Rigid model.
Church planters often arrive in Denver with a fully formed model in mind; they have been to NorthPoint, Elevation or New Spring, they’ve read a book by Stanley, Searcy or Stetzer, they plan to copy the church they came from or they plan to do the opposite of the church they came from. They have a catchy name, a splashy website and a three-ring binder full of mission, vision and values.
And then they encounter Denver.
It turns out nine other church plants have the same catchy name, unchurched people aren’t compelled by their compelling environments, and it’s hard to turn a Crowd into a Core when the entire crowd shares a last name with the planter. All of the work they did at church planter boot camp seems wasted.
The military maxim, “No battle plan survives contact with the enemy,” applies to church planters. The planters who survive and thrive are able to adapt, modify or scrap their predetermined model as they begin to understand their context. The planters who fail tend to be more in love with their model than the people their model is intended to reach.
This series isn’t intended to discourage church planters, but to give a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. If you are called to plant a church (or are currently working in a church plant) focus on the words of Peter:
1 Peter 1:13 (ESV) Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Planting alone.
One of the enduring legends of church planting is Rick and Kay Warren driving from Texas to Orange County, Ca., with nothing but a U-Haul, a real estate agent and a call from God. From that meager beginning, Rick planted what became Saddleback Church, one of the most influential churches on the planet.
Many, many church planters have followed in Rick’s footsteps, moving their family across the country to plant a church in a city where they don’t know a soul. What is often missed in the legend is that Rick grew up in California. He preached evangelistic rallies up and down the California coast while attending college at California Baptist University, 40 miles from the Saddleback Valley. Rick was not a good ole boy from the south coming to save a foreign people, he was a California boy returning home after a couple of years in seminary. While the church did begin with Rick, Kay and their real estate agent, they were able to draw on existing connections with other churches and leaders in the area.
Church planting is a lonely business, and every planter needs a team. A great indicator of future success is the ability to bring a team along on the mission. While there are challenges when a pre-existing tight knit group tries to start a church in a new community, it is much better than the alternative. The Lone Ranger parachute drop into a new town makes the path to a thriving church incredibly difficult.
