After 22 years working in church planting as church planter, strategist, trainer, and resource administrator, I am convinced more than ever that anyone who hears the voice of God telling him to start a new church needs four things.
First: the Basics. The basics start with prayer: strong, real, passionate, personal prayer. This must be supported by family prayer and a intercession team that covers the church planter and his family and ministry 24/7. This kind of prayer assures the church planter that his vision is God’s vision, that his dream comes from God’s heart and is God’s dream. So, his responsibility is to study and, under the Holy Spirit’s direction, come out with a plan to reach that vision (what we call Mission) based in what he values the most (Core Values) and depending on whom he is about to reach (focus group).
Second: The Outreach. The church planter needs to understand how to reach people. Evangelism is not an option. The church planter does not make evangelism; he lives evangelism. The goal is not to scatter seeds all over but to concentrate the effort in an area or neighborhood that has been prepared with strong, intercessory prayer in order to remove stones and weeds, to break the strong cover of the ground and to prepare the ground to receive the precious seed. The church planter must also plan for the first plants coming out as result: how to water them, how to feed them and make them grow (discipleship), He must also plan for the first, second and third years so that the new plants become able to reproduce themselves. I think of a methodology the church in the first century used very well; we call it small groups.
Third: The Growing. The growth only comes through strong relationships: with the ground through strong roots that provide support and nourishment (a relationship with God); with itself and other plants (relationship with himself and his family); and relationships with his environment (the relationship with a mentor, the support group, the planting team, the core group, etc). All of these relationships help the church planter guide the new church to worship, which is nothing other than teaching all these new believers to proclaim publicly or privately who God is. And you only can do that if you know Him very well because you have invested your life within Him.
Fourth: Administration. Yes, I said administration — a word we believe does not belong in the Bible nor theology, but it is indispensable to keeping a church alive. We are talking about strategic planning, budget, calendar, public relations, guiding documents such as constitution and bylaws, insurance and legal matters, etc.
I know that on paper this looks too easy … one, two, three; but, by experience, I know that being in the field is more like blood, sweat and tears. What moves us forward, I believe, is Revelation 7:9-12:
“After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’ All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”
I was 13 and I was in a foul mood. It was a hot, sultry late summer day and ceiling fans cooled my dad’s grocery store; there was no air-conditioning back then. You always felt hot and sweaty.
