Episode 673: When the preparedness of a prospective church planter is being assessed, different evaluators may come to different conclusions. Clint Clifton, Nathan Knight and Adam Muhtaseb, however, discuss several traits that should be automatic dealbreakers for an aspiring planter’s approval.
In This Episode, You’ll Discover:
- Whether a church planter could potentially not meet the scriptural qualifications for a pastor
- The relative value of competence and character in the assessment process
- The necessity of having a Sending Church behind a planter
- How much and what kind of debt an aspiring church planter should have
- Whether a planter’s primary goal should be multiplication or founding a biblical church
Helpful Resources:
- Interested in learning more? Check out our Church Planting Primer
- Are you ready to enroll in our Church Planting Masterclass?
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Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):
As we think about this in the assessment process, sometimes there’s an ultra-focus on competence and virtually none on character. @ClintJClifton
Paul says he came “in weakness and trembling,” so he didn’t have much competence, but he had a lot of character. We need more of that. @Adam_Muhtaseb
If no church is sending you – if you are sending yourself – that should be a dealbreaker. If you’re part of a bad church, you need to align yourself with a good one. @ClintJClifton
If you’re not meaningfully involved in a local church, I see all kinds of red flags. @NathanKnightDC
One church planter had $300,000 of student debt. We ran a credit check and it came back good because he paid his bills. I had to say, “I just don’t think I can see you going out and raising funds for this new church, knowing that so much of that’s going to to your student debt.” @ClintJClifton
If a guy wants to plant and his wife’s not on board, it’s game over game over and not even a question. I wouldn’t join a church that my wife didn’t want to join. Just let it go and let God in His timing send you out when you’re ready and she’s ready. @Adam_Muhtaseb
I would just want to be clear that you’re doing this because of your devotion and affection for Christ, not because you like planting churches and want to multiply and have an influence. @NathanKnightDC
Published June 9, 2022