People Spots
Online
Produced by James W.
Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants
Provided as a service by New Life Ministries
Starting a Church Plant
by James W. Moss, Sr.The key to successful planting is the support systems that are in place. First is quality assessments. In the Churches of God, we use an assessment center to qualify potential planters. The center covers four days. The second step is a church planting training center. This is an intensive four days of training to prepare the planter for his plant. The planter emerges with an outline for the specific plant. Third, the planter then writes a planting proposal, including a budget for operations, which is presented to the Commission on Church Planting for approval. This becomes the accountability document. Fourth, a coach works with the planter through most of the first two years. I have filled that roll here.
The church planter is a key person. First, the planter must experience and evidence a call from God for church planting. This is so critical because planting is intensely difficult. Unless there is a definitive call from God, when the going really gets tough, the planter will fold his tent. And the going will really get tough. You can count on that. It is my observation that the first two years of a church plant are the toughest two years in ministry that I know about. It has also been my observation that the conscientious planters in some of the starts that weren’t overwhelmingly successful worked harder than some of the ones that were obviously successful.
The planter has to have a vision of what the church might be one year, two years, five years, and even ten years down the road. The planter has to have the capacity to instill that same vision in others. The planter has to have the ability to attract people to themselves and the cause for which they are working. The planter has to have the capacity to stay extremely focused. The purpose is to plant a church. Any interest that would detract from that needs to be denied. The spouse and family have to be intensely committed as well. Especially the first two years of a plant must be a family project.
The decision on the community is extremely important. Hopefully, the planter will have contacts in the community. Normally, we ask the planter, “Where has God placed a burning desire in your heart to start a new church?” We have done better at that than selecting a community and then looking for a pastor for that community. Along with the identification of the community goes the decision on the market. Here are some questions we ask to help in identifying the people on whom the church will focus:
 | Who will you be striving to reach? |
| Are there enough people in that community in the market you are trying to reach to walk 1,000 people through the door? If not, you might want to think again. |
| Is the community resistant to the beginning of new churches? |
There are resistant communities. We have attempted to start churches in what later became apparent to me were resistant communities. The only sure sign I know is to check how the most recent plants in the community have fared. If the last 6 plants in that area in the last 3 years are all averaging less than 50, you are probably dealing with a resistant community. You are probably fooling yourself to think you can start one and do better.
What will be the method of the plant? There are no perfect, surefire methods. I prefer mothering. This is when one church provides people and support for the beginning of the new church. I believe this is the most successful method of planting. Another method is partnering. Two to five churches participate in one project. Parachute drop is another. Basically the planter is dropped into a community and must begin from scratch. This is the most difficult and risk-filled method of planting.
What will be the style? Is the planter concerned to plant a church or plant a specific kind of church? If it is the later then the planter will have a more difficult time. What style of church is most likely to attract people from the market you are striving to reach? There are whole slices of the population to choose from. Upscale, middle class, blue collar and various segments within and between those. Every once in a while God gives a church plant people different from what was initially intended. Can the planter adjust to God’s gift? If not then the plant will probably fail. Style includes music, order of worship, length of sermon and service, and dress among other things. Few purely seeker-driven churches survive unless they have massive support budgets.
The planter must attract a core of people with a variety of skills and a capacity for hard work. The larger this group, the more likely is it is to succeed. The more tithing families in the group, the more likely it will be self-sufficient.
A strategy has to be put in place to walk 1,000 people through the door. Why that number. The immediate goal is to average 100, which is normally required to be self-supporting. Most plants must walk 1,000 people through the door to average 100 in the first year. How does that work? If the church plant has been very successful at retention, it will keep about 30% of the people who walk through the door. Then it will take about 300 different people to average 100 in most instances. Other than the launch team, it takes a while to develop consistency among attendees.
The planter has to be bold in asking for money. Most planters have limited support funds. So they can extend that aid by collecting additional funds from friends and family. They will have to begin cultivating stewardship strategies quickly. Unfortunately, there is a great deal of pressure to be come self-supporting in a short period of time.
Then various ministries and small groups have to be formed to create people spots or places of belonging.
Do you remember how old the new church is? That is a question I have to frequently ask a planter and people in the church plant. The prenatal period is that time from the moment of the planter’s employment until the first public service. That is the birth date of the church. It takes a while for a congregation to grow up.
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Also see:
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Read about Jim's seminars and books.
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July 21, 2003. Volume 6, Issue 7. People Spots Online is prepared by James W. Moss, Sr., and Church Consultants. It is provided as a service by New Life Ministries, www.NewLifeMinistries-NLM.org. Articles may be duplicated and reproduced in any way with proper credit. A new article is produced about every two weeks. To be added to a list to receive these messages directly by e-mail, send a request to churchconsultants@yahoo.com.