Field-Tested Advice for Church Planters

I’m always on the lookout for solid church planting wisdom to include in the Church Leader Insights Newsletter (click here for your free subscription).

I recently read just such an article from Jimmy Britt, a friend and coaching alumni.  Jimmy is the Founding and Lead Pastor of Rocky River Community Church in North Carolina and he gave me permission to re-print this article for you, so enjoy!

I was thinking today that I have not written anything in a while to the church planters who read my blog. I’m in the mood so let me just give you some stuff rapid fire style. ☺ BTW, I think this is pretty good info for church goers everywhere.

- If you can’t raise money, go do something else. You are not a church planter if you can’t raise money. Seriously. You can be on a church planting team – you may even make a great Executive Pastor, but if you can’t raise money you are NOT a church planter. I know some of you are thinking that sounds too harsh so let me tell you why this is true. If you can’t raise money it means that you can’t talk to people, sell your vision (you can’t sell what you don’t have), or people just don’t feel confident enough in you to give you their money.

Note: You need at least one or two guys (or gals) in your church that you can go to and ask for money when you really need it. God has blessed me with a couple of men who will help me when I need it. They are not “money bags.” They just have some resources and are willing to help when we’re really in need, or just have a great opportunity and no cash. These folks are as valuable to you as your worship pastor. If you don’t have these folks who can have your back financially, you should question your call as a planter. I am FULLY convinced that God puts these people in your life. Everyone doesn’t agree with me on this, but they aren’t church planters either (they just teach it in seminary). ☺

- The latest, greatest technology is NOT the most important thing about your new church plant. Seriously, I’ve gotten some great deals on projectors and other great stuff from the coolest church plants that didn’t make it.

- Effective is better than cool any day of the week.

- Everything in “traditionally modeled churches” is not all bad. Know why you do what you do.

- People want to know what is in the Bible. It’s the Bible they need. Help people understand it and apply it to their life and they will beat a path to your door. They will find you!

- If you’re lazy, go to seminary, don’t plant a church. Planting a church is NOT for lazy people.

- If your wife thinks that you and her got married just to sit on the couch and snuggle every night after dinner until time to go to bed, find something else to do. A church planting couple has to understand that they were married for the mission. You two are partners in the Kingdom first and if she doesn’t get that then your life is going to be miserable.

I’m not saying your wife is bad. I’m really not. I’m just saying that your church plant has to be her church plant too. She doesn’t have to be the pastor, but she’s got to be called to the church plant. And if she’s not, she will not give you the “kitchen pass” you need to get the flywheel of your church going. PLANTING A CHURCH IS NOT A 9-5 JOB!

- You have to know “who you are” and “Who’s you are” and “where” you intend to lead your church. There are a number of reasons why these things are important, but chief among them is this. People are going to come and go. You love to watch them come, and they rip your heart out when they leave. Well, most of them that is. You need to let some people go and if you don’t know that now, just wait. You may call them “your” people now, but one day you’ll be ready to give some of them back to God. ☺

Anyway, if you don’t know who you are, some people will do everything they can to make you into what they want you to be. If you don’t know “Who’s you are,” there will always be someone around to try and make you “theirs.” And if you don’t know where you’re headed, someone else will take the lead.

- The people you start with are not the people you’ll end up with. They won’t stay. I don’t care how much they love you right now; eventually they will realize that the church plant is not what they thought it would be. And slowly, they will remember back to the good ol’ days when they could just “go” to church, back when no one depended on them or needed them. There will be all kinds of reasons why people will leave (some of them are your fault), just trust me when I say that the people you start with will not be with you at your first year anniversary.

NOTE: December is a hard time for a lot of church planters. Here’s why. The people on your launch team probably came from another church. At Christmas time they forget about the reasons they wanted to leaver their former church and help you start a new church. Why? Because they get home sick for children’s pageants and Christmas carols. People walk away in December.

- Do the ministry (serve people) because it is the right thing to do – it is what God has called you to do, not because you’re trying to create loyalty. Some of the folks you do the most for will be the ones who will walk away from you. Yep, after ten years it still hurts me. It will hurt you. But it is something you have to get used to.

- Build disciples. Build disciples. Build disciples. If you’ll do this even half-butted, it will payoff BIG TIME. These are the folks who will help you grow a church because they will reach other people. They will also be the people who you can count on when things get tough. And things WILL get tough!

- LOVE PEOPLE! Do life with people and enjoy them. Let them enjoy you. Don’t try and create a “safe” distance between you and your people. There’s no such thing. If there is, you’re not doing your job.

- Being a jackass is not a requirement for being a good planter/pastor. You only have to look at Rick Warren to know that. He’s absolutely one of the most inviting, hospitable, personable guys I’ve ever known. He’s also planted a pretty successful church – Saddleback Church.

- Youth Pastors who start a new church just because they’re pissed-off at their senior pastor are usually terrible church planters. It’s not as easy sitting in the front seat as you might think.

- When you are putting together a team of people to help you lead the church, remember that chemistry matters. The guy with the most talent may not be the best hire. Let me say that again. THE GUY WITH THE MOST TALENT IS NOT ALWAYS THE BEST HIRE!

- Get you “some” mentors. Yes, I mean more than one. And choose guys who have been there and done that, usually NOT a seminary professor or a kid straight out of college or seminary. Why? Because they think they know everything!

- Remember that you have the greatest, coolest, most rewarding job on the planet! Don’t take it for granted.

Thanks for the great advice Jimmy!

P.S. If you’re pursuing God’s call to plant a church, check out The Launch Conference on CD.

How to Find a Meeting Location for Your New Church

Last week I shared some thoughts on raising funds for a new church plant (click here for that post), and today I’d like to tackle another issue that’s vital in starting a new church… LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.

Once you’ve confirmed the call of God to plant a church, securing a meeting location is one of the most important – and sometimes most challenging – tasks on your agenda.

Here are a few “do’s and don’t’s” to finding just the right place for your new church to meet:

• DO clarify your target area. Has God called you to a specific community or neighborhood?  Is there one part of town where you just know you’re supposed to be?In searching for a meeting location, you don’t want to venture much further than 5-10 minutes outside of your target area, so you need to have that target area fairly well-defined.
• DO look for locations that are familiar to the people you’re trying to reach. Ask around and observe people’s patterns, then use that to give you some ideas.Since you’re brand new, people won’t be familiar with you so you want to make sure they’re at least familiar with your location.  The familiarity factor is why some of the best meeting locations for a church plant are schools, movie theaters and community centers.
• DO ask God for eyes to see beyond the “obvious.” Sometimes an answered prayer for “fresh eyes” is just what you need to find your next meeting location.There is a tendency to lock in on one or two potential meeting spaces to the neglect of dozens of others.  Block out some time, take a drive and ask God to open your eyes to the possibilities.
• DON’T make a rush decision on a meeting location. Your new church’s meeting location is very important and not to be decided lightly.If God has called you to this area, then He has also picked out just the right meeting place for His new church!
• DON’T ever stop looking for meeting locations. It’s a good idea to keep a running list of potential places to meet for as long as your church is portable.You never know when a sudden growth in attendance, a school board policy change or an excessive rental rate hike might have you scrambling for a different space, so it helps to stay ahead of the curve.

Church planting is an exercise in faith… And sometimes it’s in that moment just before you give up that He’ll lead you to the location you were hoping for all along!

P.S. If you’re starting a church I want to give you more than $85.00 of Church Planting Resources for FREE.  Click here to download yours today!

How to Fund Your Church Plant

I get the distinct pleasure of investing in a lot of church planters through our ministry here at Church Leader Insights.  In fact, we give away thousands of dollars worth of resources to church planters every week (click here for more info).

That means I get to hear all sorts of stories – some good and some bad – and answer A LOT of questions.

One question that we’re asked pretty regularly involves funding a new church plant – especially in a “less than ideal” economic environment.

Here are a few tips that will help you raise the funds that your new church will need to launch and become healthy as soon as possible:

• Pray over, plan and polish your vision and strategy before you start trying to raise funds. Nothing says “I won’t be a good steward of your financial support” like not having a plan.  The more serious you are about the process, the more likely others will be to take you seriously.
• Put together a list of everyone you think might possibly have a heart for what you’re doing, complete with their contact information. You never know who might be willing to support the new work until you begin asking. Intentionally carve out time on your calendar to call, call, visit and call some more.
• Ask clearly and boldly! Remember that you’re giving people an opportunity to invest in God’s Kingdom work – don’t back into the question about financial support or say no on their behalf. Paint the picture of what God is doing, ask boldly, and await their answer.
• Don’t let ‘no’ defeat you. If God has called you to start a new church, He has also made available just the right resources to fulfill that calling.  When you’ve clearly and boldly asked and someone says no, move on to the next person on your list.
• Be creative to expand your list of potential supporters. When someone says ‘yes’ and agrees to support your new church, ask them if they know of two or three others who may be willing to partner with you.  When someone believes in you and your work, they may very well know others who will too.
• Don’t burn your bridges. That church that wasn’t willing to partner with you two months ago (before you had anyone else on board), may be willing to help now that they see others doing so.  A ‘no’ today doesn’t necessarily mean a ‘no’ forever.
• Over-communicate your gratitude. When someone agrees to partner with your new church send them a handwritten thank you note immediately.  That shows that you truly are thankful and serves to reinforce the commitment they just made to the new church. And send another note (with an update on the work) each time you receive a check from them.

A mentor of mine told me many years ago that, “If you’re the lead pastor (or church planter), you ARE the chief fund raiser for your church… Get over it!”

If you truly believe in the new church that God has called you to start, then you’ll be asking people to come to your church, give their lives to Christ, give financially, serve in the church, join the church and so on and so forth.

You might as well use this time to learn to be a “Master Asker.”

P.S. My friend and Coaching Alum Jimmy Britt mentioned this and a lot of other good tips for church planters in a recent post on his blog — Click Here to Read.

P.P.S. If you’re planting a church right now (or in the near future), I want to give you more than $85.00 in Church Planting Resources – including “Funding Your Church Plant.”  Click Here to Get Your Resources Now.

How to Get to Know Your People (Demographics)

Since we planted The Journey and especially since my book Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch came out, I’ve gotten a lot of inquiries and questions about what’s involved in starting a new church.

One of the more frequently asked questions is about Demographics.  It’s normally asked something like this: “I know I need to learn more about the people in the area where we’re starting a church (age, family makeup, income, etc.) but how do I get that information?”

Here are four solid sources of demographic information:

1) Your denomination.  If you’re affiliated with a denomination, you can check with them to see what’s available — many denominations will provide you with demographics free of charge.  For example, Southern Baptist churches can obtain free demographics through the North American Mission Board.

2) Another free source of demographics is ZIPskinny.com.  This site is helpful for seeing basic demographics and projections.

3) The Leavell Center of Evangelism in New Orleans offers a more comprehensive set of demographics for a very reasonable cost.

4) The best reports that I’ve seen can be obtained from The Percept Group.  They’re a little more costly, but they are easily the most extensive and useful on this list.

Church Planter: Let me encourage you – no matter where you get your demographic information – make it your aim to learn everything you possibly can about the people God has called you to reach.

This will have far-reaching benefits, from promotion and advertising to ministry strategy to planning your preaching, all combining to help you and your new church be as effective as possible!

P.S. Are you planting a church?  I’d like to give you more than $85.00 of church planting resources to help you in getting started.  Sign up for yours by clicking here.

9 Characteristics of a Church Planter (Part 3 of 3)

I’m wrapping up a my 3 part series of posts today about those characteristics that are essential for a church planter to be successful. You can read the first 2 posts here and here.

Drum roll please… Here are the final three:

7. Must be Motivated and Driven to Succeed

I spend a lot of time in my church planting resources (The Call of a Church Planter, Launch, The Launch Conference, etc.) talking about clarifying your CALL to plant a church.

I do that because – like every seasoned church planter I know – there have been many times, situations and obstacles over the years that would have served as the perfect opportunity to quit if it weren’t for knowing that God called me to do this.

And once you’ve clarified your call, you can harness that as motivation to do whatever it takes to make this new church a success.

8. Must be Willing to Embrace the “Inner Entrepreneur”

One of the reasons that church planting has had such an abysmal failure rate is that it requires a different skillset than most other areas of ministry.

You can be a great preacher, care-giver and Bible study leader and still fail at planting a church because you have to be able to start something from nothing.

There is no boss to set your hours, hand you a to-do list or scold you for slacking off — if you’re not a self-starter, your church planting experience is likely to be unpleasant (and brief).

9. Must be Enthusiastic about this New Church

Somewhere along the line, God called you to play a role in the frontlines of writing redemptive history, helping people cross over from death to eternal life by planting a church.

With that in mind, there is no excuse not to be passionate about what you’re doing.

This isn’t about a certain type of personality so much as it is about enjoying the work to which God has called you.

Be passionate about your city. Be passionate about the people God has called you to reach. And beyond all that, be passionate about doing whatever it takes to introduce people to Jesus!

What are some other characteristics that you think belong on this list? Click the “Ask Nelson” button on the right side of this blog and send me your addition to the list.

P.S. Are you currently planting a new church? I’d like to give you more than $85.00 in Free Church Planting Resources. Get yours by clicking here.

9 Characteristics of a Church Planter (Part 2 of 3)

Yesterday I started a series of posts (click here to read Part 1) about the characteristics of a successful church planter.  Here are the next few:

4. Must Display Confidence and Optimism about the Task at Hand

I am constantly amazed by how many church planters (and pastors) I meet who are pessimistic and insecure. It makes me wonder who they’re working for.

Church Planter, if the God of the universe has tapped you on the shoulder and called you to start a new church… walk, talk and act in the confidence that He knows what He’s doing (even if you’re not always completely sure)!

5. Must be Diligent

There are seasons in church planting where it feels like your church is never going to grow. Other times, you’ll wonder if there will ever be enough money to do what you think you need to do.

You need to develop the persistence to keep doing the right things and calling out to God to do what only He can do. The breakthroughs that follow these periods are some of the greatest joys of starting a new church. And you’ll only experience them if you’re persistent

6. Must be a Voracious Learner

In all of the hustle and bustle of starting a new church, one of the “easiest” ways to save a little time is to cut down on your reading and training opportunities. This is a move that will come back to bite you sooner than you realize.

If you’re not growing, your church won’t grow for long.

We live in a time when there are more books, resources, audio training and coaching available for pastors and church planters than ever before… now is the time to develop lifelong learning habits that will serve you for the rest of your ministry.

P.S. Are you currently planting a new church? I’d like to give you more than $85.00 in Free Church Planting Resources. Get yours by clicking here.

9 Characteristics of a Church Planter (Part 1 of 3)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – starting a new church is an heroic venture and, if God has called you to it, there’s nothing else like it.

I was reading this post and it sparked that there are also 9 Characteristics of a Church Planter:

1. Must Complement Vision by Working toward Goals, Setting Up Accountability and Maintaining Discipline

God-inspired vision is essential in starting a church that will make an impact for His Kingdom. However, vision alone (like talent) is never enough.

Church Planter, you must be able to set goals and work toward achieving them, hold yourself accountable (and enlist others to help you do so) and demonstrate the discipline to stay focused on doing the little things to pursue that vision in the midst of challenges and pressure from all sides.

2. Must be Willing to Change without Losing Determination

Show me a church planter who has never failed and I’ll show you one who has never taken a risk. The key to long term effectiveness is “failing forward;”

When something doesn’t work or circumstances change, you must be willing to adapt without losing hope or throwing in the towel. Like the old Timex watch commercials, can you “take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’?”

3. Must Understand and Embrace True Creativity

Creativity is sometimes pigeon-holed into how flashy your postcards are or how fancy your website is, but true creativity is essential to success in church planting. Inflexibility has been the downfall of many a new church.

You have to be creative in managing your time, solving problems, connecting with those you’re trying to reach and communicating God’s Word to your people.

Check back tomorrow, when I’ll be sharing the next 3 characteristics.

P.S. One of the best ways to hold yourself accountable is to be a part of a network of other pastors who are committed to growing as well.  My next Senior Pastor Tele-Coaching Network (it begins on February 18) might be a good fit for you – click here for more information.

P.P.S. Are you currently planting a new church? I’d like to give you more than $85.00 in Free Church Planting Resources. Get yours by clicking here.

Free Resources for Church Planters

Are you planting a new church?

Following God’s call to start a new church is a heroic task and I have a standing offer to give you more than $85.00 in church planting resources for FREE!

Your free resources include:

	The Call of a Church Planter ($23.95 Value)
	Funding Your Church Plant ($23.95 Value)
	Launching Large ($13.95 Value)
	Starting Small Groups from Scratch ($23.95 Value)

To sign up for your FREE Church Planting Resources, simply click on the link below and follow the directions:

FREE STUFF FOR CHURCH PLANTERS

When to Start Small Groups in Church Planting

This is Kerrick Thomas (Executive & Teaching Pastor at The Journey and co-author of Launch and Activate.

Nelson asked me to address a key question that we are often asked by church planters: When should we begin small groups?

Our standard answer to that question is to wait until you have over 100 people attending before beginning small groups, but I thought I’d go a little further today to elaborate on the “why” behind the “when.”

So, why wait to start small groups?

Reason #1 - When you are first starting a church, you should  not expend the energy required to get small groups started in the first 6 months regardless of how big you grow.

There is just too much to do for a church planter that early in the process.  We recommend get your other systems under control at the beginning of the new church before moving on to small groups.

Systems like the Worship Planning System, the Assimilation System and the Evangelism System are foundational to a healthy start of a church, and they deserve your focus and energy before Small Groups.

Reason #2 - When you have fewer than 100 people your church basically is a  small group.  Everyone knows everyone anyway – so the importance of  small groups is minimized.

It’s okay to start small groups if you are still under 100 if you’ve been going for over a year.  Ideally you would have grown past 100, but even if you are running 50-80 people you can begin small groups and see positive spiritual fruit.

The whole idea behind holding off boils down to this:  It’s best to wait to begin small groups until you can implement and facilitate them effectively, right from the start.

I hope that helps!

Blessings…

Kerrick

P.S. Adam Bishop and I are about to begin a brand new Small Groups Pastor Tele-Coaching Network in just a few weeks.  For more information and to download an application, CLICK HERE.

Re-Launch – Church Planting Q & A

This is Kerrick Thomas – I serve as the Executive Pastor at The Journey Church in NYC and co-author of Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch. Here’s an answer I sent recently to a church planter that Nelson asked me to share today:

Q: We started our church this past Easter and we’re only running about 20 people.

I realize now that I didn’t do enough promotion/marketing for a large launch. I only used free newspaper press release and a christian radio station. We are have a hard time during the summer months and I need to raise money to restart our marketing (we’d like to do a 10-15,000 piece mailing, cable TV advertising, etc).

We have a good location, worship and we are able to sustain as we have jobs. I feel our biggest issue is we need to get the message out better, but money is the issue. We meet in a nice school gym and we are wondering how important the environment is, as we have had a number of visitors, but we believe either from the environment or because there isn’t enough people, they aren’t coming back.

I guess my biggest question is ‘What is the best way to do a restart?’ Any thoughts and help would be appreciated.

A: First of all – if you haven’t yet - I would encourage you to pick up the church planting book that Nelson and I wrote called “Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch.” It has our thoughts on almost every question you ask in your e-mail. You can pick it up here:

http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0830743103/thejouchu-20

I think you would find it helpful if you haven’t read it before.

Now to answer some of your questions:

1) My first thought is that if you are starting a brand new church – your goal should be to reach the unchurched and those who don’t know Jesus. Because of that – I would strongly urge you not invest your valuable and limited evangelism budget on Christian radio. Most everyone who listens to Christian radio is already connected to a church. If it was free then that is okay.

2) I think you are right that you should re-start if you are averaging 20 people each week and don’t have funds. What we recommend in Launch is 6-weeks of monthly services that lead up to the launch of weekly services. And during that time – you make an effort to raise money (we give suggestions in Launch), reach people, create systems and get better and better at all aspects of the Sunday service.

Even if you’ve already launched weekly services – it’s not too late to give it another shot. We’ve had churches who did monthly services and launched weekly and didn’t do well. Then stopped weekly – did 6 more monthly – re-launched and now are successfully reaching people.

What if you moved back to monthly services beginning the week after school starts in your area. Do 6 monthly services until February. Use that time to do the things I mention above. And ramp up the promotion/evangelism for your launch with each succeeding monthly service. And then use most of your funds to promote the launch of your weekly services in February 2010. (Be sure you don’t launch on a holiday).

The good part of that is that Easter will not be too far away and Easter gives you a chance for a 2nd big day and sort of a 2nd launch before summer arrives.

You would just need to take the group of people you have now and cast vision to them about the new vision and make them into your new “Launch Team” with the goal of launching with more people in February, 2010.

Now – that’s just my initial thought. Obviously I don’t know all the details of your situation.

3) Finally you ask about the environment. It’s hard for me to comment on without seeing it. But a few thoughts:

• (a) Location is most important. It your location well known to your target audience, easy to get to, is there enough parking, etc. Is it in the center of the area you are trying to reach.
• (b) I’ve seen many churches grow in school gyms and auditoriums. Ask a friend that you trust to come to a service as a first time guest (as if they didn’t know you) and ask for their feedback. But gyms can be very welcoming.
• (c) To make a school atmosphere more welcoming – be sure you have friendly greeters, good signage outside and inside and use pipe and drape to make the atmosphere more warm and welcoming. If you only have 20 people in a full sized gym it might seem weird – but there are things that you can do to make the gym feel smaller, more intimate and eliminate the weird feeling.

Again – those are just my initial thoughts. I hope they are helpful and at least get you to thinking. Again – I think a careful reading of Launch would be helpful if you are not familiar with some of the principles we include there.

Know that we’re praying for you!

God bless…

Kerrick

P.S. Are you planting a new church?  I’d like to give you more than $75 in free resources to help you — CLICK HERE.

Free Color Laser Printer for your Church?

When The Journey first got started we signed up for a program that offered us a free color laser printer from Xerox – it was a great deal and it really helped us.  There was only one catch to the program: we had to buy the ink from them.  But we would have had to buy ink anyway!

On top of the free printer itself, they were really on the ball with tech support (included as part of the program).  It was a great way for us, even as a young church, to be able to print in-house with good quality (and color).

Here’s some info on the program:

Since 1999, Xerox has given away over 10,000 color printers to nonprofit and religious organizations. This free printer program was designed to help ecumenical and nonprofit organizations like yours afford a high-quality, in-house printing solution that produces vivid color materials that get attention and engage church members, donors, volunteers, students and the public. Print your Sunday bulletins, programs, newsletters, prayer cards, sheet music, educational materials, letterhead and more…for less!

If you are selected for the program, you will receive:

• A new Xerox Phaser® 8560/DN business class color printer
• Free 3 year warranty with onsite service and technical phone support
• Free delivery of the printer
• High-quality ink at competitive prices

To see if your church qualifies, complete a no cost, no obligation application at www.FreeColorPrinters.com and enter the referral code 769703

P.S. If you’re a Church Planter looking for free stuff, I’d like to give you more than $75 in resources to help you get started – CLICK HERE.

Common Mistakes Church Planters Make

My friend David Putman had a great post recently on some of the most common mistakes that church planters make.  With his permission, here’s a re-print of it:

Great thoughts David!

P.S. For information on my upcoming Tele-Coaching Network for Senior Pastors, click here.

Q & A – Re-Launch

Hi, it’s Kerrick Thomas again – Executive and Teaching Pastor at The Journey and co-author of Launch. Nelson asked me to share my answer to this recent question about re-launching a church:

Q: I recently came across your book “Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch,” and was hoping for some assistance.

I have recently become the pastor of an older church that is on its last legs. Our attendance is very low currently and the church has been declining for years.

However, those who are still around have expressed a renewed passion lately to make a real Kingdom difference in our community and the consensus is that we are ready and willing to do “whatever it takes.”

With that in mind, we are trying to put together a strategic plan to “re-launch” the church – not to dismiss the church’s history, but to demonstrate our renewed vision to reach this community for Christ.

I know your book was about “launching” a new church, but could you give me any advice on how to re-Launch this one?

A: Thanks so much for the question. My suggestion is that you follow the “Launch” model and pick a strategic launch date for your weekly services.

Back off of that date by 6 months and do 6 monthly services leading up to that launch date. Ask those who have been attending to join you in the endeavor to re-launch and be part of your new “Launch Team.”

Then use the monthly services and creative “come-back events” (fun events like cook-outs, movies, etc. between the monthly services) to recruit people to be on your launch team.

The entire goal of the launch team is to successfully launch the weekly services. So, you are not focusing on discipling your launch team, but on equipping them to serve and prepare for the beginning of the church.

We lay out this process in Launch and I suggest that you do the same thing in your re-launch as a normal church planter would do in an initial launch.

I hope that helps – please let us know if there is anything else we can do to help!

P.S. You might consider getting your hands on the 2-Day Launch Conference that Nelson and I taught for ideas of what to do and how to prepare your launch team.

Here’s a link to grab The Launch Conference on CD.

Q & A – Best Launch Date?

It’s Kerrick Thomas here again, Executive Pastor and Teaching Pastor at The Journey and the co-author of Launch and Activate with Nelson. He asked me to share this recent answer to a question from Launch:

Q:You guys said in Launch that when launching Journey, looking back you would have rather launched in February instead of in Easter as you did.  What were the determining factors for that correction?

A:The reason that February is a more attractive launch date to us than Easter is because if you launch on Easter you only have a few weeks before summer roles around and attendance gets dicey. We found that out the hard way when we had some weeks down at 35 during our first summer.

There are two big advantages to launching in February (the week after the Super Bowl but before President’s Day is a good week):
1) February is a good month for attendance (people aren’t traveling and many are thinking about starting something healthy and new at the beginning of the year)
2) When you launch in February you have a natural “2nd launch” coming up at Easter. So – you launch big in February and then get a 2nd bounce on Easter Sunday. That helps before summer hits.

Hope that helps answer your question!

God bless…

Kerrick

P.S. If you’re thinking of or in the process of starting a new church (or know someone who is), check out The Launch Conference on CD:
https://nelsonsearcy.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp?view=4&i=p83&navicat=45

Four Loves of a Church Planter #4

Today is the final installment of “The Four Loves of a Church Planter.” You can find the first three here: Love #1, #2, and #3.

Successful church planters love the…

PEOPLE IN THEIR CHURCH

I talked last week about the importance of loving your city and the people of your city, but today I’m talking specifically about the people in your church. It never ceases to amaze me the spite and disdain that I sometimes hear from church planters toward the very people we’re called to shepherd.

We have to keep in mind what a privilege it is to be a part of God’s mission in the world and that we are in the “loving God and loving people” business (remember Matthew 22?). It isn’t always easy but if you signed up for easy, starting a new church probably isn’t the right move for you.

In spite of the challenges, conflicts, and pains that inevitably arise, I can honestly say that I have never met a successful church planter who didn’t care deeply for the people of his church.

Here’s the truth: It is only through cultivating a love and concern for the people of your church that you will find satisfaction and success in church planting (and ministry in general).

Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly — not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. – 1 Peter 5:2 (NLT)

Church Planter:
- Are you praying daily for the growth, health, and well-being of the people of your church?
- Will you closely monitor your attitude toward your church people over the next week?
- Do you need to repent of any resentment or bitterness in this area?

I hope you’ve enjoyed this series of posts as much I have. May God bless each of us and our churches as we work to keep our hearts properly focused.

P.S. Are you getting ready to start a new church? Check out The Launch Conference on DVD:
https://nelsonsearcy.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp?view=4&i=p92&navicat=45

Four Loves of a Church Planter #3

Today is the third installment of posts called “The Four Loves of a Church Planter.” You can find the first two here: Love #1 and Love #2.

Successful church planters love their…

CITY

This is something I have noticed time and time again. The most successful church planters I know really love their city! They think it’s the best place in the world. They enjoy what the area has to offer, work to make it a better place to live, and genuinely care deeply for the people who live around them.

On the other hand, many unsuccessful planters I’ve met through the years don’t have that same love for their city. They are always talking about how bad their city is (too cold in OH, too hot in Phoenix) and how ‘it aint like the place we used to live.’ It’s as if just living there is a burden.

Here’s the truth about this topic: Loving your city is no guarantee of church planting success but not loving it is good sign that you aren’t going to succeed.

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. – Matthew 9:36 (NLT)

Church Planter:
- Do you truly believe God has called you to your city for such a time as this?
- Do you ache with compassion for the people of your city?
- Are you committed to making a positive, long term difference in your city or are you dreaming of what it would be like ‘over there’?

Next week we’ll wrap up this series of posts with Love #4.

P.S. Looking for a great way to show love to the people of your city? Check out Reaching Your Community Through Servant Evangelism:
https://nelsonsearcy.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp?view=4&i=p94

Four Loves of a Church Planter #2

Last week I kicked off a series of posts called “The Four Loves of a Church Planter.” Here’s a link to the first post in case you missed it:
http://www.churchleaderinsights.com/blog/2009/04/02/the-four-loves-of-a-church-planter-1/

The next love of a successful church planter is their (drumroll please)…

SPOUSE

We have all read and spoken about the painful and damaging ravages of divorce, and how the divorce rate in the U.S. is at 50% or above. Many of us have even shared the more painful statistic that the divorce rate within the church is equal to that of the rest of the country. However, did you know that the divorce rate among pastors is also 50%?

Does that bother you?

It should.

Here are a few other jarring stats for you from a 2006 study:
- Almost forty percent of pastors polled said they have had an extra-marital affair since beginning their ministry.
- Eighty percent of pastors’ spouses feel their spouse is overworked.
- Eighty percent of pastors’ spouses wish their spouse would choose another profession.
- The majority of pastors’ wives surveyed said that the most destructive event that has occurred in their marriage and family was the day they entered the ministry.

These statistics are not an indictment on serving in ministry so much as on how we choose to serve in ministry. Failure to prioritize your marriage and cherish your spouse is a recipe for disaster in ministry and especially in church planting, the consequences of which reach far beyond your family to your church, your community, and our collective witness for Christ.

For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her – Ephesians 5:25 (NLT)

Church Planter:
- What boundaries have you set up to protect your marriage and your spouse?
- How are you intentionally and regularly cherishing your spouse?
- What needs to change in your life and routine to “love your wife as Christ loved the church”?

P.S. Are you preparing to plant a church? Recently planted? How is your spouse feeling about that? Here’s the link to “Is My Husband’s Call My Call,” a resource that my wife Kelley and I put together specifically for you (the downloadable version is 50% off this week):
https://nelsonsearcy.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp?view=4&i=p165&navicat=53&navisubcat=111&naviprod=165

The Four Loves of a Church Planter #1

This morning I’d like to start a new series of posts about something I have been thinking about for a while. In coaching, training, and observing hundreds of church planters over the years, I have noticed a few things that all successful church planters have in common.

It’s not going to be a series of posts about worship styles, haircuts, or how many people are following them on Twitter. No, the commonalities I’ve seen across the board in church planters who are knocking it out of the park deal with matters of the heart.

I’m calling this “The Four Loves of a Church Planter,” and the first love of a successful church planter is:

GOD

Simple, right? It seems so elementary, but the drive to plant a church that will make disciples and expand God’s Kingdom has to begin with a heart fully devoted to God. In an era when church planting has become the popular thing to do in many circles, we can never lose sight of this fact.

Even in the most “successful” new churches there will be days when the only thing you can fall back on is your love of God and your desire to obey Him. A successful church planter makes his relationship with God first priority and leads out of the overflow.

Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.”   – Matthew 22:37-38 (NLT)

Church Planter:
- What is your motivation to do what you’re doing?
- Who is behind your drive to succeed?
- What do you need to do today to be sure that you aren’t “forsaking your first love”?

Check back next week for Love #2 (between now and then see if you can guess what it might be)…

P.S. Speaking of what church planters love, don’t forget that we love church planters.  That’s why we offer over $75 of resources for FREE to church planters.  Here’s the link:
http://www.churchleaderinsights.com/resources/church_planters.php

Church Planting Q & A – Post-Launch

I’m wrapping up a series of Church Planting Q & A’s today that I started a couple of weeks ago. I hope you’ve enjoyed this Q & A series as much as I have. And THANK YOU to all who joined me for the Launch Conference in Baltimore last week.

I love to hear and answer questions from church planters, so as we wrap up this series of questions remember that you can always click the “Ask Nelson” link to the right of the blog and send in your own.  That being said, here’s today’s Q & A:

Q: What do you typically see in the numerical drop after a new church’s launch? We are only three weeks in and have gone from about 230 locals to 175 locals to 155 locals the following week… is this normal? The weather these weeks were horrible and we were on winter break, but should I expect it to go down more? Any strategic thoughts on how to reverse that trend? (BTW, we have effectively done follow up on all of this… using your Fusion assimilation process).

A: A drop after launching is natural.  When we launched The Journey, we went from 110 to 55.  Just stay strong on the follow-up and don’t let up on evangelism.  Encourage your people to invite their friends.  And Easter – the church planter’s best friend – is only a couple of weeks away.

You can utilize Easter as your 2nd launch so that maybe you can have over 200 or 250 there.  If you haven’t done so already, download my FREE “How To Maximize Easter” e-book and check out some of the other resources we have to “maximize Easter” to make the maximum Kingdom impact on Resurrection Sunday.

P.S. If you just couldn’t make it to the LIVE Launch Conference, check out the Launch Conference on DVD:
https://nelsonsearcy.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp?view=4&i=p92&navicat=45

Church Planting Q & A – First Baptism

I “launched” a series of church planting Q & A’s last week in celebration of springtime here on my blog and in preparation for tomorrow’s LAUNCH Conference in Baltimore.  Here’s today’s question…

Q: We only launched our new church a few weeks ago we and we already have close to 20 people who’ve indicated a first time decision to follow Christ. How far into this process do you recommend having our first baptism?

A: Get a baptism on the schedule. You might wait until the summer and try to have a big one and get as many people to participate as possible. But if you think you have a dozen or so people who you think are ready now – it can be a big boost.  We’ve done them at the beach (our biggest that we do once a year), in the swimming pool of a health club, and we’ve used borrowed space from other churches.

When you do have a baptism, be sure to promote it and teach on why people should take that step.  And then be sure to capture that event in pictures and video.  We always create a video with music from our baptisms to use to promote upcoming baptisms.

P.S. Only 1 day until the 2009 LAUNCH CONFERENCE in the Baltimore, Maryland area.  If you want to come you can still register now: https://nelsonsearcy.infusionsoft.com/cart/store.jsp?view=4&i=p235&navicat=27

P.S.S. If you’re a church planter, I’d like to give you some FREE RESOURCES (over $75 value).  Just click here: http://www.churchleaderinsights.com/resources/church_planters.php