Introduction

New churches present the best hope for advancing Gods kingdom on earth and sharing the Gospel. As Dave Ferguson, lead pastor of Community Christian Church in Chicago and movement leader for the NewThing church planting network, said in the July/August 2012 issue of Outreach magazine: We know that church planting is tremendously effective. Church plants will grow 23 times faster than the average church that is 10 years old or older. Church plants will also reach five times as many people who are far from God as the average church. To help prospective church planters launch well and establish churches that thrive, weve compiled insight and advice that have appeared in the pages of Outreach thanks to interviews with and articles from experts and practitioners. This e-book contains 12 key principles that cover virtually every facet of the church planting process and can help produce new churches that make a difference in their communities and the world. Do you have a question about church planting? Or a story to share about your church planting experience? Let us know at TellUs@OutreachMagazine.com or visit us online at OutreachMagazine.com/church-planting. The Editors Outreach magazine

Outreach.com has great resources for Church Planters. Click here for Church Planting Tools to Plant & Grow Your Church.

12 Keys to a Successful Church Plant

Getting Started
1. Contact church planting organizations to gather information and identify one that you believe will best equip you and help you as you prepare to plant a new church. Exponential works with several organizations and planters and may be a good place to start. Church planting networks include: Acts 29; Association of Related Churches; Launch; NewThing; and Stadia. Various denominations offer church planting assistance as well. Damian Boyd, who planted Vertical Church in Atlanta in February 2012, shared his story and vision for a new church with others and developed a launch team of 15 people. Then, he started looking for help. I started going on a hunt for church planting networks, Boyd said. Todd Wilson with the Exponential Network looked at where we stood theologically and what type of model we were looking to do. I took the ELI church planting assessment. He looked at that and said, OK, these are the types of church planting networks that are going to be good for you. We needed to be a part of a network that would fund. We needed to be part of a network that would disciple. And part of a network that would believe in us. We decided to go with Launch Network. 2. Undergo an assessment through a church planting organization to help determine if you should plant a church and your strengths and weaknesses. In my experience, I have sat with quite a few planters who arent sent by a church, have been turned down by assessors, and have no one following them, but they still must plant a church, church planter Kyle Costello, lead pastor of Missio Dei Community in Salt Lake City, said in the July/August 2012 issue of Outreach magazine. Not knowing these folks intimately, it would be unfair to say they absolutely shouldnt plant. But if the church leadership where they are coming from doesnt see them as planters, assessment centers dont see them as planters, church planting organizations dont see them as planters, and they have no one joining them in their task, it seems like there is something significant and biblical that is missing.

3. Consider participating in a church planting residency program to receive additional training and support. Fellowship Associates, NewThing, Pinelake Church, The Church at Brook Hills and Mars Hill Church are just a few places that offer residency programs.

12 Keys to a Successful Church Plant

Paul Fleming completed a nine-month residency with Fellowship Associates (Fellowship Bible Church) in Little Rock, Ark., in May 2005 before launching Westport Church in Portland, Ore., on Easter 2006, with 354 attendees. Fleming, who has since left Westport and today serves as communications pastor at Lake Pointe Church in Rockwall, Texas, and as chief inspiration officer at the leadership organization Cast Your Vision, has said this about his residency experience: Describe your residency experience. What did it consist of? I like to describe my residency with Fellowship as an incubator. I had an emerging vision for a new church plant, but it was still pretty sketchy. My residency gave me time to immerse myself in that vision, clarify and rethink it, and test it in a small community. Our experience consisted of weekly meetings with elders, where we watched an elder team make strategic decisions about staff, budgets and philosophy. We also had regular meetings with key church staff and had the opportunity to network. We were introduced to numerous local and national leaders, which gave me an opportunity to hone my networking skillsand forced me to develop my elevator speech for the new church plant. What were the most important lessons you learned during your residency? What one thing made it all worthwhile? I learned that knowing and liking yourself is vital. A lot of time was spent focused on my gift set and personality tendencies, which allowed me to come to terms with both my strengths and my weaknesses. The one thing that made it all worthwhile: the network of mentors I developed. In the past five years, I have leaned on them for advice more than I ever imagined I would. How has your residency influenced your passion for and approach to outreach? During this time of focus, we were able to spend hours and hours of think time on how we would be missional in our context. And we got to watch a healthy organization do outreach in innovative ways in their context. It really helped us understand the value of strategythat it would require dedicated thought and action to influence a community. Specifically, I learned a lot about connecting to community leaders through no-strings-attached service, which has shaped our value system at Westport, and given us significant influence in our community in a short period of time.

12 Keys to a Successful Church Plant

Prelaunch
4. Create a Master Plan. Ron Sylvia, founder and lead pastor of Church @ the
Springs in Ocala, Fla., and director of NEXT Coaching Networks, has explained that planning ahead for your new church is essential: In my work with thousands of church planters throughout the country over more than a decade, Im continually amazed at the number of planters who place little or no emphasis on such a key componentplanning. You will greatly increase the probability of success by writing a well thought-out church planting proposal, or master plan. Much like a business plan for a start-up company, the master plan is the written document that will help you: Enlist partners Raise funds Recruit a launch team Stay on track You may have a great idea in your head, but people dont readily give their time or treasure to great ideas. They want to see a plan. Whether a person is partnering with you as part of your launch team or agreeing to support you financially, they want to see your strategy, your budget and your timeline. Every time you cast vision to a potential partner, youll hand them the master plan. In addition, your time will be in short supply once the plan is set in motion, and the master plan will help you stay on track. Without a plan, it wont take long before youll feel like youre juggling too many plates. You will be surprised at the clarity that comes when you write out a master plan. If you cant write your plan concisely and motivationally, you havent adequately thought it through. Spending the extra hours putting the plan on paper or on your computer will give a solid foundation upon which to present Gods vision for this new church. A captivating master plan will include basic elements like church name, your family picture, your bio, city, state and location, and launch date. Dont underestimate the value of photos and other images that help tell your story throughout your master plan as well. In addition, your master plan will: Demonstrate a clear calling. A church master plan is largely based on Gods individual calling on you and the area you are called to. Potential partners will want to know:

12 Keys to a Successful Church Plant

 Why a new church? Why in this city? Why you? Your calling should answer all of those. The calling is foundational to the church planter. Clearly state, I feel called of the Lord to plant a church in ... or, I sense that God has called me to . Communicate a compelling vision. When God wants a new church started and a city to be impacted by Him, He taps someone on the shoulder and places a vision in his heart. He is inviting you to join Him in what He is doing. Hes not asking you to go out and do something for Him and give Him progress reports along the way. Bruce Wilkinson once said, When you find the vision for your life, you wont take hold of it; it will take hold of you. A vision is something that begins as a thought and eventually captures your heart and life. Hopefully, God has placed in you a vision to start a new church, and it has captured your heart. You cannot ignore it because it is taking hold of you like fire shut up in your bones. When communicating vision, stating the need is critical. With need, there must also be a clearly defined strategy along with a projected result: Ninety-five percent of your city is lost and unchurched. We want to plant a church that will reach this area and grow to this point, ultimately resulting in a church planting movement that will have a greater impact on the city. In other words, the master plan must clearly communicate the passion, vision and strategy that will move the potential partner to action. Express core values. We only do what we truly believe, and core values help you determine as a church planter what your church should be doing as a result of your beliefs. You cant fake core values because they are what you truly value deep down. Resist the urge to have a large list of core values too early. Compile a list and focus on those that resonate with your heart and vision. Core values help guide who you are and what you do, always pointing you in the direction you believe God is leading. These values will stop you from getting lost or detoured on the journey. Teach them, quote them, and speak of them often. They are the non-negotiables for your church. Translate them into easily quotable phrases and then live them! Explain your purpose. A purpose statement rises out of your vision and core values, and the development process itself will help clarify your purpose, understanding and vision for the church. Dont get bogged down in the difference between a mission statement and a purpose statement. Crafting the purpose statement is really more for you than the

12 Keys to a Successful Church Plant

people. It gives focused clarity to the churchs mission/vision/purpose. My guideline is this: State your purpose briefly and simply, and it becomes more powerful. At Church @ the Springs, our purpose statement is, The Springs exists to be relevant as we lead our generation to God and connect people to a growing community of Christ-followers who go and serve others. Additional sample purpose statements include: Love God, Love People. We exist to help people take their next step toward Christ. We exist to impact our community through authentic relationships with God and each other. Loving God, Loving People, Serving the World We exist to bring people to Jesus, develop them to Christ-like maturity, and equip them for ministry. Define your community. Research the demographics of the community God has called you to reach. Make it your goal to learn everything you can about the people in your community and include it in the master plan. Learn what the people are like, their needs, their likes and dislikes, their political makeup, their social makeup, their values, etc. In addition to helping you develop your launch strategy, youll use what youve learned in the years to come as you plan your teaching, promotion and overall ministry strategy. Make good use of the survey and professional census information available online. Provide a timeline. How and when will this church be planted? Include a detailed timeline for the first 18 months. This is a milestone action plan to get you from where you are to where you want to be at launch and beyond. The best starting point for creating a timeline is to envision your launch day. What do you see? What should launch day look like? Work backward and forward from the launch date, detailing the actions that will result in what you envision. Then simply put dates to each action, developing a schedule or timeline that supports your launch date. Certainly you will have to make some adjustments along the way, but a timeline will help you stay on track with the vision. Incorporate your budget. As you develop a launch plan and timeline, youll be better able to accurately determine the funds needed to support the plan. Four specific areas to focus on are operating, staffing, equipment and marketing. Remember, your prelaunch budget wont necessarily mirror your operating budget, and youll want to consider all startup costs. This exercise will also help determine the actions that could be cut if it became necessary to reduce spending. Once your budget becomes clear, your master plan will be your vision tool for raising the funds needed.

12 Keys to a Successful Church Plant

Once all the pieces are completed and written, compile them into a master plan that is visually appealing. Include pictures and graphics depicting the city and community. Leave enough white space to make the text easily read. Make the budget and timeline stand out graphically. Keep the length at eight to 10 pages A strong master plan will help put you on top of the crowd in the eyes of potential partners and will help you remain focused on Gods unique purpose for your new church as it introduces itself to the community. You only get one chance to make a first impression.

5. Raise Funding. The director of project management and coaching for Stadia,
Doug Foltz has helped start more than 35 new churches as a project manager and has worked with church planters for 35 years. He identified four fundraising challenges that church planters tend to underestimate: The need for a comprehensive plan. Typically, church planters will make a list of churches and individuals, send out form letters to their list, and then wait for the money to pour in. That never works. Fundraising is relational, and relationships take time. A strong plan includes appeal letters, but it should also include personal visits, phone calls, follow-up, etc. The importance of margin. Commitments do not equal cash in hand. Inevitably, churches and individuals will make financial commitments that wont come in for one reason or another. Allow for margin in your spending so that when commitments dont come through, your budget isnt crushed. The effect rejection has on your self-esteem. I had family members who refused to support me and close churches that rejected me over flaky reasons. Youll leave messages and send emails that will go unanswered from friends. Its easy to get depressed over the constant rejection. The stress of tight budgets. You will have weeks or even months when you have no idea how the bills will be paid. Use these times as opportunities to grow closer to God and trust Him. What we worry about reveals where we arent yet trusting Him. Keep in mind that even if you handle challenging financial times well, your staff or staffs spouses may not.

12 Keys to a Successful Church Plant

Foltz also spoke with several veteran church planters about how they coped with fundraising challenges. They said: Steve Pike, church planter and national director for the Church Multiplication Network: Two challenges immediately come to mind: (1) Overcoming my personal mental barrier of asking people for money. I had to change the way I viewed the fundraising process and shift my posture from viewing myself as a beggar concerned about my own needs to a leader giving others an opportunity to join me in a worthy cause. (2) Overcoming the perception that new churches are not needed. Most Christians think there are already too many churches. Overcome that by exposing potential donors to numerous studies indicating the need for starting new congregations. Matt Larson, Anthem Church, Thousand Oaks, Calif., planted 2009: The hardest part was transitioning from vision-casting to making the ask. The most practical advice I can offer is to simply make the ask. What I learned over the course of our fundraising was that we were giving people an opportunity to put the resources that God had entrusted to them toward works that God Himself was doing. It grew from being a reluctant, awkward process to being one of my favorite aspects of church planting. Put the vision in front of prospective supporters, talk freely about how financial support enables the vision to move forward, and with full confidence in what the Lord has asked you to do, invite people to join the mission and use God's resources to expand God's kingdom! Charles Hill, veteran church planter, most recently One Community Church in South Jordan, Utah, planted 2009: Shoot high! Make the big ask! And never walk away with a no. Ask for half. Ask for a fourth. If they say there is no money available, then ask for equipment. Always walk away with something to use to expand the kingdom! Also, I asked each person I shared with to ask two to three people in their network to hear my presentation/vision as well. You start to create a never-ending source of continuing contacts and a great way to expand into other networks. Dan Kimball, Vintage Faith Church, Santa Cruz, Calif., planted 2004: The most difficult aspect was the realization that a lot of money would be needed to launch a church. The costs added up so unbelievably fast. Once we faced this reality, we researched church plants that had made it past three or four years. We learned that partnering with a mother church was a good launch strategy. So thats what we did. Though the mother church wasnt in a place to give us money, for a year they allowed us to promote our vision to their church and ask for financial help, use their facilities,

12 Keys to a Successful Church Plant

etc. Teaming with a more mature and larger church helped us build a financial backing before we launched. Vince Antonucci, Verve, Las Vegas, planted 2010: The most difficult aspect of fundraising for most church planters is a lack of belief in the importance of their mission. Think about it: If your child had a deadly disease and the only way to save her life was to ask everyone you know for money, nothing could stop you from asking. Its only when church planters truly have a vision of reaching Gods lost children in their city, and realize that eternal lives hang in the balance, that they'll overcome their reluctance to ask, or to keep asking. Ive learned that most people won't say yes to your first ask. One of our biggest supporters is a church who said no about five times. But on my sixth ask, they agreed to support us. View your first requests as overcoming initial resistance. Jose Humphreys, Metro Hope Church, Manhattan, N.Y., planted 2007: Looking back, I would have developed a bigger budget on the front end. Since we literally started from scratch, having multiple staff from the outset would've relieved the pressure to fill so many roles. It would've also buffered my marriage, since my wife took on the brunt of many of the leadership roles. Brad Graves, veteran planter, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, Joplin, Mo., since July 2011: Be convinced of the truth that fundraising is very biblical. What you are doing is modeled in the Scripture. Ezra, Nehemiah, Paulall raised funds; it is OK for you to do the same. Ive learned that its important to present all your levels of needprayer, mission teams, moneyand offer creative ways to fund your budget. Ask people to underwrite a particular area, ministry or outreach in your budget. Liz Rios, veteran planter, pastoral board of Save the Nations Church, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., planted 2007: I would have raised money at least a year before officially launching, and I would have developed a bigger core team who were as committed financially to the church plant as my husband and I were. You can have the most awesome vision, but if you cant pay for a place to meet and you dont have people willing to give up a lot of their time for free, you might find yourself in the church plant cemetery. Stop running from the money talk. Get comfortable as fast as you can with stewardship sermons. God has given us more than 800 Scriptures about money. If money was important then to do kingdom business, it most certainly is now.

10

12 Keys to a Successful Church Plant

Nelson Searcy, veteran planter, founder of Church Leader Insights and founding pastor of The Journey Church, New York City, planted 2002: Creating a budget is the first step in fundraising. Do your research and create as detailed a budget as you possibly can. A few questions to answer in the process: What will the cost of living in this community be? How much will my initial salary be? How about salaries for additional staff? How much will it cost to operate in this city (office rent, phones, computer equipment, copy equipment, etc.)? Then start to find the right financial partners. Ask yourself: Who do I know? Who do the people I know, know? Who has a heart for my area? God, will you show me what I need to do? Matt Keller, Next Level Church, Fort Myers, Fla., planted 2002: When we started 10 years ago, we knew nothing about fundraising. Consequently, we were only able to raise $9,200 total, which we later found out is not a lot of money! However, over the past decade in our experience with training and coaching church planters, weve learned that setting a goal is the first step. Youll never reach a goal if you dont set one. Something most planters dont think about is the idea of preparing three different kinds of vision talksa 30-second, three-minute and 30-minuteand then practicing them, remembering to boldly ask for financial participation.

6. Generate Interest in Your Church with a variety of marketing and publicity efforts. Different methods work well in some areas and not in others. Consider the community youre trying to reach and the experience of these church planters:
Digital Media Although print advertising did bring some people to our launch, we learned from guest card feedback that digital advertising such as Google and Facebook were 11 times more cost-effective, said Paul Andrew, lead pastor of Liberty Church, which launched Jan. 23, 2011, in New York City. There is also an ongoing benefit for our Facebook connections since we can send updates and event invitations long after our launch. Not surprisingly, word-of-mouth was incredibly successful, but I was surprised that Christian radio was also quite effective, and it brought an older demographic that our digital strategies did not. I might mention that on the other side, our Saturdays spent handing out invites in the neighborhood produced frozen toes but not a single visitor. Door Hangers Word-of-mouth was our greatest resource, said Matt Miller, lead pastor of New City Church in Shawnee, Kan., which launched Jan. 8, 2012. We also had success (I know this is not popular, but it works well in apartment neighborhoods) with door hangers. We also invested money in our website. We use Google AdWords too. We created a

11

12 Keys to a Successful Church Plant

New City Facebook page, and I use an email client, Mail Chimp, to send out weekly invites and information. Guest Speakers We did take a big risk, said Scott Bloyer, lead pastor of Elevation Church in Aurora, Colo., which launched Oct. 10, 2010. We actually paid to have a former Denver Bronco [linebacker Karl Mecklenburg] be here. He came and shared his story. So we knew we had some kind of a draw. Then a young [Ultimate Fighting Championship] fighter that gave his life to Christ through our ministry [Justin The Viking Wren] came and spoke the second week. We tried to make it a launch month, not a launch week. So we did different things each week to try to draw people in. But we didnt have any mass mailings or anything like that, so no one really knew about it other than by word-of-mouth. Mailers We asked our launch team to each personally invite five people, and hopefully out of that, they would all get one, said Ken Hubbard, pastor of New Generations Church in Canton, Mich., which launched Oct. 2, 2011. We did a lot of social networking. But the thing that really worked for us the most was mailers. We did every home in our community, and then a week before the launch, we did the same homes again. We did 140,000 mailers. I would say that outside of the people we knew, probably about 80 percent did come from our mailers. Relational Connections Simple conversation with people in coffee shops and around the neighborhood were the best steps, said Aaron Monts, lead pastor of Ikon Christian Community in San Francisco, which launched in October 2009. Much more personal of an invite instead of a blanket invite. Service Projects I sent my launch team out and said, Get involved in some place; serve on a volunteer basis, said James Johnson-Hill, lead pastor of Agape Church in Laurel, Miss., which launched on Easter Sunday in 2010. We just found any opportunity we could to serve. Someone got involved in the school district. We really got involved with the downtown association, really just being a support there, showing up at city events, just being very present and visible.

12

12 Keys to a Successful Church Plant

Launch
7. Choose a date when people are likely to give your church a try. The church planting organization or denomination with which you are working likely will have some helpful suggestions about the best times to launch a new church. Our training with the [Association of Related Churches] had highlighted the two key windows in a year for successful launchesJanuary /February and September/October, Andrew said. We chose Jan. 23 because we wanted a few weeks after the New Year to refocus our team and spread the word about launch Sunday. January is a time of year when many people are already rethinking their lives and priorities and often looking to make changes, so theres a natural momentum that comes with that season. Other factors such as the weather in the area where you plan to plant also should be considered. Hubbard launched New Generations Church in October 2011, in part because of the negative affect cold weather in the winter months might have. In Michigan, we knew that if we didnt get planted in the fall, then it would be the spring of the following year, Hubbard said. And we really didnt want to wait. It would almost delay us six months just because we didnt feel like it would be prudent to launch during cold weather. We felt like fall was a great time because people are starting to get back in the routines of life; vacations are over; kids are starting to get back into school; theyre kind of looking for some kind of normal routine again. The culture of your new churchs community can affect your decision too, JohnsonHill said. Were here in the deep South, so there is a real connection to Easter, Johnson-Hill said. People that may have left the church or dont feel right about going back to another church, we felt like that was a good time for where we were. Were a new church with a Greek nameAgapeso youre already like semi-cult status in the South with that, so to start on Easter Sunday kind of gave us a little credibility. Kind of, we werent weird. At least were starting on Easter. Theres some sort of Jesus element to it. Thats what the publics thinking. That was big for us. 8. Choose a location. Affordability and the local communitys familiarity with a
site are important elements to keep in mind. We did the Cameron Center, the local community center here in Laurel, Miss., Johnson-Hill said. We chose it because we could afford it, and it met our needs. They gave us a sweet deal: $40 an hour, and we got the whole gymnasiumbathrooms,

13

12 Keys to a Successful Church Plant

racquetball courts and a classroom, great parking. It was pretty centrally located. A cross-section of people knew what it was. Aaron Graham, lead pastor of The District Church, which launched Sept. 18, 2010, in Washington, D.C., said his launch team saw the opportunity to meet in a local school as a way to build the church and support the community simultaneously. We found a great school that was only a block away from the subway that was a former church! Graham said. In fact, it is an old Presbyterian church where President Woodrow Wilson was an elder and where President Herbert Hoover attended. The church closed down in the '70s and became a nightclub before the current charter school renovated it and moved in 10 years ago. I think we felt a bit like this was an opportunity for God to not only rebuild His church in our lives, but also rebuild a church in this location. Being in a school is important to us because it feels like our rent money is like mission dollars because its helping fund more teachers for this urban school that serves low-income families. And sometimes, God presents a location you werent planning on and the resources to make it work for your church. New City was on track to meet in a local middle school, Miller said. But we came across a permanent 14,000-square-foot space. The space was an abandoned three-screen movie theater. The theater was in a mess and needed some serious renovations. So four months and $260,000, later we moved into our new 24/7 space. A God thing in this is that we didn't pay the $260,000. The people who own the shopping center paid the bill and allowed New City to design it! The major factor that allowed us to make this permanent move is that we had committed funds that would allow us to make this move and not be in a financial bind. And the rent is dirt cheap.

9. Plan beyond Launch Sunday. Avoid the trap of overemphasizing the launch
day and encouraging a consumer mindset among churchgoers in the process. Graham said planning ahead is much more important. Don't put all your eggs in the one basket of a big launch day, Graham said. There is nothing wrong with planning for a big launch day, but you must have a discipleship plan in place first for the launch to sustain itself. You must be modeling what you are calling people to do before you go public. It is better to design a three-phase launch that allows new people who get involved along the way to feel like they are helping to build the church as well. Having roles to plug newcomers into right away is important so they can contribute to the ministry of the church immediately. Leaders who build relationships instead of simply assigning tasks are essential too, Graham says. Andrew summed up the right mindset well: Having a great launch is so important, but dont neglect your plans for the hundreds or thousands of Sundays after it! Launch-

14

12 Keys to a Successful Church Plant

ing strong is good, but launching strong and then staying strong is even better.

Ongoing Support & Accountability

10. Get coaching support. Starting a new church is stressful and demanding. The
Acts 29 network learned firsthand how much of a toll it takes on planters in 2010 when two church planters committed suicide. Scott Thomas, former president of the Acts 29 network and a veteran pastor and church planter himself, conducted an extensive study of shepherding and found a new, two-pronged approach to coaching. Thomas co-wrote the book Gospel Coach: Shepherding Leaders to Glorify God (Zondervan), which released in May 2012. In this 2011 interview, he talked about why shepherding shepherds is so important. Why do you believe every church planter needs a coach? We hear it all the time, but its really true that most ministry leaders feel uncared for and underappreciated. We want our churches to be healthy, reproductive and lifegiving, and that starts with healthy leaders. Coaching is a key aspect to their ongoing effectiveness as shepherds of the church. Coaching also connects a planter with someone else relationally. The danger of church planting is isolation. Because the planter has no one to go to, he turns to isolation, which usually leads to a disqualification at some point down the road. I always say, half-kidding, that planters are discouraged, disappointed or delusional. If you dont have a coach to talk to, youre going to make some really terrible decisions. I did. I made a really terrible decision to resign as pastor at one point in my ministry based on the discouragement I felt. I didnt have a coach, no one to talk to who understood the situation I was facing. And I said, OK, Im done, and I left. I later had to go back to that church and ask for their forgiveness. If Id had a coach who could have asked, Is this the best decision? and helped me work through those issues, I think I wouldve made a different decision. Ultimatelyand this may sound tritebut we want God to be glorified through His local church. Really, our focus isnt on the church planter; its on the glory of God. If we focus on the church or the planter, were going to be disappointed 10 out of 10

15

12 Keys to a Successful Church Plant

times. Following the Great Commission starts with the glory of God through the leaders of the church, and those leaders are going to lead a healthy church thats going to be life-giving. In the last 18 months, how has Acts 29s coaching process changed? Part of what I wanted to do when I came to Mars Hill five years ago to lead Acts 29 was set up a system to coach church planters. But I felt like the system we were using was focused almost entirely on the church plant, and not necessarily on the church planter. I wanted to be able to address the church planter himself, to continue to focus on his missional life, but not at the expense of his personal and spiritual life. A year and a half ago, I walked into a meeting with Acts 29 pastors and said, Guys, I think we should be coaching our guys and shepherding them, but I have no idea what to do with this. About 15 minutes later, I had a revelation and got two things: the verse Acts 20:28 and the insight that shepherding and coaching could be incorporated into one model rather than doing two distinct things. At the time, I was coaching about 22 guys. I made a switch to focus on both their personal and spiritual lives in addition to their missional life but didnt tell them. It just made a huge change in them; they have since told me that was really a turning point. So now were trying to make it available for everyone of our church planters to be coached one-on-one. Had you been seeking the Holy Spirit for this kind of insight? Two planters in our network took their lives within months of each other. The second pastor committed suicide in early March 2010. He had marital problems for several years but did not allow his wife to speak about it, and he didnt speak about it. He was my personal friend, and I never detected it, and I never asked him outright, Hows your marriage? Because his church was doing so well, we figured he was doing well, and that was not true. After he died, I spoke with his wife. It was sobering. She said he suffered for years, and his ministry was masked fear, that he didnt just come home one day and explode; his soul faded out slowly. In the midst of working through this, I was asking, How do we care for these guys? and I pulled up a real extensive study on shepherding because I felt like that was the missing piece in our coaching. The Holy Spirit revealed these insights to me. It just drives me to say, the people in my life, Ive got to be real intentional about making sure theyre healthy. Ive been put in this responsibility of basically shepherding shepherds, and there are very few people who shepherd shepherds. In 2007, I was talking to [pastor and theologian] C.J. Mahaney, and he looked at me and said, Whos shepherding your soul? I told him no one. Shepherds dont get shepherded; they shepherd. Thats what were trying to dooffer a vehicle we can use to shepherd the shepherds while they shepherd disciples in their church to be on mis-

16

12 Keys to a Successful Church Plant

sion and worship God. I dont think theres a pastor in America who doesnt sense the need for that. How does this new coaching model cultivate an open environment where planters can feel free to share personal and spiritual struggles? In our system, coaching is an intentional, Gospel-centered relationship to skillfully care for others in three aspects of their life: personally, spiritually and missionally. That definition alone helps to guide everything were trying to accomplish. So were focused on the Good News of Jesus Christ, and the Gospel is going to bear on everything we talk about. The coach submits questions to the planter, who answers them online, and the two of them have an intentional and honest conversation via phone or in person. I interviewed a medical doctor for the book [Gospel Coach] to learn from him about having intentional, patient-focused conversations. What were doing in the coaching session is much like a medical exam. The doctor asks the patient, Whats your chief concern? then asks him more questions to determine the underlying cause, prescribes a treatment plan and later asks, Hows our treatment going? The doctor doesnt share his issues with the patient, and he doesnt share the patients issues with anyone else. Were asking planters to pick one or two things that they want to focus on for that session, so we identify the chief concern, then we take steps of action to help them walk through it. And then finally, we pray and ask the Holy Spirit to take control of that situation. Were trying to create a safe, trusting environment. And to determine the issue, a doctor asks sometimes uncomfortable questions. Right. I believe were not asking planters the right questions. Instead of tackling the real core issues, were asking, Hows the church doing? So were just focusing on accountability instead of the greater goal of Christ-likeness. I think we should ask, How have you jacked up this week? Not Did you mess up this week? The assumption should be that you didhow? We also have the wrong accountability partners. Im for accountability, but we need accountability that asks the right questions by the right people. For example, someone youve hired or works for you is not going to be honest with you. How have you seen this shepherding approach impact the planter, then the church? One of our pastors was dealing with some issues and told his coach that his wife was complaining about him being negative and discouraged. The coach asked why he was discouraged, and the pastor told him he just wasnt seeing the attendance results he wanted. The coach asked, What kinds of results are you seeing? The planter described it, and it sounded like he was having some success. The coach probed further and, getting to the heart of the Gospel, asked, What kind of success do you deserve? What it came down to was that this pastors identity was wrapped up in a certain number, and because he didnt reach that, he felt like he was less of a person. When the

17

12 Keys to a Successful Church Plant

coach helped the planter identify the fact that his identity was wrapped up in his success, the pastor recognized it as sin and that he needed to repent of that. Subsequently, and this is whats amazingand Ive been in his church and seen it firsthandhis church has grown in attendance by more than 50 percent, and ironically, hes reaching those numbers now, having rested in his identity in Christ. But he needed a coach who was focused on him as a person to help him get there. Scott Thomas left the Acts 29 network early in 2012. Matt Chandler, lead pastor of The Village Church in Flower Mound, Texas, now serves as president of Acts 29.

11. Maintain accountability with a mentor. Shawn Lovejoy, senior pastor of

Mountain Lake Church in Cumming, Ga., and co-founder of ChurchPlanters.com, is one of the leading voices calling for more support and accountability for church planters after they have launched their new churches. In this 2011 interview, he discussed the challenges planters face and how to address them: The church planting movementthe way it is today with all the blogging, Twittering and Facebooking and church planter rock star statusis really no more than a decade old. Younger and younger men are coming straight out of seminary, never having been a senior pastor, and are starting a church. Thats been acceptable for a decade. In the last 24 months, weve had two very public moral failures among church planters. I think were just now starting to really reap what weve sown. What are the other contributors? Are unmet expectations of planting a large church straight out of the gate a factor? Absolutely! I am guilty of this. I wanted to help every guy lead a church that could grow to 2,000. Jesus said His yolk is easy and His burden is light. But weve put all these burdens and expectations on these planters that Jesus didnt put on them. I dont think most pastors are supposed to pastor megachurches. And statistically, its not happening. We have the same number of megachurches we had 10 years ago. Yet when you tell everyone thats the way they need to do it, anything short of that, theyre a failure. Thats when you start comparing yourself and start copying others. Then when it doesnt come to fruition, you start condemning what they do: They must be watering down the Gospel. Then you get discouraged and depressed. Thats why one of the church planters we were coaching this year attempted suicide. In the last 24 months, weve seen planters attempt and commit suicide and admit to extramarital affairs. Thats why weve started waving this banner. Ive challenged leaders: Hey, if were going to plant 1,000 churches, lets make sure we have a plan for being in relationship

18

12 Keys to a Successful Church Plant

with those pastors. Or were going to be cleaning up a big mess. The repercussions are far-reaching. Its not just going to ruin a few pastors and their families; were talking about tens of thousands of baby Christians and nonbelieversa whole generation. So how do we turn this tide? Where do we start? Were starting with the assessment process. Starting this fall, anyone applying to our residency will undergo psychological testing to assess authority issues and other emotional baggage. Also, were not going to support anyone who wont make themselves accountable to their church. Im not saying we go back to business meetings and show of hands. In my church, I still have the opportunity to make the final decision, but I have an advisory team and finance team that have permission to ask me tough questions. All of us, including me, have been looking for the Saulsgood-looking and tall, demonstrated leadership capacity and charisma. Weve overlooked the character. Weve not dug deep enough when it comes to asking about their relationship with their dad or asked their wife one-on-one to rate their marriage on a scale of 0-10, or asked about their own time with the Lord. The power of denominations and associations is ongoing relationships. Literally, its going to begin with every church planting leader and pastor in America saying, Ill own this, Ill take 10 or 12 young church planters and put them under my wing and into an accountability relationship, and then Ill get in a peer-to-peer relationship with 10 or 12 guys around me, and well do that. If 10 leaders from each of these major networks would each take 10 pastors and then mentor 10 more and so on, we might stem the tide in the decade. Are you beginning to see more leaders put action to their words? There are some positive signs I see about to happen. One, Ive never heard network leaders talk about it until recently, and they are talking about it. Two, resources are starting to be published. Three, conference leaders and other network leaders are starting to add these discussions into their programming. By default, the networks are getting a wake-up call. I do think that talking about it is a start to seeing change begin. But this kind of mentoring takes timea commodity most planters focused on a launch date dont have. Thats why its on the leader to set the tone and say, This is something we value even if that comes down to saying, Lets wait six months before you launch. We have to give pastors permission to be what God has called them to be and do what God has called them to do. If we do this right, I think it will actually slow down the church planting movement.

19

12 Keys to a Successful Church Plant

And you think slowing the rate we plant churches is a good idea? Ive been saying since 2004, We dont need a lot more church plants until we really figure out how to do this in a healthier way. Weve got to figure out how to do this healthy, and then we can reproduce. But you cant do both simultaneously. More churches does not solve the issue. We need more of the right kind of churches, with healthy leaders who have been under the watch-care of a healthy leader through an internship or residency. This, by nature, will produce fewer plants, and they probably arent going to be as large and grow as fast. To keep planters coming back to home base, were going to have to support them more and longer. We probably need to make a 36-month minimum commitment to every church because as long as theyre getting resources from us, theyre accountable to us. So either you have to raise a lot more money to support each church longer, or youve got to size down the number of churches you plant. The bottom line is that we should only plant as many churches as we can effectively coach. Do you think planters will choose to be mentored, attend these types of workshops, use these resources, etc.? They dont recognize theyre in trouble. Their focus is not on building a healthier marriage; that doesnt grow their church. Frankly, if its not focused on growing their church, theyre probably not that interested in it. If planters dont recognize that they have or will have these issues, how do you get this message to them? I do think its one of those things of God taking the bad and using it for good. I think God is going to use this wave of moral failures. He already is. In the last 24 months, Ive seen a whole wave of change. Ive had 50 church planters tell me, This (recent moral failure) has been another wake-up call for me. Suddenly, people are seeing that this thing theyre striving for doesnt necessarily lead to a great place. In your opinion, is it impossible to plant and grow a thriving, high-impact church and at the same time stay healthy? As I look around the country, the leaders that have built a fast-growing church and are staying in it are doing it while remaining healthy. So it is possible. Im for growth and the Great Commission. But I do think we have to stop pursuing the Great Commission at the expense of the Great Commandment. Weve focused on building the machine and systems that work to build it as big and as fast as possible. Ive coached people to do it, but I cant find that as the measure of success in the New Testament.

20

12 Keys to a Successful Church Plant

Is there a way to combine coaching with shepherding or redefine coaching? I think there needs to be a grid that includes accountability. I love that Nurture Vitality is ChurchPlanters.coms No. 1 best practice in our grid. When you sit down with a church planter, the first thing youll bring up is not how theyre doing on their small group percentages, but instead, Tell me about your marriage, your kids, family night, your last date night, your off day. Thats where it has to start.

12. Find a ministry that supports church planters spouses.

When the ministry waters get rough for Jodi Stonea pastors wife at Momentum Christian Church, an Atlanta church plantshe counts down the days until the annual church-planter spouse retreat. The encouragement given, the wisdom gained, the advice gleaned from spending just a couple of days alongside other church-planting spouses on the same journey as you is unsurpassed, Stone says. Nothing compares to someone whos walked a few steps ahead of you taking your hand, because there is no one else on this planet who can understand what you're going through like someone whos been exactly where you are. The spouse retreat is one of many benefits offered by Bloom!, a ministry to spouses of lead church planters under the umbrella of Stadia. Debbie Jones, Stadias director of spouse and family support, is the main engine behind the spousal support ministrys solid forward progression. Bloom! creates a network of planter spouses who have experienced the journey and are able to encourage those who are newly involved, Jones says of the ministry, adding that participants are equipped in their position as a lead planters spouse (not equipped for church planting). They have a safe haven to share their joys and challenges and are lifted up in prayer daily. I believe a spouse plays a major role in the health and continued growth of every new church. God doesnt call half a couple into church planting. Jones and her husband, Tom, the executive director of Stadia, uprooted to start two churches, she says, recalling ventures in Princeton, N.J., in the 1990s and in Centerville, Ohio, in the 1980s. I went through a lot of what spouses go throughfinding your place in the church plant, dealing with all kinds of ministry areas, learning about a place youve never been before, needing faith to continue when things arent what youd thought theyd be. Just being worn out. Bloom! was born out of my desire to provide something I personally needed. I just started investing into spouses. My heart was always for that. When Jan Limiero and her husband, David, planted Life Journey Christian Church in Bakersfield, Calif., in 2003, there was no Bloom! to rely on. She remembers feeling quite alone in what we were doing. The closest church plants to us were two hours away. So the Limieros organized an overnight retreat with two other church-planting couples to simply connect and share stories.

21

12 Keys to a Successful Church Plant

We were so hungry to share about what God was doing and the struggles we had in getting there, Limiero says. So we talked, shared and prayed late into the night and all the next dayand we left restored. This was the beginning of my passion to see planter wives connect and support one another. I am so excited and proud for what Bloom! offers to planter wives today. The three main areas of the Bloom! focus are encouragement, resources and inspiration, Jones says, adding that theyre the core needs for lead planters spouses based on the many interviews she has conducted with them. Ive been asked, Why dont you do this for other pastors spouses? Jones adds. But the lead planters spouse goes through different issues. There are things they might not want to tell others, even on their own staffseven just to say, I need help. Jones notes that once the spouse of the lead planter is encouraged and strengthened, they in turn can invest in their own staffs. Specific Steps for Starting a Spousal Ministry If youre interested in a springboard or steps you can adapt to launch a spousal support network in your context, Jones has some ideas to share. Step 1: Pray Step 2: Make sure you have a solid leader. Step 3: Be certain you have a heart and passion for your ministry. Step 4: Establish a clear vision for what youre going to provide. For us it was ministry by the spousesnot for them. This wasnt something I was going to give them, Jones says. Bloom! is about coming alongside spouses, not coaching them. It should be a tremendous blessing to plant a churchnot something detrimental. In the end, Jones says Bloom! wants to be part of God calling down a huge affirmation on the lead planter. Step 5: Create steps to flesh out your vision. Step 6: Recruit and put together a leadership team with members who are as passionate about your ministry as you areand possess the necessary skills. Step 7: Develop systems to connect people. Within Bloom!, Jones says, there are many specialized teams with specific jobsa writing team, a prayer team, a tech team, a blessings team, a retreat team, a training team, a calling team. We dont want to become an organization, Jones says. We want to stay relationally driven. The various connection points have been invaluable to Vanessa Pugh of Velocity Church in Cleveland. Whether it was a quick phone call just to check in or a small gift to remind me that someone was thinking about me and praying for me, Bloom!

22

12 Keys to a Successful Church Plant

provided so much inspiration for me, she says. Sometimes you just need to talk to someone who is like you just to hear that you are normal and the things you may be struggling with are totally normal. No one understands a church-planting wife like a church-planting wife. We are in a league of our own. There are so many networks and resources available for lead pastors, but very few for the spouses. I was extremely fortunate to have been a part of the Bloom! ministry. Step 8: Commit to the ongoing work to keep the ministry growing and meeting needs. We have spouses who give different care depending on how long their church plants have been around because the needs are very different at each stage, Jones says. (For those just starting out; for those in church plants from two to five years; then those in church plants for more than five years.)

Working in conjunction with Exponential, Outreach magazine includes an article with helpful information and details about church planting in each issue. To subscribe, click here. For more on church planting, visit OutreachMagazine.com/church-planting. For resources such as direct mailers, door hangers, guest speakers and more to help make your community aware of your new church, visit Outreach.com.

23

12 Keys to a Successful Church Plant