And our final thought for Winston Churchill week: “Never give in, never give in, never; never; never; never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.”
Whoever thought stubbornness could be a virtue? Most church planters. Stick-to-it-ness in the face of adversity might as well be on the list of official qualities necessary for successful planters. Oh wait—it is. It’s #12 out of the 13 essential qualities of church planters by Dr. Charles Ridley:
12. Resilience
*experiencing setbacks without defeat
*riding the ups and downs (i.e. attendance)
*expecting the unexpected
*rebounding from loss, disappointments and failure
For the rest of the essential qualities, look here. And if you’re looking for a way to assess potential church planters, ChurchSmart has a great resource for this: The Church Planter’s Assessment Guide.