Church Planting Part 4

Whenever someone is going to start a new church a lot of research goes into the process. Some of the things that are commonly studied are: size of area, median income for area, educational breakdown of people in area, past growth pattern for the area, ethnicity of area, business growth of area, new home construction, how many similar churches to what you're doing, ect. A lot goes into studying an area because you want to make sure that this is the right area for you personally because you're committing a lot to the project. One of the most recent things to come out is research on church planting accross the board in America. This new information is so helpful because it draws correllations between things that happen in a church plant and its likelihood of thriving.

Recently Dr. Ed Stetzer (Lifeway Research) and Dr. Warren Bird (Leadership Network) co-authored a paper on the state of church planting in North America. I have read this paper and found it to be incredibly helpful in understanding what are some of the key components to church plants that not only survive but thrive. What I'd like to share with you is some highlights from this paper (if you'd like the whole paper please let me know and I'll email it to you) so that you can better understand what typically is needed for a church plant to thrive.

Background: This article summarizes salient findings from existing literature(multiple church planting studies, 54 doctoral dissertations, 41 journal articles, and over 100 church planting books and manuals), giving particular attention to a 2007 study by Leadership Network, which itself involved fresh research among more than 200 church-planting churches, over 100 leaders from 40 denominations, 45 church planting networks, 84 organic church leaders, 12 nationally known experts, and 81 colleges and seminaries.

Key Points:

*research indicates that a passive approach to ministry is prone to failure; however, church planters with an aggressive strategy for penetrating the community and gathering those who would be leaders for the kingdom more frequently results in successful church-plants

*proper site location for both the city and facility is necessary for success

*Spousal support is a must

*The importance of casting vision cannot be overemphasized

*Material resources are less important than one might believe

*Coaching plays a significant role in the life of the planter

*Have a plan for both developing leaders and involving them as soon as possible

*Church planters need to be sure of their calling

*research revealed that around 68 percent of church plants still exist four years after having been started

*When there is a proactive stewardship development plan within the church plant, survivability is increased by 178 percent

*The expectation is that the mean number of baptisms or conversions would have a strong correlation to the evangelistic effectiveness of new churches. The mean number of baptisms or conversions of the participating groups was 10 baptisms the first year, 11 the second year, 13 the third year; and 14 the fourth year

*The typical church plant does not pass 100 in attendance after 4 years

*In successful (over 200 people within 3 yrs) church-plants: 88% had church planting teams; 63.3% had a core group of 26 to 75 people; 75% used a contemporary style of worship; 80% put ten percent or more of their budgets toward outreach and evangelism; 16.8% had a higher rate of full-time pastors than struggling church-plants; 63% of fastgrowing plants, compared to 23% of those that were struggling, raised additional funding

*78.3 percent of fast-growing church planters were full-time rather than bivocational

*Only 8.8 percent of fast-growing church planters were given salary support past three years. On the other hand, 44.3 percent of struggling church planters were supported past three years

*75 percent of fast-growing church planters were given additional financial support from a sponsoring agency

*While receiving additional funding, a majority of fast-growing church plants received from $1,000 to $25,000 extra over a one to two-year period

*63.3 percent of fast-growing church planters raised additional funding for the church plant

*Planters leading fast-growing church plants were given more freedom to cast their own vision and choose their own target audience, and they had more freedom in the spending of finances

*88.3 percent of church planters involved in fast-growing church plants were a part of a church planting team

*Fast-growing church plants had multiple paid staff. Two paid staff members was a majority among these church plants

*A majority of fast-growing church plants utilized two or more volunteer staff as part of the church planting team prior to public launch

*Fast-growing church plants had a larger number of individuals involved in the core group prior to launch. While struggling church plants had twenty five or less in a core group, fast-growing church plants had between twenty-six and fifty.

*Fast-growing church plants utilized more seed families than struggling church plants

*Fast-growing church plants used both preview services and small groups to build the initial core group

*Fast-growing church plants that used preview services used three or more of these services prior to public launch. A large contingent of these churches used over five

*75 percent of fast-growing churches had over 101 attendees at their first service. By contrast, 80.4 of struggling church plants had 100 or less.

*Fast-growing church plants had children and teen ministries in place at time of ministries and offered at least three ministry opportunities to first-time attendees

*56.7 percent of fast-growing church plants taught financial stewardship during the first six months from public launch. By contrast only 38.5 percent of struggling church plants taught financial stewardship

*80 percent of fast-growing church plants gave 10 percent or more of their monthly budget toward outreach and evangelism

Church Planting Part 3

Every church and especially every church plant has to make the decision of what they will do in the area of ministries. In churches all over the country you will be able to find ministries that touch on just about everything under the sun and most of them are great ideas that touch many peoples live but the question that has to arise for me is "how many things can we do with excellence?" If you go to one church you'll find they have tons of ministries (ie. VBS, Sunday School, Men's, Women's, Small Groups, private schools, AWANA, sports, MOPS, ect.) and then if you go down the street you'll find a church that only does a few things.

I've always been in churches that do a lot of things, and once again I believe that there is nothing wrong with that philosophy of ministry, but for me as I've studied different churches and different philosophy of ministries and I've come to the belief that the more things a church does the more it tends to not do them as well simply because you are stretching your human and material resources so thin. It isn't a matter of the heart being in the wrong place as much as it is just so much energy spent going in so many different directions. For me I really have gravitated to a more simply church approach where we may not have every ministry under the sun but we really try to be excellent in the few we do and really try to get people involved in those few areas. What I'd like to do here is talk about what those few areas of ministry are that I believe are important for a church plant.

**Main Adult Worship Experience-- You'll notice I didn't say Sunday morning service because in churches today the main worship service could not only be Sunday morning but could be Saturday night, Sunday night, or even some other day of the week. Historically church has been held on Sunday to celebrate the day that Jesus rose from the dead conquering sin and death but I'm not sure that it is mandated that you must worship on Sunday morning even though I think it is optimal.

I believe the main adult worship experience should be geared towards two groups: 1)believer's- we should never lose hold of the fact that worship is only something Christians can do because you can only worship God when the Holy Spirit has changed your heart. The main worship experience is a time for believer's to come together and celebrate what Jesus has done through song, prayer, tithing, baptisms, communion and the preaching of the Bible. 2)the unbeliever-- this main worship experience is an opportunity for someone who is not a Christian to come and experience what Christianity is all about, it is an opportunity for them to experience the love of God's people, hear the message of salvation in Jesus Christ, and see that the church isn't a scary place. The main worship experience shouldn't be, in my opinion, geared towards the unbeliever but we should make every effort, as long as not contrary to Scripture, to make them feel comfortable.

What type of "worship style" a church uses has been a hot button topic for years but I hope that someday it will no longer be. I believe there is a lot of freedom in Scripture about what "style" of worship you can use as long as the focus is placed on God and not ourselves. I believe that you can hold tight to the truths of Scripture and still be keenly aware and appreciate the changes in culture. Because of this belief I have no problem with the use of video, a full array of instruments, the use of drama and other forms of the arts, the idea of preaching both topical sermons and covering an entire book of the Bible. I believe that it is beneficial to use contemporary christian songs, secular songs, and classic hymns of the faith but I would lean towards the music being more "contemporary" then "traditional" in style because our vision is to "be a church where un-churched people fall in love with Jesus" and studies (next blog) have shown that church plants that use contemporary music reach un-churched people easier and grow much better then those that don't. One of the things that I really want to have is an appreciation for different "worship styles" and a flexibility to do different things because I believe that if you become too comfortable in the way you do things we as humans have a tendency to think it is the only right way.

**Children's Ministry (Nursery through 6th grade)-- It is imperative for any church and especially a church plant to take seriously the need to keep children safe and also teach them the truths of Scripture from an early age. Studies have shown that one of the most important things in a family deciding on a church is the safety/cleanliness of the children's facilities and we will do everything we can to make sure that when a family drops their kids off they know they are in good hands. Another thing I really want to see happen in a children's ministry is that it is such an exciting place for the kids that they can't wait for the next time they get to go. Think about this...how important to a parent would it be if their kids got them up from bed in the morning so excited to go to church? Wow! What I'd like to see in a children's ministry is a place where they can come together and sing fun songs, learn a Bible lesson, and then break up into small groups based on age to do projects about that Bible lesson so that it is reinforced. I would love from the time kids leave the children's ministry for them to have a great understanding of who God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are and for them to fall in love.

**Student Ministries (7th through 12th grade)-- Student ministries are a fun but challenging time because it is during this phase of life that so much changes in hormones, attitudes, and beliefs. Much like the Children's ministry my hope is that we provide an environment that is so exciting to be involved in that they want to go and be involved. My vision is that the Student ministries would work very similar to the Children's ministries in that they would gather in a big group for songs, skits, and a Bible lesson and then break up into specific age small groups to discuss more fully the lesson. My hope is that during the summer we'd also be able to add in Missions Trip and other fun activities.

**Service Teams-- One of the big areas that I'm excited about is our Service Teams because I believe that if you want to get connected in a church one of the best ways is to serve. I believe that when you work with people towards a common goal you really begin to bond and form a friendship that can last for a long time. One of the main reasons why we won't be have any type of Adult Sunday School ministry is because I want to free up people to be able to serve. Whether is be parking lot greeters, door greeters, helping with children's or student ministries, set up and tear down, sound, lights, offering helpers, or some other thing that comes up we need volunteers to jump in and serve. One of the things that I want people to know when they come is that we want you to use your gifts and serve on one of our Service Teams, not only so we can have an excellent church experience but so you can meet new friends.

**Outreach-- Part of the mandate that Jesus gave His disciples is to go out and share the Gospel with your local community and the farthest parts of the world. My hope is that if we're not known for anything else that we'll be known as a church that shares the love of Jesus with the world. My goal would be to build bridges with other local churches, para-church ministries, non-Christian organizations, and also global organizations. I want for our love to be so well known in our community that if our church were to disappear one day the impact would be felt by both Christians and non-Christians, I want people to be able to say that even though they may not agree with our message they appreciate our work in the community. I want for us to not only send short-term mission teams out into the field but also launch out full-time missionaries. These full-time missionaries will reach not only people groups that have heard the Gospel before but that brave the unknown for Jesus into un-reached people groups. Part of being in love with someone is telling people about that love, part of being in love with someone is showing them how much you love them and that is what we want to do with our love for Jesus.

**Small Groups-- I believe that "church" is really about community. I believe that small groups of 6-12 people meeting in homes, businesses, and restaurants are a vital part of what we should be about. I believe that beginning with our kids and working our way all the way up to adults we should desire to be in a group where we can grow in our relationship with God and with each other. I see these groups meeting on a regular basis because we need a place where we can pray together, fellowship together, talk about God's Word together, and support each other through life's ups and downs. Small Group ministry is one of my passions because I've seen what the Holy Spirit can do in that type of environment.

My hope is that we would create a small groups ministry where people can come and get plugged in, where they can meet new people to do life with. One of the challenges of small groups is that if you're a growing church, which we want to constantly be, you have to constantly be getting new people who are willing to step up and lead groups so that new people have a place to go. I want to have a culture that values both the need to develop deep, lasting relationships and the need to understand self sacrifice for the betterment of getting new people plugged in. My hope is that our groups will be based on life stage (single, married, and empty nest) so that you can group up with people most like you. We'll have times where the groups will talk further about the sermon and times when they'll talk about other topics.

As you can see my goal isn't to do a lot and that is intentional. I believe that if we're going to ask you to be a good spouse, a good parent, a good employee, a good neighbor, and share your faith with friends, family, and strangers that that takes a lot of time and effort. I don't want to pile on top of you more and more stuff. What we'll ask is that on top of that list of things you are hopefully already committed to doing that you do two events for us specifically: 1)join or lead a small group and 2)be involved Sunday morning (or Saturday night or Sunday night...whenever the large get together time is)in a Service Team. My hope is that if you have come from the type of background that I have, where every night there is something to do, you'll find this as great news because our goal isn't to burn you out but to have things that are so much fun that you'll love being a part of them and you'll want to see us reach the vision of "being a church where un-churched people fall in love with Jesus".

Church Planting Part 2

"We want to be a church where un-churched people fall in love with Jesus"

I've learned that having a good vision statement is important for any organization because it gives people a snapshot of what your organization is all about. When Apple started their vision statement was "to make a computer anyone can use" and that is what they've tried to do ever since. A vision statement should help your organization stay on track to what is was originally created for and when things start to get crazy and expand it brings you back to the fundamental purpose for its being.

There are a few things I've learned about what a vision statement should be and should not be that I'd like to share. The first thing is that you want your vision statement to be big and something that might always seem beyond reach because it is striving for the ultimate. Secondly, your vision statement should be easily remembered so that it is transferable to as many people as possible, the longer the statement the less amount of people that will remember it and make it part of their thinking. Thirdly, the vision statement should not answer all your questions and might even bring up more questions.

Let me try to breakdown the vision statement I've written and explain to you why I worded it like I did because if you really are paying attention it could seem contradictory.

"We"- even though I wrote the vision statement it is a statement that you want all of the people of your organization to embrace as their own. Any organization is about more than one person and even more than its founder.

"want to be"- this vision statement is an aspiration that will hopefully happen in the future but will more than likely always continue to be a want. Having a big dream I think is important because if it is easily attainable I think people get bored or complacent.

"a church"- there are many different types of organizations in this world and almost all of them have vision statements but what I'm talking about here isn't just any organization but "a church". The church is made up of men, women, boys, and girls who have placed their faith in the saving work of Jesus and have become God's earthly hands and feet. The church isn't some building or piece of property but the people who have come to drink deeply from the spring of eternal life. A church is a unique body of people called by Christ for a purpose and that is what we will be.

"where un-churched people"- I believe that the church has the best thing to offer any person in Jesus Himself. I believe that for far too long churches have done everything possible to avoid contact with un-churched people in a religous context. I believe that Jesus came to seek and save those who are lost and that we need to open our doors and invite un-churched friends into the church so that they can hear and experience the love of God. If we have a bunker mentality that only is inward focused we will continue to decline in our influence with the world and therefore draw even deeper divisions. Although the church is called to stand firm in the truth of Scripture and what it says may be uncomfortable, I believe that the church doesn't have to be boring or happen in a way that would make someone feel totally uncomfortable by how we do things. I want to have a church where people come in and their experience is so wonderful that when they walk out they may say "I don't necessarily agree with what they said today but because of the love I saw I'm going to keep listening." When you have a church like that we have done all we can to set the stage for the Holy Spirit to do His thing. The Gospel is a stumbling block enough so we don't need to add stumbling blocks by our unwillingness to love on the un-churched.

"fall in love with Jesus"- this is the ultimate goal for several reasons. 1)in order for people to fall in love the must hear the truth about that person, at this church we will un-ashamedly preach the facts of the Gospel of Jesus; 2) you must acknowledge the truth of that person, so we will tell people that you need to acknowledge the truth of Scripture in what it teaches about Jesus; 3) you must trust that person, so we will tell people that you need to trust in what Scripture says Jesus did and live your life for Him. When you fall in love with someone you do things for them, not because you feel guilty or because you don't want them to punish you for not doing things but because you love them and want to show them your love. When you love Jesus you do things for Him, His church, and the world because you love Him. We want people to pray for this church, give of their time and money, and invite new people not out of guilt or to avoid scorn but because they love Jesus. We want people to want to serve and grow in the relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit because they are in love. Feelings come and go but true love lasts through the good and bad and that is what we want for people.

As you can see this vision statement isn't just some nice little sentence but a bold leap of faith because what we are hoping to see is a church where people, who are against God, coming and not only tolerating being their but learning to fall in love with Jesus. This is scary because it means you have to get outside of your comfort zone and reach out to people you might never have before because you really believe that God the Holy Spirit can change lives. Going from un-churched to falling in love with Jesus is a big mission but I believe it is the mission of any church and especially should be ingrained in a new church plants DNA.

Church Planting

Many people ask "why would someone want to plant another church since we have so many churches already?" That is a good question and the sad truth of the matter is 85-90% of the churches in America have stopped growing or have started to decline. Most churches just simply add people who have grown un-happy with their current church instead of growing by un-churched people coming to faith in Jesus. Any person that wants to plant a church today must realize that doing things the way they've always been done isn't going to cut it and being more concerned with maintaining the status quo then reaching new people isn't going to work. Almost every person writing about the church today will tell you that our greatest hope for reaching new people is through church planting because there is a correlation between the excitement of something new and people being willing to reach out to their non-churched friends to invite them to church.

Church planting should happen not because we need just another church but because we need new churches that will reach the people currently un-reached by the existing churches. As long as there are people that haven't been reached by the Gospel we need to try new things that will possibly reach out to them. Below you will see some of my thought on what a new church would look like. These "statements" are continually a work in progress till God calls me to put them in "stone" but I think you would get the general direction I'm heading.

Vision Statement:

“We want to be a church where un-churched people fall in love with Jesus”

Core Values:

Transformational Teaching- We believe that the Holy Spirit transforms lives and chooses to use the Bible as a primary means to accomplish this transformation. We believe we can be creative, innovative, and daring in our presentation but still hold tightly to the never changing truths of Scripture.

Purposeful Prayer- We believe that God wants to hear the prayers of His people and that we should seek for God to move. We believe we need to understand God’s plans are not always our plans therefore we need to accept God’s plan even when we don’t understand it.

Building Bridges- We believe that Jesus sacrifice demands of us to reach out to those who don’t know Him both locally and globally. We believe we must do whatever we can to help people physically and emotionally, but also help them understand their primary need is spiritual and that the answer is found in Jesus Christ.

Radical Relationships- We believe God created humans to live in relationship and not alone. We believe that having radical relationships where you can be real and grow in your faith are essential to being who Jesus called us to be as a church.

Simple Strategy- We believe that keeping what we do simple yet strategic will help everyone maximize their ability to become all that God wants them to become and will help our church reach more people with the life changing message of Jesus.

Doctrinal Statement:

the Scriptures
We believe the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the verbally inspired word of God, the final authority for faith and life, inerrant in the original writings, infallible, and God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16, 17; 2 Peter 1:20, 21; Matthew 5:18; John 16:12, 13).

the Godhead
We believe in one Triune God, eternally existing in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—co-eternal in being, co-eternal in nature, co-equal in power and glory, having the same attributes and perfections (Deuteronomy 6:4; 2 Corinthians 13:14)

the Person and Work of Christ
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, became man without ceasing to be God, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary in order that He might reveal God and redeem sinful man (John 1:1–2, 14; Luke 1:35). We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished our redemption through His death on the cross as a representative, vicarious, substitutionary sacrifice, and that our justification is made sure by His literal, physical resurrection from the dead (Romans 3:24; 1 Peter 2:24; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:3–5). We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where, as our High Priest, He fulfills the ministry as Representative, Intercessor, and Advocate (Acts 1:9, 10; Hebrews 7:25; Hebrews 9:24; Romans 8:34; 1 John 2:1–2). We believe Jesus is coming again to judge the living and the dead (1 Peter 4:5; Romans 14:9; 2 Timothy 4:1).

the Person and Work of The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit is a person who convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment; He is the Supernatural Agent in regeneration, baptizing all believers into the body of Christ, indwelling and sealing them unto the day of redemption (John 16:8–11; 2 Corinthians 3:6; 1 Corinthians 12:12–14; Romans 8:9; Ephesians 5:18).

the Total Depravity of Man
We believe that man was created in the image and likeness of God, but that through Adam’s sin the race fell, inherited a sinful nature, and became alienated from God; man is totally depraved and of himself utterly unable to remedy his lost condition (Genesis 1:26, 27; Romans 3:22, 23; 5:12; Ephesians 2:1–3, 12).

Salvation
We believe that salvation is the gift of God brought to man by grace and received by personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose precious blood was shed on Calvary for the forgiveness of our sins (Ephesians 2:8–10; John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18–19).

Eternal Security and Assurance of Believers
We believe that all the redeemed, once saved, are kept by God’s power and are thus secure in Christ forever (John 6:37–40; 10:27–30; Romans 8:1, 38, 39; 1 Corinthians 1:4–8; 1 Peter 1:5). We believe that it is the privilege of believers to rejoice in the assurance of their salvation through the testimony of God’s Word, which clearly forbids the use of Christian liberty as an occasion for the flesh (Romans 13:13, 14; Galatians 5:13; Titus 2:11–15).

the Ministry and Spiritual Gifts
We believe that God is sovereign in the bestowing of spiritual gifts. It is, however, the believer’s responsibility to attempt to develop their sovereignly given spiritual gift(s). The baptism of the Holy Spirit occurs at conversion and is the placing of the believer into the Body of Christ. We also believe that particular spiritual gift(s) are neither essential, nor prove the presence of the Holy Spirit, nor are an indication of deep spiritual experience (1 Corinthians 12:7, 11, 13; Ephesians 4:7–8). We believe that God does hear and answer the prayer of faith, in accordance with His own will, for the sick and afflicted (John 15:7; 1 John 5:14, 15). We believe that it is the privilege and responsibility of every believer to minister according to the gift(s) and grace of God that is given to him (Romans 12:1–8; 1 Corinthians 13; 1 Peter 4:10–11).

the Church
We believe that the church, which is the body and espoused bride of Christ, is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again persons (Ephesians 1:22, 23; 5:25–27; 1 Corinthians 12:12–14; 2 Corinthians 11:2). We believe that the establishment and continuance of local churches is clearly taught and defined in the New Testament Scriptures (Acts 14:27; 18:22; 20:17; 1 Timothy 3:1–3; Titus 1:5–11). We believe in the autonomy of the local churches, free of any external authority and control (Acts 13:1–4; 15:19–31; 20:28; Romans 16:1,4; 1 Corinthians 3:9, 16; 1 Corinthians 5:4–7, 13; 1 Peter 5:1–4). We recognize believer’s baptism and the Lord’s supper as scriptural means of testimony for the church (Matthew 28:19, 20; Acts 2:41, 42; Acts 18:8; 1 Corinthians 11:23–26).


If you have further questions or would like for me to email you an informative paper written about church planting please let me know.