rediscover the joys of ministry.
Too often church planters believe that they have been trained and educated for the work of the ministry, but exactly the opposite is true. Church planters have been trained and educated for the equipping of people for the work of the ministry. Please do not plant a church until you've grasped this important difference. When church planters fail to embrace the need for a strong team of leaders and hoard the ministry to themselves they quickly burn out and become frustrated by the lack of growth in their church.
So how can a church planter ensure that they launch with a strong team?
1. Identify your essential leadership roles. For us they were: Lead Pastor, Worship Director, Children's Ministry Director, Treasurer, Set-Up Director, Guest Services Director, Cafe Director, and Administrative Assistant. While we had other roles, and one person filled two roles, these were the essential roles for us at launch. 2. Don't give away leadership too quickly. Some planters are quick to give away leadership, and slow to remove people. The opposite should be true. Take your time in identifying leaders from within your launch team, and place them in a role only after seeing them succeed in less demanding roles. 3. Don't launch until you've got your essential roles staffed. Just because your launch plan says you're launching on September 13th doesn't mean you should if you still haven't identified a worship director, children's director, or some other key leader. 4. Create an organization chart for 1 year after launch. If you're planning to be a church of 200+ by the end of your first year then be sure that you create an org chart that will support a congregation of 200. Then begin to fill in responsible parties for each role, even if you have to have multiple people serve in multipule roles to begin with. This will give you an idea of how many, and what kind of new leaders you will need to be developing during your first year. 5. Don't hire people, use volunteers. One of the biggest mistakes I see church planters make is to hire people too quickly. Don't do it. Resources are tight. Don't underestimate the power of a highly motivated volunteer. It is likely someone who is willing to volunteer has a higher intrinsic motivation than someone who will only work if they are paid. I basically volunteered my time for the first year of BridgeWay as I served as a full-time youth pastor and church planter. Our worship director volunteered their time. The only person we paid was a very part-time Administrative Assistant who received I believe $25 per week. 6. Don't underestimate the power of the $100 per week part-time ministry leader. We'd never be able to accomplish what we do at BridgeWay without several of our staff basically working for a check that covers their mileage too and from the church. Rather than hire one full-time staff person, consider hiring two to three part-time staff. 7. When you finally do hire, do it where most needed. I've heard people say, "You should always hire worship first." or "You should always hire a children's minister first." I say...your first hire should always be where you need it the most. We've got a great part-time worship director and would have been foolish to hire a full-time director first. Our actual first full-time hire was someone who's primary job was to connect people to the church quickly and to equip them for ministry. Notice the emphasis on someone who would build a stronger team? 8. Value your team. Write them notes of encouragement. Spend time with them. Let them know they are appreciated. 9. Cast vision with your team. This is a place we made some mistakes early. I knew about all the cool stories that were happening in the church, but few of our leaders got to hear many of the amazing stories. Recently, we began to share these stories in team huddles before our services begin on Sundays. So we meet with our teams and share a powerful story from the prior week. This helps to connect their ministry to the mission & vision of the church. It has been powerful. 10. Provide pastoral care to your leaders. As a church planter one of your jobs is to provide pastoral care to your leaders so they can do the same for others. I'm still working on this one myself.
So how about you? Have you ever seen the power of being on a great team? How about the weakness of being on a poorly staffed team?
Reason #4: No Spiritual Vacuum.
In the business world they call it lack of a market. Church planters often assume that all you have to do to grow a church is get a band, secure a location, design a slick logo and marketing campaign, and then people will just pour into your new church. Nothing could be further from the truth. The church planting landscape is covered with the bodies of people who attempted to plant a church where there was little demand or spiritual vacuum for the church that they were starting.
What is a spiritual vacuum?
Simply put a spiritual vacuum is a need within an area for a church like the one that you are trying to start. You might feel led to start a hip new church experience with cool lights, casual dress, and a coffee bar...but if 4 churches just like the one you're starting have been launched in the past couple years it's likely you're a little late to the party. If you're sold out on planting a traditional church in a community that already is full of traditional churches, then your chances at making an impact will be limited. One key to planting an effective church is to make sure that the church you are planting is not simply a reproduction of what several other churches in your area are already doing. Be unique.
So how do I know if a spiritual vacuum exists?
1. Review the demographics. Take the time to study the demographics of your community and county. The Church of the Nazarene offers a great tool for church planters to do just that. Check it out here. Is the community/county largely churched or unchurched? Is there a pocket of people like you? Most people will attend churches where they are similar to the leaders of the congregation.
2. Review the church landscape. What churches are in your area? Look less at denominational affiliation and more at stylistic differences. People no longer choose a church based on denominational affiliation. Just because there's no Wesleyan church in a community does not mean you should plant one there if it is going to be stylistically the same as 4 or 5 other churches in town.
3. Build an initial launch team. Begin to see what kind of interest there is from others in the community to helping you start a new church. If you can rally an initial group of 30-40 interested adults it's likely that you will be able to find others who will be interested in seeing a new church like yours birthed.
So what about you? Have you seen the effects of a strong spiritual vacuum in a community? Have you seen the effects of the lack of connecting with a spiritual vacuum?
The idea of an entrepreneur starting a business without a strategic plan is clearly a recipe for disaster. While that might be true, church planters have been starting churches without strategic plans for decades. With the printing of "The Purpose Driven Church" and "Unchurched Harry and Mary" in the 90's, as well as several strategic books on the nuts and bolts of church planting, the need for strategic planning in church plants became obvious. Even with the obvious need for creating a strategic action plan, few church planters were equipped or intelligent enough to create a plan on their own.
One of the most common questions I am asked is, "Did you ever think that BridgeWay would become everything it is today?" While it might sound slightly arrogant, my answer is yes. Yes. I had no doubt that BridgeWay would become the church it has become today. The biggest reason is that even before we met with the launch team for the first time, we already had a picture of what God had called our church to become. This picture was so clear that on our Grand Opening Sunday I shared a vision statement for our church. Reading the statement today, it sounds very much like the church that we have become.
One thing I can tell you is that it didn't happen by accident. It happened as people prayed. Sought God's direction. Read tons of books. Trained like crazy. Put the plan on paper. And then began to execute with intensity.
If you're planning on planting a church. Please don't do so until you've created a strategic action plan.
So how can a church planter learn how to create a Strategic Action Plan?
1. Pray. I'm not just saying this to get it out of the way. I truly believe that lack of a unique God inspired vision is a primary factor in church failures. 2. Read the Bible. Study the gospels and look at what Jesus did. Read the book of Acts and witness what a Holy Spirit filled church looks like. Consider the letters of the New Testament and uncover the essence of Christian community and ministry. 3. Read Church Planting Books & Blogs. Read like crazy. Absorb everything you can on church planting and ecclesiology. In another post I'll share some of the best books and most helpful blogs for church planters. 4. Attend a Church Planter's Boot Camp or New Church University Event. These events are designed to give you the basic skills needed to create an actionable strategic plan. You can check for upcoming New Church University opportunities here. 5. Visit Other Church Plants. Get an up close insiders look at what goes on inside of an existing church plant. We've had several people check out BridgeWay on a weekend, and some who've even taken an entire day to spend with our staff. 6. Get a Qualified Coach. I know I beat this drum a lot. But one of the greatest benefits of a qualified coach is that they can help you refine your action plan, and hold you accountable for implimenting it. So what about you? Have you seen the benefit of having a plan? Have you seen the danger in moving forward without a plan?
The most common form of church planting, at least until the 1990's was the "parachute drop" church plant. Much like the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan, the church planter would be dropped into a hot zone with little hope of survival. Typically the planter and their family would move to a target area, and begin trying to establish some sort of a beachhead, usually with little outside support, and with no preexisting relationships established in the community. As you can imagine the survival rates were not good.
The same thing is still largely true today. Many well meaning planters move their families hundreds of miles, into communities where they have no established network, and expect to be able to develop a great church from nothing.
One common factor that I've seen in successful church plants is that they have a preexisting network, a platform if you will, within the community they are planting. We've definitely seen this to be true in planting BridgeWay. While Steph and I had no established network when we moved to Illinois, we lived and worked in the area for 3 years prior to the launch of the church. During that time we were able to develop relationships within the parent church (another critical factor I'll address in another post), within the community, and with other Christians who were interested in planting a new church.
Recently, Harvest Bible Chapel out of Chicagoland launched a church in the Peoria area. They had a strong network of interested Christians, and a great platform in James MacDonald's "Walk in the Word" radio broadcast. The results have been a strong new church.
So what can a church planter do to establish a network prior to launching a new church?
For years people have been throwing around a bogus statistic stating that "80% of church plants fail within the first 2 years"...that statistic is simply false. The truth is that after 4 years 68% of church plants are alive and well (see Ed Stetzer's research on this). While that's encouraging, it still means that 32% fail. While many more are not reaching their full redemptive potential.
So what causes a church plant to fail? What keeps church plants from reaching their full potential?
I first felt like God was calling me to plant a church 10 years ago. Steph and I were attending a church plant in the Kansas City area, and knew that this was the kind of church we wanted to be a part of in the future. The question was, would be be able to find a church like this one to pastor, or was God calling us to start a new church ourselves.
If you've ever thought God might be calling you to plant a church, you've probably had the same questions that we faced. Is this from God or just wishful thinking? Can we do it? Should we do it? What would it take? What would it look like? How can we find out if we should? And a host of other questions.
Now that I'm 5 years into planting BridgeWay, I feel like I might actually have something to offer other potential planters. So over the next few weeks I'm going to be posting some of my thoughts regarding church planting.
5 Questions for Church Planters Who are Thinking About Planting:
So now that I got through the weekend, and because there is absolutely nothing on TV worth watching tonight, I'm taking a few minutes to post my notes from Day 2 of the Evolve Conference:
