New Churches Podcast | Season 1 | Episode 727

Funding: What Does it Cost to Plant a Church?

Ed Stetzer

Episode 727

What does it actually cost to plant a church? Host Ed Stetzer talks with Warren Bird about the fascinating results of a new church planter survey.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

  • A typical breakdown of church plant funding 
  • Financial paths church plants often take
  • How planters should think about ministry financing
  • When most plants become financially self-sustaining
  • How outside church support compares to denominational

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Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

Financial self-sustainability begins at about 76 in attendance. @WarrenBird

Self-sustainability takes longer or could be faster in some settings. Setting makes a difference. @EdStetzer 

Funding of churches, like everything else, is becoming more localized. I want to be able to go visit it, help out, see it and and put my body where my money is. @WarrenBird

The greatest growth by percentile happened in churches that had no paid staff members, and churches with a part-time pastor grew faster than those with a full-time pastor. @EdStetzer

To grow anything on scale, if that’s what you think God is doing, if that’s where you think the harvest is, generally the sooner you can work with people’s giving in order to be fully focused on that mission, the better. @WarrenBird

God’s doing all kinds of things in all different ways. This kind of research really helps us think well about church planting. @EdStetzer

Published on January 12, 2023

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About the Podcast

New Churches Podcast

The New Churches podcast offers practical answers to your real ministry questions. We aren’t going to provide lofty pie-in-the-sky theories. Instead, we are going to help you in your real ministry context, with your real thoughts, questions, and issues.

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Meet the Author

Ed Stetzer

Ed Stetzer, Ph.D., is a professor and dean at Wheaton College where he also serves as Executive Director of the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center.  He is the incoming Dean of Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. He has planted, revitalized, and pastored churches; trained pastors and church planters on six continents; earned two master’s degrees and two doctorates; and he has written hundreds of articles and a dozen books. He is Regional Director for Lausanne North America, is the Editor-in-Chief of Outreach Magazine, and regularly writes for news outlets such as USA Today and CNN. His national radio show, Ed Stetzer Live, airs Saturdays on Moody Radio and affiliates. He serves at his local church, Mariners Church, as a Scholar in Residence and Teaching Pastor.

More Resources from Ed
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