Equipping the Church Planter

What do you think about the conclusion of Ed Stetzer in this final few paragraphs of his Enrichment Article?

Twenty years ago the parachute drop was the dominant church-planting method. This occurs when a sending denomination or church drops a church planter and family into a community with little training or support. By the grace of God, many of these church planters succeeded in planting healthy, growing, and reproducing churches; however, many did not. In fact, many of the alarming statistics regarding the survivability of new church plants may simply be outdated.

Imagine being asked to begin a business with only a city to face and a dream to make reality. No one gave you any resources and no one trained you how to accomplish this task. The person who said yes to such a request would either be a supreme hero or an utter fool.

Now, imagine being asked to start a church without knowing if you possessed the gifts and calling to do so, without any specific church-planting training, and without any field support in the form of a mentor, coach, supervisor, or peer network. The task would be daunting to say the least. Many church planters experience this scenario and many subsequently fail. Let us not fail these God-called church planters. Instead, we need systems to help them be a part of a growing movement that is penetrating the darkness and bringing many people into God’s kingdom.

We have learned over the past 20 years that support must be given to those entering the mission field. The support must come from us. It is difficult to plant a church. Not everyone can do it. A church planter should be gifted, called, trained, and supported. Church-planting systems were developed by church planters to address this great need. Assessment, training, mentoring, and support groups have proven to provide valuable assistance enabling church planters to plant larger, healthier, and more successful churches. We have learned that church planters perform better when surrounded by a team committed to their success. Church-planting systems provide an excellent framework for such a team to function. We believe Christ has sent us to every city and every nation. Let’s prepare one another for the task of reaping God’s harvest through church planting.


Read the Whole article here

Boot Camp

Research has shown that churches have a 90 percent survival rate after five years if they are planted using a proven and intentional system. Churches who do not use a proven system have only a 50 percent survival rate.

We offer three strategic BootCamp tracks:
BootCamp

Coaches Training: An introduction to basic coaching principles to prepare you to serve as a 'table coach' during the BootCamp process.

Church Planter Training: A weeklong strategic planning event that prepares the multipliers for the early stages and eventual maturing of a church. We will equip the multiplier to recruit and mobilize workers, communicate vision and be a strategic planner.

Church Health Component: This track is designed for churches that are declining or have reached a plateau but desire to renew their vision, strategy and passion.

Illinois District Boot Camp Info

church planting in tough times

We are in tough economic times these days and it surely isn't very enticing for new church planters to gather steam for their vision. What should we do should we hunker down or push forward? My thinking is that there must be alternative strategies for the church planter that could be engaged rather than abandoning the idea of church planting all together.

Here's a few...

meeting in homes longer as opposed to meeting in rented space.

minister to the poor in the target area- you'd be surprised how many affluent people care about the poor.

keep the vision out front where people are more compelled to give to it- after all ministry takes money!

be transparent in funds collected and funds needed.

go to a monthly bulletin- it's way cheaper- but you need to be organized!

weekly prayer for employment needs in your body

tent making- get a job...do -da-do-da...

spend less on the launch- really, avoid the hype!

pot Luck congregational meetings

be economical in your use of AC and heat.

invest in building community

Finally, two words... sugar daddy

Remember, We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.


Can you think of any to add to the list?

hard work and prayer

I was on the farm planting this week. It was a little early but it was my only opportunity to put seed in. After spending a day and a half working the soil and preparing it it suddenly dawned on me that it would really stink if nothing grew from all my toil. Here in is the church planting lesson.

first - it was hard work. My arms still feel the inflamation of the tendens from working for all that time with shovel and tiller and all the other tools that seem so foreign to my hands. Church planting has been that way for me. Not every plan worked but a few did; not all my "creativity" was recieved but some heard; not everyseed bore fruit- but many did.

second- at one point I rested on a fence and, exhausted, prayed. God don't let this be in vain. I know that prayer from my shurch planting days too. Fear mingled with faith and hard work and a sense of urgency that won't let go.

I don't know what will happen to the seeds I am sowing. Will there be a frost? Will there be varmits that eat them up? Will I return in a few short weeks to absolutely no growth or a bonanza of fruit? I don't know for certain- but I believe- therefore I plant.

Church planting

Gary Blanchard writes in the ILink...
The Illinois District welcomed six new church plants in 2008:

Chicago Tamil Church, Mt. Prospecta, at Northwest Assembly of God. Austin Albertraj, pastor. (4/08)a
Living Grace Church, Sunnyland (suburb of Peoria). Andy Brown, pastor. (4/08)
Hilltop Campus Church, Peoria. Led by Kip Perhay. (4/08)
Christ Center of Hope, Chicago.Leeford Boohene, pastor. (9/08) This church was planted in cooperation with the African Assemblies of God.
Bethesda Assemblee du Dieu Haitienne, Mt. Prospect. Seeking a pastor. (9/08)
Living Word Assembly of God, Washington Park. Tommy Smith, pastor. (10/08) This church plant is the result of outreach efforts by Urban Outreach in East St. Louis, IL, where Jay Covert is the lead pastor.

The 2008 Illinois church plants are not only reaching multiple communities and ethnic groups, but also represent a wide variety of church planting efforts. Over the next few months, we’ll highlight each of these new churches. This month we focus on the efforts of one established church to encourage and partner in church planting efforts.

On any given Sunday afternoon, you can walk through the facility of Northwest Assembly of God in Mount Prospect and hear a little bit of heaven. Sunday afternoon at Northwest is similar to what happens in many churches ? the building is filled with the sounds of various ministry groups worshiping and working together. But at Northwest, you’ll also hear the sounds of individuals worshiping in their native Tamil language or in their native Haitian language.

“I love spending Sunday afternoons with these groups,” says Gary Blanchard, Assistant Superintendent. “It’s like being on the mission field. I’ve shared in both services…on the same day…and it’s quite an experience. Both congregations allowed me to speak in English, but in the Haitian service I was also able to bring greetings in French. Obviously the worship and style are different, but you can sense the presence of God.”

Rich Weller is the lead pastor at Northwest Assembly of God. In the past nine years, Rich has helped the church develop a heart and passion for missions that ranks the church as one of the District’s top missions-giving churches. It was a natural response for the church to open their doors to both of these congregations. Both meet on Sunday afternoon, with one meeting in the children’s worship area and the other in the youth area. From time to time, both churches hold special services in the sanctuary.

Austin Albertraj, a native of India, learned all about church planting while working for Dr. David Mohan. This congregation of more than 50 is passionate about evangelism. During their brief time as a church, they have invited many guest speakers who are well known in the Indian community. In addition to their weekly service at the church, they also hold Friday night prayer meetings in homes.

The Haitian church is currently led by a layman who has a burden to reach the nearly 50,000 Haitians in the greater Chicago suburbs. This church is already averaging more than 70 without a pastor. Keep them in prayer as they seek God for a Haitian-speaking pastor.

7 Tactics That Will Never Work In Reaching A Twentysomething

Ministries to twentysomethings are springing up all over the United States as churches recognize the importance of reaching out to this generation. Young adults who are hungry for real relationships are gathering together, growing spiritually and deepening their walk with Christ. Many of the pastors and leaders who work with this demographic can easily list the tactics they’ve used to attract twentysomethings and keep them engaged in the community. But they can also the list things that simply don’t work.

With a teaspoon of humor and a tablespoon of satire, we’ve put together a list of 7 tried-and-not-so-true techniques used to reach twentysomethings. They’re written in such a way as to make you laugh, smile and hopefully reflect. And if you ever want to get rid of the twentysomethings in your church, these ideas will definitely work:

Promote a meat market atmosphere. If you want to scare off healthy twentysomethings who could potentially help grow and strengthen your group, all you need to do is simply promote your group as a place to find a date. Talk about the importance of dating every week and tell your members that in order to be whole, complete people they need to get married. Help foster the atmosphere by gossiping with members about who has an interest in who. Encourage your wife or an older female member of your church to play matchmaker. Let the matchmaker have free reign in setting people up on dates and let her boast about how God has given her a special gift in getting people to fall in love. Encourage the men in your group to ask gals out on a regular basis—even if they’re not interested in the person, they’ll at least get to practice their Casanova skills on the other women in the group. And most importantly, remind attendees that discovering a mate is more important than discovering more about God. If you pursue these tactics, you should be able to sabotage your twentysomething ministry in 12 weeks or less.

Talk about religion and church more than you talk about you talk about relationship and Christ. That’s right, if you want to get rid of twentysomethings, then simply focus on the institution and rules. Don’t let them know that Christ wants to be a real, relevant part of their lives. Don’t let them know Jesus wants fulfill their cry for intimacy. And whatever you do, don’t tell them that as a follower of Christ, they will discover true meaning, purpose and satisfaction in a way that this world will never provide. No—don’t tell them about the real Jesus. And whatever you do, don’t demonstrate His love to them through your lifestyle. Because if you do, they’ll just want to keep coming back.

Play it safe. Do things the same way every week. Live inside the box. Sing three songs. Lecture for an hour or two straight, preferably in a monotone voice (we wouldn’t want to shake things up). Keep the subject matter shallow. Don’t go deep. Don’t leave time for questions or discussion, which would allow group members to challenge and explore ideas and beliefs. Don’t plan any outside activities where members could grow connect and grow closer to each other. Whatever you do, don’t experiment with an idea suggested by one of the members of your gathering. This is dangerous ground. It could totally bomb and destroy everything you’ve been doing for the last year. Or it could totally succeed, shake things up, and take the group to the next level in their relationships with each other and Christ. So if you want to undermine the growth of your group, don’t ever try anything new.

Call them singles. Don’t call your gathering of twentysomethings a “College Gathering” or “Career Group”. Don’t use the term “Young Adult” or “Twentysomething.” And don’t develop a hip name for your group like “Fusion”, “The 411”, “Portico” or “Pathways”. Just call them “Singles”. Identify them by their marital status. Make them feel like that’s their brand and that’s what they’re about. That way every twentysomething who is looking for more than just a date stays miles away from your meetings.

Do all the talking. This tactic is a sure-fire way to make twentysomethings disappear. Talk ten times as much as you listen. Better yet, try not to listen to them at all. Whenever they tell you a story, try to tell them one that’s better. When they share about difficult time in their lives, top it with a story that’s more difficult. When they become vulnerable about their personal struggles, offer lots of pat answers and refuse to identify with their pain. Instead of listening to twentysomethings and their needs, tell them what they should do and what they should be like. Always act like you know better and that you get them when you really don’t. This will ensure that twentysomethings stay away every time.

Be fake. Don’t be yourself. Be someone else all the time. Put on a show. Dress in clothes that really aren’t your style, simply because they’re hip. Buy the latest gadgets (even though you’ll never use them) so you can say you own one. And most importantly, use the latest teenage language. Since most of the twentysomethings in your group don’t even know teen talk, you’ll sound like you’re really “in”. Make it obvious that you really want to be cool in everything you do more than you want to be like Jesus. This will help ensure the twentysomethings hungering for authentic relationships and faith go somewhere else.

Provide lots of handouts. Why limit your handouts to notes on the sermon when there are so many other pieces of paper you could be giving to your group members. Create a brochure for your service and stuff it with as many reminders and insert notes as possible. Buy lots of pre-printed handouts from various publishers and give them out every week. Agree to give out promotional handouts to your group for every band, concert and conference that comes to town, even if you’ve never heard of them before and have no idea about their spiritual background or basis. Convince yourself that twentysomethings like snail mail and only use antiquated communication methods. Skip the email and you’ll lose members faster than an Intel processor.

These are just a few of the tactics that will help make sure your twentysomething ministry stays small and struggling. So if you’re afraid of success, making an impact and reaching the lost, just keep doing the aforementioned over and over again. You’re practically guaranteed to bomb. On the other hand, if you want to develop a ministry that really reaches twentysomethings, try to do the opposite of the ideas listed above. You just might be surprised at how easy it is to attract young adults to your ministry.

--Margaret Feinberg (www.margaretfeinberg.com) is an author and speaker based in Sitka, Alaska. She’s author of Twentysomething: Surviving & Thriving in the Real World and How To Be A Grown-Up: 247 Lab-Tested Strategies to Conquer Your World. In addition, she’s written God Whispers: Learning To Hear His Voice, Simple Acts of Faith, Simple Acts of Friendship, Simple Prayers of Hope,Just Married: Surprises From the First Few Years of Marriage and way too many magazine articles. You can reach her at margaret@margaretfeinberg.com.

The Church Planter's Marriage

Without a strong marriage the church plant fails, right?! I got a call from a church planter today and he was concerned about the health of his marriage. I remember the difficult times that my wife and I had when we were planting the church in Cicero. God's people really know how to stress a relationship. Learning to manage this is part of the spiritual disciplines necessary for success (see stetzers article on not losing your soul)

I remember people hating on my wife for trying to get me home from service before 11 on Wednesdays, or cutting short my "fellowship time" after a Saturday morning meeting at church. I regret that she had to bear the brunt of that abuse. (add to that that she didn't preach , play piano, or work with youth!)

I also remember that I was (am) hot headed and then I was young (no longer) and foolish (jury is out) and we often got ourselves in some great arguments. I recall throwing a Christian vinyl album out the window of my apartment... what a testimony! (It was Phil Keaggy!)We toughed it out and have a great marriage and 3 kids serving Jesus.

What have you done to guarantee a healthy marriage in your church planting experience? And have you noticed CDs don't fly into the street near as well as vinyl did?

mtg notes

Church Planting Focus Group Summation – January 13, 2009

1. each person shared their connect with planting.
2. two new church plants and planters shared their dream 1) South Loop – Doug Harris and 2) Arlington Heights -Mike Handler/Mark Larsen.
3. desire every other month meetings to keep this passionate
4. desire a website/blog and keeping the relationship tight between the region dreamers
5. desire national approach and system to planting from the General Council
6. Bootcamp with District investment for husband and wife is appreciated and helpful
7. Bootcamp suggestion was to add to it some current church planters (1-9 years) to help understand current conditions of planting: it would simply add to the good, encouraging veteran planters (ie. Planters 20 years ago). Great to get away and dream about it together. Coaches were encouragers and appreciated them.
8. District packet of information is not enough... relationship attached to the packet will help...but more system can help.
9. ideas to have a "menu" system with spirit led freedom and empowerment with expected strong relational connects to the planters from supporting churches
10. supporting churches want more influence in affirming an "A" type planter in addition to the tests, boot camp, etc.
11. seems to be a disconnect in that the churches needed to support a planter has the potential of no influence or determining input on whether the planter has what it takes.
12. must change the current perspective and environment to a inviting, welcoming, supporting system.
13. desire to eventually pursue planters from outside Chicago (colleges, other districts, etc.)
14. frustration with the current strategy in the financial support of the district
15. desire for larger amounts of gifts ($30,000, $50-$60,000, $100,000)....Ohio, Iowa ref.
16. desire for salary support not just building support
17. a need for the old paradigm to change of wanting only to invest in the brick/mortar and change to investing into the person/thus larger amounts that allow for salary
18. understanding exists that there must be accountability and that failures have happened in the past
19. $500/month is the same amount used for several years and $500 doesn't buy the same after 9+ years
20. Need to vary the amount of plant gifts due to some geographic locations are more costly
21. support the accountability to tithe, don’t understand the passing of checks in the mail regards tithe/monthly support
22. idea to allow planters to tithe with accountability to their church plant for x amount of years and possibly add a climbing scale back to full tithe to the district over x amount of years. (idea: first 3 years to the plant…graduating scale next 7 years back to full tithe to the district) - one shared people in plant that wanted credentials but didn’t want to hurt the church by not giving their tithe to the church
23. perception rose that district is worth $20 million due to the financial report (may need to clarify what is liquid and what is equity)
24. concern to sell off properties of closed churches to help plant new ones
25. find $100,000 plus from the current IDCAG budget
26. idea of having someone for the district – just for planting (full time, part time, contracted)
27. willingness to embrace other church planting groups strategy, ie. Arc

Expectations at the Launch

I got a call this morning from a church planter in Kentucky. They have put the last two months bills on their credit card, their core group had bailed on them, and they were throwing in the towel. The pastor and her husband are gifted people and anointed. They had a core group that committed to standing with them but when the winds started to blow they began to look back to the security, programs and safety of their previous (read Larger) churches. One thing I know they were lacking was a worship leader ( they were using CDs) but they also did have children's ministries in place. So I began to think ( which is unusual for me) what are the expectations of the adherents of a core group at the launch of the church?

The expense of the start up will be dramatically increased with these systems in place but won't the percentages of success be increased dramatically too? Is our reticence to have team ministry hindering our planting efforts more than we imagined?

Minimally shouldn't there be quality worship, child care and pulpit ministry as well as pastoral care?

Then I came across the following on the Converge site. This book excerpt addresses the launch plan

What exactly is a launch plan? There is no one standard definition. In Converge, we consider a launch plan to include two mandatory parts and an optional third part. These parts include:

Launch Plan / Church Plant Proposal - The terms launch plan and church plant proposal are often used interchangeably. At a minimum, a launch plan is in written form (clear and concise) and answers a number of basic questions including why you are planting, whom you are trying to reach, where the church will be located, who will do it with you, how much it will cost, how will it be funded, what kind of church it will be, how you will gather a core group, and the critical success factors. More detailed launch plans identify key strategy areas with associated action plans. We suggest working through your Philosophy of Ministry before finalizing your plan (see the free resources at www.newchurches.com for a template and guidelines on developing a written Philosophy of Ministry.
Action Checklist - A written list of actions to be completed during the pre-natal phase through launch. Ideally, each action includes a cost/budget, a date for completion, and a lead person or organization assigned responsibility for its completion. Some church planters turn the action list into an integrated schedule to show the interrelationships between actions (i.e. many actions need to be done in sequence). Converge comes with a built-in template action list of about 140 actions that all planters should use as a starting point in developing a custom action list. The action checklist is typically included as the first appendix to the launch plan.
Supplementary Information - Optionally, the planter may choose to attach additional appendices to the launch plan. These additional appendices may be used to communicate a wide range of information include a fundraising prospectus, demographic details, specific strategy plans (e.g. marketing, outreach, etc.).
Regardless of the form or length of your plan, consider the following questions when developing a plan:

Why start a new church?
Who is my target group?
What kind of church am I starting (Philosophy of Ministry - purpose, beliefs, values, governance philosophy, and priorities)?
Who am I going to do this with?
What specific things do I need to do?
When do I need to do them?
How much will it cost?
How will I fund it?
How can someone get involved?
We suggest that a launch plan include the following parts. Converge has these elements built in.

Executive Summary
Calling and Opportunity (Why are you planting?)
Roles, Responsibilities and Partners (Who am I doing this with?)
Philosophy of Ministry Elements (What kind of church am I starting?)
Target and Demographic (Who is my target group?)
Opening Day Expectations (What will the church look like on opening day?)
Planning Timeline (When will we do it?)
Key Strategies (How will we do it?) - suggested strategies to consider include staffing, prayer team, vision casting and communications, core group development, small groups, marketing, facilities, equipment, community networking, finance, outreach, demographics, and ministry teams. The launch plan can either note which strategies are being developed or incorporate the strategies
Funding / Finance (How much will it cost and how will I fund it?)
Next Steps (How can someone get involved?)
Detailed Action List (What specific things do I need to do?)

Will a launch plan unnecessarily constrain me?

The launch plan process never really ends as the launch plan is fluid and changing. It is important to issue a public version as a key transition point from planning and design of the new church to implementing the new church. Some planters get stuck in endless planning. The goal is to (1) have a clear vision based on a call from God, (2) document the actions necessary to get from where you are to where you feel God calling you to be on opening day, and (3) to work like crazy to get there. Converge helps you develop, continually adjust, and manage your launch plan. You are in no way constrained by the existence of a launch plan.

from Planting Fast Growing Churches by Dr. Stephen Gray

Pastor, Church Planter, Director of National Missions for the General Association of General Baptists and upcoming speaker for the National New Church Conference , Dr Stephen Gray brings this new research based book on the factors on what does and what doesn't help church plants succeed.


They explore the real differences between successful church plants and a struggling ones. They surveyed 112 church plants and found some surprising data. Some of the data confirmed long-held theories. Other findings were quite surprising. This book is a must-read for any church planter.

Illinois- Toxic for Church planters?

Perhaps the most difficult thing to swallow as an Assembly of God pastor in Illinois is that there are so pitifully few Church plants in the IDCAG. I conjecture that the reason for this is that Illinois has become a toxic environment for Church planters in the AG, especially so in the city of Chicago. In order for that to change it must be addressed.

I call the environment toxic because of the following reasons.
Despite statements to the contrary- church planting is on the back burner. As an outsider looking in one cannot help but notice that there are no church plants happening, there is little attention given to directing/coordinating church plants, and there is no recruitment for church planters. Currently I am unaware of any attempts to help church planters as they are coming out of our schools. Why couldn't we (IDCAG)pay their school loan payments as they are serving as church planters? This way if they are bivocational pastors they have one less bill to worry about. That moves Bible College Educated church planters toward Illinois. And it is less likely they will be wooed away by other church planting organizations (Many of which offer a salary of $30K for church planters)

There is an unwillingness to invest in the salaries of church planters.Due to a history of failed attempts to plant churches, we have grown gun-shy in investing in the salaries of laborers. I have heard it said that IDCAG would be "more comfortable in investing in buildings". Does this not communicate to the planters that they are not a valued asset? If you are about the failure rate then I suggest that you have little faith in the assessment process of the AG. If that is so then it must be changed too. In addition to supporting financially the pastor mentorships could be developed as well as oversight teams. The purpose would be to develop and encourage the planter in whatever way necessary.

The form(s) promoted for church planting are not contemporary.
These might have worked a while ago, but they were not without problems. Economic tension and spiralling costs of planting threatens the church planter with extinction. While I had very little financial support from IDCAG, I was able to work a trade and develop a business while planting. The economic pressure on the trades makes that less likely these days. So bivocational pastors are less workable than teams or other concepts. Our framework has to be flexible.

There is a general impatience with church plants. Church planting takes time. How many years does it take to raise up a strong self supporting and sending church. 5, 10, 15? The road is hard. The drumming sound from friend's and overseer's fingers on the desktop can add additional pressure.

We continue to emphasize the man versus the team.There is no Biblical justification for a church planting individual- rather they (in the Bible) planted in teams. Without going into the verses to cover this, it is likely that we will have to change our paradigm in order to be faithfully reaching the this world.

There must be an environment of support. Salary should be the beginning of support. Neighboring pastors in the region should be partnering at some capacity to insure the success of the plant and the planter. Why couldn't the local churches around the plant be a resource? Why is competition the model and not commaraderie?

There must be willingness to invest in "faithful men" who have the goods. Apostolic giftings aren't as rare as some think. But where they exist they must be nurtured. Instead of giving lip service alone to the 5 fold ministry we should be raising up apostolic planters who will develop networks of churches. Loyalty flows both ways. For the person who is supported on the plant, there will be more loyalty that flows back from them toward the brotherhood of believers that carried them.

Those are my thoughts. What do you think?