In the early days of our church planting adventure I spent some time seeking out other church planters, hoping for some wisdom and encouragement. Man, did I get a wake up call.

There seem to be two distinct schools of thought in the church planting community. The first is “This is hard. Are you sure you want to do this? You don’t look like you’ve got what it takes… I’m not so sure you should do this! Have you prayed about it?"

Gee… thanks.

The second school of thought starts off sounding much like the first, but then takes a dramatic turn: “This is hard. What do you need? How can I help you? Man, what an adventure! Let me pray for you.”

Do you hear the difference?

The sad truth is I heard a whole lot more of the first than I did of the second. To be honest, it was discouraging to hear such defeatist talk from those on the front lines of the revitalization and renewal of the church- church planters themselves.

*I KNOW I CAN DO IT... IT'S YOU I'M NOT SO SURE ABOUT*

Let’s just put it out there. You have to be a certain type of personality to jump ship from the institution, the known, the safe and head off into the uncharted waters of church planting. It’s not for everyone… and for the A-type personalities who often make up the ranks of those who have jumped, those who are sailing those uncharted waters, when we see others getting ready to do the same, a common first impulse may be to wonder who they think they are… don’t they know that this church planting thing is for the few, the proud, the best of the best? And since we’re doing this different, emergent-type thing… we really don’t need more competition, do we?

Better to weed out the weak.

I actually had church planters tell me disdainfully that church planting was the “sexy” new thing and I better think twice before I just jumped on the bandwagon. I was “assessed” in a 45 minute conversation and found lacking.

It’s a good thing I didn’t listen to the discouraging talk of the A-type personalities I encountered… that I felt called to do this, that I realized that God loves it when people step out in faith and start new churches… and it’s a good thing I remembered that this is kingdom, not competition.

*WHY NOT?*

It makes sense to weed out the weak when you start with the basic assumption that no one should step out and plant a church unless specifically instructed to by God and unless they have “what it takes.” I like to approach it from a different viewpoint: Why shouldn’t you plant a church?

Most people when asking themselves that question usually come up with three common reasons…fear, finances and failure.

Fear? Is it scary? Yes, of course it is. But for me, a turning point was realizing that I had never really done anything in my life that required actual faith. Yes, I had picked up and moved to Europe for two years. Did that require faith? I had a great salary waiting for me, a church community to integrate me, and the knowledge that if it didn’t work out, I could always just find something else to fall back on. Faith? Sort of, but not really.

I came to the point in considering church planting where I realized that I simply didn’t want to get to 70 and look back never having taken an actual step of faith… never having started something, never having begun a journey whose end I could not clearly see from the beginning. I didn’t want the regret of not having taken a shot at a dream of mine.

Finances? Sure- that was a consideration. When we decided to plant the church we had just bought a house and gotten pregnant. I knew that looking back this was either going to seem like a great step of faith or a complete lack of common sense. I suppose the jury is still out on that…

But we had to decide, my wife and I, that if taking this step cost us our house, set us back financially… that simply wasn’t too big a price to pay for God’s kingdom. If we did what we felt we needed to do, and there were financial costs, so be it. We’d rather see people come into relationship with God than have a house. We’d rather see those who have given up on church find community again than have a new car. We had to ask ourselves “What is the absolute worst thing that could happen if we do this?” And when we really started looking at it, it just didn’t seem like that big a deal.

Failure? In a conversation with a good friend on the day we decided to plant this church, he asked me a great question: How will you define failure? I realized through our talk that failure wasn’t if we did this and had to close the doors in a year because not many people showed up and we couldn’t pay the bills. Failure would be if we failed to love the people God did bring us, if we failed to love each other in community, if we failed to feed, clothe and otherwise care for anyone. That would be failure… not if we simply failed to achieve any type of long term momentum and institutional stability.

I realized that for me personally, failure would be if I didn’t even try.

If you do this might you fail? I guess it depends on how you define failure. They say 80% of church plants fail. I don’t know about that… all I can say is that I think that many church plants that seem to be failures by the standard of “Did they make it?” were probably great adventures for many involved, probably introduced people to Christ and probably made a practical difference in the lives of some people who really needed those small, “failing” churches.

I think that the biggest failures in the church planting world aren’t the ones who function as a community for 1, 2 or 5 years and then disband to go do something else. I think the biggest failures in the church planting world are the churches that never even get started, for whatever reason- whether because of fear, because of lack of encouragement or simply because no one asked “Well, why shouldn’t we?”

*ENCOURAGING CHURCH PLANTING BY ENCOURAGING CHURCH PLANTERS*

All this has left me at a place where I really want to encourage those who are at the end of their rope, banging their head against the institutional wall, feeling like those they really love and want to see introduced to Christ are beyond the reach of modernistic, institutional churches.

You can do this.

It’s not rocket science.

Through my experience in church planting I have learned that there’s a hard way to do this and an easy way. The hard way involves plans and proposals, hundreds of thousands in seed money, denominational strings and a host of headaches. “Start with a bang!” they will tell you. “Mailers to every home in three zip codes!” they will advise you. A full band! Complete children’s ministry! Advertising!!!!

Don’t listen.

Start small. Raise some support, trust God for the rest and get a job at Starbucks if need be. Let your community be what it will be. Refuse to do for the people who come the ministry that they should do for themselves. Concentrate on laying a foundation of community and common core values and let your church grow organically without superimposing a grand “vision” on it.

When we were still in the dream phase of this thing people would ask me- “What will it look like?” I grew to love answering “I have no earthly idea.” All I could say was that if a bunch of cloggers and bluegrass musicians showed up, well… we’d be the clogging church. If a bunch of skate punks showed up, we’d be the skate church. I wasn’t out to niche target-market our community, and so felt great freedom to just sit back and watch what happened. I still feel that freedom…

Like I said, it’s not rocket science. You can do this thing. Just look at the guys Jesus started with…

*THE QUESTION*

No---not everyone should plant a church. Not everyone is called, gifted or able… but just the fact that you’re thinking about it says something. Just the fact that you want to tells me a lot. And if you actually step out and do it? Well… that says volumes about you, about your courage and about your faith in the God who is advancing His kingdom all around this world.

The question isn’t “Why should I plant a church”… it’s why shouldn’t you! Here’s what I know: God loves it when His people take a step of faith. He will go ahead of you, with you and behind you in this adventure. If you love those He brings you, you will be a success whether it lasts for a year, two years or the rest of your life.

So go ahead- take the leap. Plant a church! And let me know how I can help.

---

Thanks for the encouraging words. I'm one of those senior pastors of a large, denominational (read: intransigent) church who is nigh unto death in frustration over the status quo. Maenwhile, God has dropped a group of passionate, creative, committed 20-somethings into my lap (by the way, I'm 40) who are begging me to plant a church. So, with God's confirmation, here we go. I even have enthusiastic denominational support, albeit not from my own! By the way, isn't ministry supposed to be scary?
--Craig ( nc_pastor_craig at yahoo dot com ) on 9/15/2005; 4:18:39 PM

great article and great encouragement. but what do you say to a 20 year old who desires to do this but has no church leadership experience? i wish there was more encouragement of the more mature leaders in this movement to those who will soon be leaders and church planters like myself.
--Ben Rey ( ben dot c dot rey at gmail dot com ) on 4/12/2005; 1:21:00 PM

dang gman...

Time to be a little nicer, eh?

Okay. It's a dead and dying movement.

Now shoo.

Leave us dead and dying emergents be. We'll just be over here in the corner doing our thing...
--bob hyatt ( bob at evergreenlife dot org ) on 4/4/2005; 9:04:11 AM

"The well known secret about this approach is that it never worked. True, it worked for some churches, but on a large scale, most churches declined. Hadaway, Roozen, Iannocone, and Kelley have all conducted statistical studies of denominations (within the USA) and have shown that most denominations using "all the tools that have worked in the past" have experienced great losses."

It's hard to take a comment seriously with a paragraph that says, "it never worked....true it worked for some." I guess I'm not sure how to take that. You're really throwing out some large assumptions there. "most denominations." what about the non denominational. It seems to be working well for them. Why shouldn't we know the people who are in our communities and study it from all aspects? I know a few church plants in town that have used church marketing and they are growing nicely and making disciples at the same time. Now you can go ahead and assume (which you probably will) that no real disciples are being made because they have sent out the evil postcard but that is the kind of emergent snobbery that keeps many away and the kind of unimformed assumptions that has caused this "movement" to be miniscule and non growing. These emergent conferences such as Soularize, etc. get a little smaller every year. While the teachings are thought provoking, there are also no answers as of yet to most things. There are some great questions which I have appreciated but at the same time it is from the voice of a dying movement.

another dumb comment - "why is the church in worse shape now than it was before we resorted to using these tools?"
Is it? The churches I know are doing pretty well. There are hundreds of church plants happening, reaching all kinds of people. Big churches are still growing. The only churches that are dying denominational ones that have refused to change. The life and death cycle of a church is natural. So that study really has no authority over church marketing. Churches are started and churches die. It's natural.

"The answer is that we (the church) have forsaken the power of God through the Holy Spirit, for the power of the marketing agency."

Just because people have used marketing does not mean they have forsaken the Holy Spirit. That's like saying, because we work a second job, we are not relying on the Holy Spirit to provide. You could say that with anything we do. God never told us to sit back and just wait around until the Holy Spirit brought people to out door. He told us to go out and make disciples. You see the active idea going on here? There's no reason that you can't study your community and still let the Holy Spirit work.

God save us from knowing how many people live in our community and what ethnicity they are! That would be way too helpful for our church! We want your Holy Spirit to supernaturally give us the data.
--Gman ( gman at gmail dot com ) on 3/29/2005; 9:52:19 AM

hey sarah... glad to hear what's going on with you and your husband. God is doing some very cool things- moving a lot of people just like you to start communities which will reach a lot of people...

yes, of course- contact me! I'd love to help however I can :)


b
--bob hyatt ( bobhyatt at hotmail dot com ) on 3/24/2005; 3:58:38 PM

This is the third time I've read this and the first time I've cried. (And the first time I've really thought in my head that cliche of "really put upon my heart" in relation to a ministry.)

My (currently youth pastor) husband and I (both bible school grads) have talked about this. And are at the "Can we do this?" stage. It's that, coupled with "Aren't we too young?" And, "But I haven't been to seminary."

My dad did this when I was growing up; I know it's anything but peaches and cream - but is also how my parents formed the relationships with fellow believers who have been most meaningful in their lives (far more so than friends from the mega-Church they now attend).

Thanks for the encouragement! (And, after an extended period of prayer - can we contact you for the "next step"?)
--sarah ( sarah dot barnett at gmail dot com ) on 3/24/2005; 2:50:25 PM

Bob,
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU and, so as not to be utterly redundant, AMEN!

As someone who has just "taken the plunge" and is struggling through the first six months of planting a church, your article really spoke to my spirit.
--Kenneth McIntosh ( Kennethrmc at npgcable dot com ) on 3/22/2005; 5:16:59 PM

Bob, I love your spirit.

"Certainty of death. Small chance of success. What are we waiting for?" -- Gimli, The Lord of the Rings
--brooks ( brooks at brookshanes dot com ) on 3/21/2005; 1:24:38 PM

bob, really enjoyed the article... wise and encouraging words. i also appreciated your tactful and graceful response to gman's unhelpful criticism.

one other point: i, for one, have been blessed by bob's "how can i help" attitude toward our church in california. this isn't idle sweet talk from a non-practitioner spouting ideas on paper, but from a man in the trenches willing to lend a hand. thank you bob.
--johnny ( johnnybradford at msn dot com ) on 3/17/2005; 2:41:18 PM

Great article. My wife and I have been planting a church for about two years now. Thank you for removing the yokes that either we or others put on us stating that church planting is more like market research then trusting God. If I wanted to plant a fast food restraunt, I would have stayed in the business world. It is so much more reasureing to know that we are trusting God for our growth and success (what ever that may be) instead of putting all of our trust on census data, future population estimates and mass mailings. May God bless you and be with you as you continue on the journey!
--Joe ( jhholda at yahoo dot com ) on 3/12/2005; 9:22:44 PM

By the way, awesome article, Bob. May God continue to bless your ministry.
--Jose ( jose3032f at yahoo dot com ) on 3/12/2005; 3:03:42 PM

Gman,

Concerning your statement, "let's throw away all the tools that have worked for churches in the past!" These tools were a result of the "consultant" aspect of the Church Growth Movement. For the last 40 years, these consultants would examine geographic areas around churches (and church plant locations) and decide what marketing approach is necessary to reach large numbers of people.

The well known secret about this approach is that it never worked. True, it worked for some churches, but on a large scale, most churches declined. Hadaway, Roozen, Iannocone, and Kelley have all conducted statistical studies of denominations (within the USA) and have shown that most denominations using "all the tools that have worked in the past" have experienced great losses.

So my question is, "If these tools worked so well, then why is the local church in worse shape now than it was before we resorted to using these tools?" The answer is that we (the church) have forsaken the power of God through the Holy Spirit, for the power of the marketing agency.

Thanks to emerging church leaders, we are leaving that sad stage behind us (hopefully). I pray that we rely on God a little more and ourselves a lot less.
--Jose ( jose3032f at yahoo dot com ) on 3/12/2005; 3:02:23 PM

Hey Bob, good response, that sounds like God has a very cool thing going on there. It's exciting to hear about. I love it!
--Dustin ( dbagby44 at yahoo dot com ) on 3/9/2005; 1:42:35 AM

gman... I'll forgive your sarcasm and do my best not to answer in kind. I think you twist my words... I'll try not to do that to you.



"down with inviting lots of people to experience church for the first time."
Maybe we can admit that if our churches don't grow because of the quality of the relationships we as a community have with our neighbors and co-workers, rather than the quality of our advertising, we don't really deserve to grow, do we? I truly believe this.


"we don't want people coming to our church!"

Did I say that? We've grown steadily since day one and I thank God for that. But we've done it because of the relationships we've built as a community- not because we invested thousands in mailers... no, that money is going to ministries like Blanket Coverage which feed the homeless downtown.

"let's throw away all the tools that have worked for churches in the past! screw that!"

what "works" is not what's always right...

what "works" may create a cycle of dependency where the congregation becomes consumers of church rather than creators of a covenant community...

Can we agree that occasionally reassessing our tools and strategies and perhaps simplifying might be a good thing?

"Why have 200 people coming on Sunday to worship when I can have 20 and be comfortable in our own little community!"

Hey! You said the magic number. It just so happens that two hundred is our goal. We aim to reach 200, and plant a church. We'll continue growing and when we reach 200 again, we'll plant another! We're half-way there... and just think, we started with no money, about 12 people, no band...


"We definitely don't want to have a full band or a children's ministry! Ever! "

Did I say that?

No.

But when we do have it, it will be because our people see a need for it, feel moved to act, and create it... It won't be because I use some seed money to hire it. Under which scenario do you think the people will own the ministry more?

"Especially not on the first Sunday. We don't want to be prepared at all!"

There's a difference between preparation and hype. We were prepared. We weren't hyped. I know churches that have had a quarter of the people on their second week that they had on the first. Do you think that's encouraging for a congregation? We could have invited everyone we knew to our first week. We intentionally refrained. I wasn't about to put my people through that. No.. we started small and have grown continually. I think being three times the size of our first service a year into this (because we started small and grew from there) is better than being half the size of our first service (because we hyped it up and got all our buddies and relatives that will never come again to come), don't you?

"We'll just be all Oozey as some call it. Why make things hard on ourselves just for the salvation of several people when we can light candles and interact with a few people."

If you really think the salvation of people who don't know Christ isn't our first concern, you're sadly mistaken... and now that I think about it... I feel really insulted. That crossed the line. I think I'd actually like an apology.

Maybe we've just come to believe that all those things that "work" like full bands with huge sound systems, and advertising and hype do is draw mainly church-shopping Christians who are looking for something a little more exciting than where they're at. I'm sure that there are some non-Christians who are looking for that- there's plenty of places for them to go. We started evergreen for a completely different individual... someone who's looking something deeper than a nice music program...

And maybe, just maybe... God is using this "Oozey" thing as you so derisively put it, to call the Church away from a over-dependence on things that "work"... and back to a dependence on His Spirit, working through relationship.

"Good call."


I think so too.
--bob hyatt ( bob at evergreenlife dot org ) on 3/9/2005; 12:19:55 AM

Hi Bob,

Very encouraging article.

I too live in the Portland area. I've served three church plants since moving here in 1995. I've visited your church the past two weekends. You're doing well.

I agree with you regarding the advertising/mailing issue. The underlying assumption behind church advertising and mailers is that the people who receive them wake up on Sunday mornings thinking to themselves, you know, I really ought to go to church today. Wonder where there's a church?

I've lived in Portland 10 years now. I don't know a single person about whom that's true.

(For the rest of the country, especially the Bible belt, there may very well be good reason to advertise or use flyers. Not here.)

I too have a desire to plant a church. Like another person who commented on your article, I know that I would fail every church planter assessment test there is.

I've explained my particular vision for a church plant (internet church meets house church) to two local church planting experts and the pastor of one of the church plants I've served (at different times and places). All three shot the idea down immediately, which will come as no surprise to you. But I have refused to let myself become discouraged.

The only question for me is when to start -- immediately, or wait a few years til I feel I'm more ready? I'm still thinking through that one.

Sincerely

David Gillaspey
--David Gillaspey ( david dot gillaspey at greatchurchwebsites dot org ) on 3/8/2005; 9:05:34 PM

yeah, down with advertising, down with inviting lots of people to experience church for the first time. we don't want people coming to our church! let's throw away all the tools that have worked for churches in the past! screw that! Why have 200 people coming on Sunday to worship when I can have 20 and be comfortable in our own little community! We definitely don't want to have a full band or a children's ministry! Ever! Especially not on the first Sunday. We don't want to be prepared at all! We'll just be all Oozey as some call it. Why make things hard on ourselves just for the salvation of several people when we can light candles and interact with a few people. Good call.
--Gman ( gman at gmail dot com ) on 3/8/2005; 9:55:42 AM

Your thoughts were so refreshing. I am just begining a church plant. I have taken the assessments and failed them all. Yet I KNOW that God is calling. We have a group of men who want to meet together, so we are. And what will God do with it? Beats me. I know I have a dream but God rarely conforms to my version of His plan. God has planted a desire in a few hearts and we are working with what is before us. We are full of faith and fear. We are trying to act wisely by listening to wise mentors who have done it before and believe in God's call. Truth is, God sometimes just doesn't use the dudes who have it all together. If He can do this thing thru me, it will be a miracle of his power and grace. Frankly, I am counting on him -- since the experts say I am not qualified. Come to think of it, maybe counting on Him is the most important aspect.
--Brian ( bbboz7 at aol dot com ) on 3/8/2005; 7:34:12 AM

This article was an encouragement to me. Thank you for sharing it!
I'm a layman trying to plant an internet church using the 'hard way' and I can agree that the hard way that you describe is full of pitfalls, even if it does seem to make a lot of sense. Now that we've cut the rush to make a vision reality and cut back on advertising, we're seeing the growth of the community and some real heartfelt ministry going on. Somehow I feel that it's what God wanted all along. His timing is perfect.
Thanks again!

-Chris
--Chris Dillingham ( Chris at infinitechurch dot com ) on 3/8/2005; 3:42:28 AM

You are definitely a lone voice of hope crying out in the wilderness of church dispair. Your thoughts on Church planting are biblical, balanced, and beautifully presented. I am sure that many will find encouragement in it.

Blessings to you,

Jones Ofuasia
--Jones Ofuasia ( ofuasiajb at hotmail dot com ) on 3/7/2005; 9:59:50 PM

You are definitely a lone voice of hope crying out in the wilderness of church dispair. Your thoughts on Church planting are biblical, balanced, and beautifully presented. I am sure that many will find encouragement in it.

Blessings to you,

Jones
--Jones Ofuasia ( ofuasiajb at hotmail dot com ) on 3/7/2005; 9:59:03 PM

Thank you for your encouraging words!

It's easy to see who has the more profound pastoral gift, you or those who discouraged you in starting something for the Kingdom of God. Obviously, you!

I, too, am presently in that same position that you were when you started: no encouragement from so-called "experts," not much money, scared to death of failing. But I'm also at the point that neither do I want to look back on my life in a few years and regret that I stepped back when I should have leaped.

Besides, for me what it all boils down to is that this is not about me but completely about Jesus Christ and helping to expand His name in the earth.

Blessings to you and yours.

Ricky
--Ricky ( rickyroubique at yahoo dot com ) on 3/7/2005; 4:16:27 PM

God bless you for this article. I am being sent to plant a church and have run into those same comments from persons in our congregation. I have run into other snags as well like lack of support and it's been quite lonely. I have a great team that includes my wife and two others. We're going with God and this article was fuel to the fire. Thanks for letting God speak through you. We plan to start May 15 of this year in Gainesville, FL. Please keep us in your prayers
--Lawson J. Boddie ( l dot j dot boddie at att dot net ) on 3/7/2005; 10:21:31 AM

Thanks for the encouraging words about church planting. I have been reading alot latelty about church planting and everything I read shouted "assessment" and "personality type", while not much is said about "calling".


Thanks for a practical word about church planting. Question: How do you feel about laymen (no "formal" education) church-planters? Email me your thoughts, thanks again.
--Jason Dillingham ( jason at jesusworks dot com ) on 3/7/2005; 10:00:33 AM

Hey, Bob...
really liked the article! I think many of us are still affected to some degree by the "business" model of the church that has been touted for a while. It's amazing to me that Paul was able to establish so many churches without all the pre-planning, administrative structure, and financial backing that seems to be non-negotiable today What if we quit worrying about getting a "vision" to promote, and just do the next thing God shows us to do? Which I believe you nailed! Again, thanks
--Brett Terry ( brettterry at yahoo dot com ) on 3/3/2005; 1:59:22 PM

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