Thoughts From a Church Planter

Five Years Later
-or-
Things I Wish I Knew Before I Planted a Church
by Steve Norman

Did you ever wish there was a manual for church planters? Have you longed for a step-by-step guide to navigate the seasonal challenges of ministry? So have I. Sadly, none exists. Nor should it, as every leader, team, dream and context is unique unto themselves.

However, no matter the size, shape, or location of an entrepreneurial church endeavor, there are some common hurdles. If we know they’re coming, we can be better prepared to face them and more likely to clear them. Here are the three instructions I wish they’d told me before I launched out as a church planter.

Anticipate Turnover
One of the most exciting parts of starting a new church is the tangible, vibrant energy among a tight group of dreamers. As the point person who feels called to unleash a new endeavor, you’re brimming with white-hot passion and inviting everyone you know and like to join you. I’ve never heard of a successful church plant that wasn’t initiated by a close circle of friends. You stay up until all hours of the morning discussing and debating what church in your city can be, developing forms, tweaking models and overhauling paradigms. You swear undying loyalty to God, one another and the project at hand. Every single of you is sincere.

Fast forward eighteen months. The launch family is a little frayed around the edges. The tasks of executing service after service, generating new programs and constantly recruiting volunteers is wearing down on the original core of pioneers. In an attempt to salvage personal health and your original sense of magical community, you try to re-arrange roles. Maybe Gary would be more energized here. Would Susan be a better fit for this role? It seems like Antoine’s passions are shifting; let’s release him to try something else.

Sometimes the shuffle helps. Many times it’s not enough. Inevitably, a handful of the people you swore would be “lifers” at “(Put your name here) Community Church” have drifted away from your dream. It’s nothing short of heartbreaking. The bottom line for any church plant is this: The team you start with will not be the team you finish with. Knowing this doesn’t make their departures any less painful, but anticipating some turnover grounds our expectations in reality.

Some will leave because they’re bored. These are the starters, the initiators, they like getting things off the ground. Once a project is airborne, they’re ready to begin something else. Don’t get mad or frustrated if they can’t fully realize their passion and giftedness in your movement. The church has moved on to a new stage of development and these people are ready to be a part of another new beginning.

Others will leave because they’re hurt. These situations are the worst, because you end up deeply wounded too. Oftentimes, you’ll have no idea what really went down until after they’re gone and it’s too late for you to apologize, explain or rectify the situation.

The rest will leave because they’re disillusioned. Somewhere along the way, they thought it was about you, the leader, or them, the participants, and missed out on who Jesus is and what He wants to accomplish through you. Many team members think a church will explode through all the different growth barriers sooner than most do. Leading and serving at a fledging church is a grind and a battlefield - some are simply unwilling to stick it out.

So learn how to learn from the departures. Learn how to manage expectations, communicate well and address conflict when it arises, not when it simmers to the point of explosion. Don’t beat yourself up for everyone who walks away. Sometimes it really isn’t you, it’s them. Believe God for new people to help take the church in the direction it should go.


Keep Vision Clear and Strategy Flexible
For most of us, the vision in the early stages of a church plant is grandiose. Once we get on the ground, however, every fantasy gets streamlined to the struggle for survival. At Genesis, one of our early challenges was confusing vision with strategy. A little over a year in, we made dramatic changes to our gatherings. We consolidated two weekly services to one and created a significantly different format. Some of our core members were completely put off. “How could you change the vision that we all agreed to at the beginning?” they asked.

A vision is a God-sized picture of who you sense Jesus is calling you to be. A strategy is our best guess for how to get there, given our current personnel and resources. Vision and mission are etched in stone. In order for your church to have continuous forward momentum, everyone must know what drives it and where it’s going. Strategy is written in pencil, and can change from season to season.

Some events are effective, so tweak them and use them again. Some programs are a hideous drain - they are time, labor and resource intensive projects that bear little or no fruit. These are the projects that must be cancelled immediately.

Our church personality, community dynamics, local economies and politics are constantly in flux. In order to capitalize on local cultural shifts, we must be able to flex on strategy while keeping the vision secure.


Value Character Over Talent
When you’re first getting a new church off the ground, you’ll take anyone who is willing to help. No experience is necessary. Most warm bodies will do. Because most of us are faced with a fairly limited pool of creators, musicians, actors, etc., truly talented people stand out. Then, we’re onto the quest to recruit them and sign them for life, so that they can help float “our thing”. In the process, we may accommodate the “talent” at the expense of their character and our integrity.

I’d always rather have a humble and kind B+ musician over an A+ performer. When we value talent over character, that’s all we have in the end: a group of A+ performers that may lack the character traits we desire in our artists. At Genesis, as a kind of character screen for new participants, we ask professional musicians, seminary educated speakers and seasoned actors to serve in a unique role. We request that they spend a few weeks helping with menial set-up tasks. If incredibly gifted people choke on helping set up chairs, cleaning bathrooms or unloading trailers, they are not the type of individuals we are seeking to represent us on stage.


There it is. A few suggestions I wish I’d heard before setting out. I hope they’re helpful for you. If there’s anything I can do to help you out, please let me know. You can contact me on our website, or via Kendra at kendra@portablechurch.com

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Steve Norman is a church planter and the lead pastor and of Genesis the Church in Royal Oak, meeting at the Madison Heights High School in Madison Heights, MI at 9:30 / 11:15am; and at the Royal Oak Music Theatre at 5:30pm. Genesis launched 9/11/00. Steve regularly writes a blog for his congregants here.
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