People, Place, and Plan.

People, Place, and Plan.

Planting a church is one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of ministry. Unfortunately, most church plants fail within the first five years. According to church planter and author Bradley Bell, most church plants never reach the five-mile benchmark.[1] Bell claims that there are eight reasons why churches fail:

1. Lack of self-awareness in the church planter.

2. Not adequately sent or supported.

3. The church was planted out of conflict.

4. The church was choked to death by conflict

5. There was a disparity between the vision and reality.

6. There was a lack of balance between inward and outward focus.

7. The desire to remain small.

8. The lack of soul care and boundaries.

Church planters must understand the commitment required to establish a healthy church. Good intention or righteous motives are not enough to guarantee success. Pastors must be..

• ..realistic about expectations.

• ..strategic in their efforts.

• ..intentionally focused in their philosophy.

PEOPLE

Every field is different; therefore, the successful approach may vary by location. People are the one element of consistency. People must be the priority of every church plant (not buildings, service times, styles or services offered). Church plants begin with healthy ministry-led relationships. Initially, pastors must be able and willing minister to needs without a pulpit or congregation. Everything begins with your connection with people. Wise pastors will look for opportunities to minister to needs within the community. The minister and his spouse are on on-call 24/7. Every visit to a restaurant, store, post office, or school is an opportunity meet and minister to people. Anytime there is a healthy connection, it is important to strengthen the relationship. Establish times for the family to meet for dinner, coffee, backyard BBQ’s, holiday celebrations, or weekly family nights. Each event should be covered by prayer and are perfect opportunities for establishing a bible study. Leave a Bible study chart out in plain view of the guests. I often left my Exploring God’s Word bible study[2] open to captivating charts that might initiate questions or conversation.

PLACE

The wise church planter should not be in a hurry to rent a building and launch services. The monthly rent or mortgage commitment is often an overwhelming burden on new church plants. Many successful churches have been launched in a pastor’s living room or at a free venue. A building is a wonderful milestone in the church plant journey and must be part of a church-vision, however pastors should not feel pressure to take on debt/commitment until the congregation is ready for that significant step. Pastors might consider renting a location for special events or Sundays while alternating bible home bible studies. When a church is ready to launch regular services, there are many options for inexpensive meeting locations. Here are a few to consider:

• Neighborhood/Homeowners community centers – These can occasionally be used free (or with a small cleaning fee) by members living in the subdivision.

• Other churches - Some churches are willing to lease or loan their building out to new/small church plants. This is a temporary solution but can be very convenient in that these locations require little preparation or set-up time.

• Schools - Most public schools have auditoriums or gymnatoriums that can be leased for a cleaning and management fee. Schools are often known entities in the community and require very little explanation of the location when inviting guests.

• Hotels – This option can be expensive, however it does have benefits. The convenient elements of starting in a hotel include:

  • Very little setup.

  • Often the banquet/meeting rooms are expandable as you grow.

  • The Signage is positioned in public places and may garner regular guests who are staying in the hotel.

• Warehouses – The square foot prices of warehouse storage is often the cheapest location to rent. Most commercial businesses using of warehouse locations are closed on Sunday, therefore there is little competition for parking.

• Storefront – Storefronts are the most common type of leased spaces for new churches. To use a storefront you must consider, the location of the front door and the restrooms. It is important that guests arriving late are not entering a place in the sanctuary where they would be a distraction. First time guests will leave rather than interrupt a service by their late arrival. If restrooms are located behind the platform, guests may never return, out of fear of embarrassing trips during the sermon. If meeting in a storefront it is important that pastors position the platform and sanctuary to make late entrances and restroom visits private. A separate foyer with a hallway to the restroom may take some creative planning but it is important.

• Other locations to consider – banquet halls, roller-skate rinks, daycares, apartment complex meeting rooms (sometimes free to residents), dance studios, or even funeral homes (yes, I know a few churches that successfully launched from the same place grandma was eulogized).

PLAN

What kind of church do you want to plant? Have you thought about your goals? Plans will change a dozen times during the two years of your launch. It’s okay to be change plans but you need a plan to change. It is easy for pastors to forget their purpose during the initial days of launching a work. Your job is to win and disciple people who then will win and disciple people. During the early days of church planting, it will seem more like a bible study than a church. A strategic pastor will look for opportunities to teach doctrine and intentionally direct culture.

A master church plan should include:

1. Plan - A Current/Accessible Church Calendar: A current church calendar should be posted online with reasonable events planned a year in advance. To a curious guest checking out the church online, an out-of-date calendar indicates a lack of vision or follow-through. Keep your online calendar current.

2. Plan - A Strategic Preaching Calendar: An intentional systematic preaching and teaching calendar will communicate longevity and vision for guests. Pastors should consider the doctrines that are critical for church health and discipleship. Once a list is established, schedule them as a series on a preaching calendar (Ex. faithfulness to church, spiritual disciplines, financial stewardship & tithing, the importance of serving etc.). A preaching calendar will help busy pastors:

• Prepare better messages through deeper research.

• Allow volunteers to help promote upcoming series.

• Allow pastors to weekly review important doctrinal points from previous messages (Ex. “As we talked about last week...”). Research indicates that audiences must hear principles nine times before adopting them into their belief system. If you can’t remember what you preached last week, how much do you think your audience recalls?

3. Plan - Create A Culture Statement: Create, publish and promote a list of unique cultural things about the church. Remember the old adage, “You get what you preach”. Reference the church’s unique cultural elements during your messages (ex. “One thing I love about our church is that we…”).

4. Plan – Momentum Boosters: Schedule something new every 2-3 weeks. To maintain momentum plan to launch a new sermon series, new program, new décor, or new event.

5. Plan – Ministry Covenants: Early in our church plant the Lord impressed me that the church would grow at the speed that I could engage people in ministry. We use ministry covenants as part of our discipleship process. Ministry covenants focus on specific prohibited or encouraged behaviors, not arbitrary lines, or times of probation. Create simple, varied and ministry specific on-ramps for serving in ministry. Serving is a spiritual discipline. If people are not serving, they will not reflect the nature of Jesus. Getting people involved quickly does not mean you have to place them in leadership (Sunday School, platform ministries). Ministry covenants require everyone to submit to cultural and biblical standards. They may not understand why, but their willingness to submit is a tremendous win in discipleship. If ministry covenants are used, leaders must be willing to confront when requirements are not met. Ministry covenants protect the Apostolic culture of a new church. If possible keep ministry covenants less than one page. The longer the document the less chance people will remember the requirements.

6. Plan – To Track your numbers: Starting day #1. It matters. By your second year you will begin to notice monthly attendance trends. Anything that affects the weekend attendance should be recorded (Ex. rain, flu outbreak, holiday weekend, special events). In the example below note the reasons for attendance spikes or dips.

(EXAMPLE OF WEEKLY ATTENDANCE CHART)

7. Plan – Membership Requirements: What will you require to be a member in good standing? Only list the things that you are willing and able to enforce. For example, most outdated ministry covenants/job descriptions include the fruit of the spirit, yet I’ve never heard of a pastor pulling someone out of the choir because they were not meek. The Pentecostals of Katy has 4 Requirements for Membership:

1. Obey the simple gospel (Acts 2:38)

2. 100% faithful in tithing and offering.

3. Faithful to all regular church services. – Everyone will miss at some time including the pastor (sickness, out of town, work etc.). We ask that all members email Absent@____.com or call the church answering machine and leave a message with name and a reason if/when they know they can not make it.

4. Abstain from gossip. Nothing destroys church unity faster than gossip.

Successfully planting a church requires a holistic approach that prioritizes people, places and strategic planning. Visionary leaders, focus on establishing healthy relationships, strategic location selection, and thoughtful planning contribute to the long-term success and influence of new churches. By recognizing the interdependence of these elements, church planting efforts will flourish and make a meaningful impact on individuals and communities alike.

[1] Bradley Bell - https://portal.gccollective.org/profile/c06ecb74-86de-4c90-89ba-35a161c42040 [2] https://pentecostalpublishing.com/products/exploring-gods-word-small-chart-spiral-coil