Church Planting
Living the Book of Acts
We understand the challenges involved in starting a new ministry from scratch. We also understand the amazing possibilities. If you’re considering planting a church or are in the early stages, we’d love to walk alongside you through the process.
We can help you understand the different stages of planting a church—from vision to team building to leadership development. We can help you think through the essential issues to consider along the way—including prayer, finances, structure, and outreach.
And if you have a vision for planting not just one church, but many churches– a multiplying movement of churches — then you’ll definitely want to connect with us to be better prepared and resourced for the amazing adventure that lies ahead.
Finding a church vs. planting a church
We talk plenty about church planting (at least I do). But I wonder sometimes if the more accurate term might be “church finding.” Missionary Paul Okken was once looking over a huge valley inhabited by many tribal people. He was an evangelist by gift and calling and...
What are the real prerequisites in church planting?
I was recently at a meeting with key church planting leaders from multiple denominations. One of the thoughts raised at that meeting was that we are operating out of two false assumptions in starting churches: 1.) We need to have land and a building as a prerequisite....
Resources for house churches
A while back I got a request from a man who is interested in planting house churches. He asked what are the best resources out there to prepare people for this type of work. My response took some thought-- and I’m sure I’m missing some great stuff-- but here’s the top...
T4T in The Philippines
I got the letter below a while back from Dave White, who serves in Philippines. Training for Trainers (T4T) is really working well for us. I've made good progress in contextualizing, am having great results in my own personal use in church planting, have trained one...
Developing leadership in your church plant
If you expect your church plant to grow beyond your own personal capacity to lead others, you absolutely need to develop leadership in your church. There are two elements to this challenge: developing people and developing the organization. The people development side...
The relationship between church planting and making disciples
Jesus never called us to plant churches. He called us to make disciples. The very last words Jesus spoke to his disciples were these: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the...
Giving birth and giving away the bride
Many years ago I was asked to lead a retreat with leaders of a parent church and leaders of a soon-to-be-formed daughter church. They wanted to address “the emotional dimensions of church planting,” specifically between a mother church and a daughter church. I thought...
Taking the road not taken.
The entry below is a story from a church planter. I am an elementary school teacher by profession, but God was calling me to plant a church. I was partway into the planting process, and had decided that this year would substitute teach so I could focus more of my time...
How do you know if you’re a church planter?
If you can reach people for Jesus and multiply them into three groups, then you’re 80% of the way to being a church planter. Potential planters start a missional community that multiplies to three functioning communities-- and that’s the core of a church plant. After...
Straight talk from a church planter, part 2: What now?
This blog entry continues the story of the church planter from yesterday’s blog entry. The church service I had started prematurely was already dying, so I took it off life support. We had moved to the local Starbucks, switching from worship to prediscipleship, and in...