Type: Articles

Why I Hate Pastor Appreciation Month 

In your church-planting journey, you will meet with discouragement, unmet expectations and underwhelming results. Let this little acrostic H.E.L.P. you get through “Pastor Appreciation Month” without anxiety attacks. 

3 Vital Components of Calling 

Discerning whether you are called to be a church planter is a challenge not to be taken lightly. Let me share with you three vital components of calling. 

A Vision for Diversity 

“Diversity” is a popular topic of discussion these days. Let’s look at the “what” and “why” of the matter, along with eight ways to foster kingdom diversity.

Three Ways to Improve Your Preaching

The Scripture consistently challenges the Church to preach the Word. All pastors should be seeking to make their preaching better. Here are three ways to do that.

Reading on a Budget

Many planters want to read more, but finances often are tight. Here are six suggestions for how to read when you can’t afford books.

10 Steps to Starting a Kids Ministry

Children’s ministry matters. The truths children learn about Jesus Christ are of eternal significance. Making young disciples is a strategic investment in the life of your church.

You Are More Than Your Ministry

We are unhealthy if we aren’t sure where we end and our ministry begins. Remember: When the Father looks at you, He doesn’t see an employee; He sees His child.

Church Planter Basics 6: Sing!

Your congregation doesn’t need the music to sound a certain way. They need to understand that God is worthy of all our worship. Pastor, equip your church to sing!

Church Planter Basics 4: Make Missionaries

The problem in churches today is that we aren’t making missionaries. Planters would do well to see their churches as missionary training outposts for the kingdom of God.

Church Planter Basics 3: Win Souls

Church planting is a journey like no other. It’s exciting. It’s fun. It’s hard work. But it’s worth it when you see Jesus do what only He can do.

Church Planter Basics 1: The Church 

As we seek to be creative or innovative in planting, we must not compromise the integrity of the institution God intends to use to bring His gospel to the world.

5 Ways to Pour into Aspiring Pastors

Pastor want to raise up other pastors. It’s one of the best ways to advance the Great Commission. Here are five ways to pour into aspiring pastors.

Raising Emotionally Healthy Ministry Kids

The blurry lines of ministry and home life present significant challenges for ministry kids. Here are several ways both parents and church can build up their emotional wellbeing.

The Church Planting Savior Complex

With the rise of me-centered Christianity comes the danger of me-centered ministry. In pastoral ministry – and in church planting specifically – pride is a greater danger than failure.

Three Church Planting Lessons from IKEA 

I’ve been fascinated with IKEA since first visiting the home furnishing superstore more than 20 years ago. Over the years I’ve formed a set of IKEA-inspired church-planting lessons.

What is Church Planting?

Church planting is not a job or career choice. We pursue church planting because God has broken our heart for a people and called us to plant among them.

Entitlement in Church Planting

Entitlement is a persistent and pesky weed growing in the soil of your heart that will choke out the joy and faith you need in the church-planting journey.

Finding a Facility

The arduous process of finding a facility can be the means by which God shows His glory most in your life and in the church He’s trusted you to lead.

Why Words Matter

God has given us the gift of words, but they can be misused. We should care about the way we use words in both everyday conversations and online.

What is a ‘Sending Church’?

Our new (and free!) Sending Church Masterclass provides training and development for kingdom-minded leaders in the Great Commission work of taking the gospel to the nations.

Three Steps to Planting Praying Churches

Fruitfulness in church planting only comes through the power of God. To plug into that power, you must make prayer one of your top priorities and plant praying churches.

Assess the Health of Your Church

Only a healthy church can properly develop leaders to plant new churches. Here’s helpful advice drawn from our new (and free!) Sending Church Masterclass.

5 Legitimate Fears of Church Planters

Church planters experience legitimate fears. Don’t be ashamed of that. The key is to walk in the faith that God will complete His plans and enable those He calls.

Kickstart Your Church Planting Journey

The Church Planting Masterclass can help you accelerate your growth as a church planter with 80 presentations focused on church planting basics. You’ll get relevant training on both theological and practical topics, like exegeting your community, building a team, making disciples, extraordinary communication and preserving family life.

5 Things I’d Tell Myself as a New Church Planter 

I am still learning a lot every day in my church-planting journey. I have gleaned a lot of wisdom from great leaders, church planters and friends who have poured into me. Here are five things I would tell myself as a new church planter.

10 Rules of Church Planting

Clint Clifton says aspiring church planters are always asking him, “What’s the most important church planting advice you can give me?” Here are the 10 pieces of advice he gives most often.

A Simple Process You Can Use to Train Preachers

As pastor of a young church plant, I have a strong conviction to train up preachers. At Restoration Church, we have a simple process to train preachers in a three- to four-month lab format.

Brutal Feedback is Your Friend

We all need mentors and trustworthy brothers and sisters in Christ willing to give us honest feedback. When the feedback is brutal, remind yourself they are saying hard things to you for your success, not your failure.

Should I Have Family Members as Team Members? 

Would your family be a fruitful addition to your core team or send you toward a Jerry Springer-style family meltdown? Will Klotz offers some pros and cons, along with a few pieces of practical wisdom he picked up as a planter himself. 

7 Ways Church Planting Will Bless Your Church

My conviction that the Great Commission is a call to plant churches has been strengthened by observing firsthand the blessings it has had in the life of the church I planted several years ago. Let me list seven ways church planting will bless your congregation.

Singleness in Church Planting

Noeman Diaz, planter and pastor of Iglesia Vida in La Mesa, California, is one of the few unmarried church planters in the Send Network. Our Clint Clifton sat down with him to discuss the unique benefits and challenges of planting as a single man.

5 Steps for Planning Your Preaching Calendar

Digital media have made it easy to hear excellent communicators. That has created high expectations among today’s church attendees. Planning your preaching ought to be a top priority and Rick Duncan offers five steps to get you there.

Articulating Your Leadership Ethos

Putting the intangibles of culture into words isn’t very easy. We offer our church’s values document with the hope you find it helpful as you work to build Jesus’ church and lead His sheep.

When Crisis Strikes Your Ministry

A veteran of 20 years in strategic communications, Christian Pinkston offers a big-picture overview of several key factors in church crisis communications.

Resources for Residencies

As you look to resource your residency, three key components ought to be included to produce health.

How to Build a Residency

You can build a lasting residency program that you deeply believe in by working through a process that helps you define three things: your terms, your why and your content.

Church Planters Face This Great Danger

Familiarity is the enemy of wonder. Church planters face a danger common to anyone heavily involved in ministry: We get familiar with holy things. Perhaps overly familiar.

The Downside of Professional Christianity

My service in vocational ministry, particularly in church planting, has complicated my daily walk with Christ. The deeper into professional Christianity I got, the more I felt sinfully entitled in four ways.

3 Great Side Hustles for Church Planters

These days it seems every church planter has a “side hustle.” The increasingly expensive cities we are working to reach have created a need for a marketable skill or trade that will provide a missiological and financial foothold in the community. So what side hustles are most compatible with church planting?

Crushing Expectations in Church Planting 

Pressure points in church planting conspire to overwhelm us. We must draw these things up to the surface and examine the sources – healthy and unhealthy – before God.

Church Planters, Let’s be Honest

The truth about church planting never resembles the architect’s renderings and the slick “plant with us” pamphlets. The realities can leave you confused and disillusioned. Here are five truths that might keep you keep you sane and in the game.

Talking Internship with Mark Dever

Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., is well known for its effective intern program. Our Clint Clifton sat down with Mark Dever, the church’s senior pastor, to discuss the nuts and bolts of the program.

Create Gospel Culture in Your Church

Ray Ortlund says every healthy church has gospel doctrine, but it also must have a gospel culture – “the shared experience of grace for the undeserving.”

10 ‘Must-See’ Prospectus Samples

Trying to plant a church without a prospectus would be like trying to get a job without a resumé. Before you press “Purchase” on that print order for your prospectus, take some time to review these 10 excellent church planting prospectus samples.

Who is Your Story’s Main Character?

The call to the church planting life is both gloriously rewarding and terrifyingly difficult. Trials will come, but God is a promise keeper. When the next storm rages in your life, let this article remind you of the Lord’s grace, goodness and faithfulness.

How Far Do We Go with Vulnerability?

That pastors ask regularly for prayer in the church should be a non-negotiable. But how transparent should we be with others about our own situations and struggles with sins? 

3 Reflections of a Hard-Headed Church Planter

Though God’s grace has been shown in my life and in the church I serve, I wish I’d remembered the old adage: “God gave you two ears and one mouth, so listen twice as much as you talk.”

Your Church is Going to Die

People rarely consider how churches begin and almost never consider how they end. Churches, just like people, have lifecycles. They are born and they die. Where is your church in its lifecycle?  

3 Benefits of Bivocational Church Planting 

A new movement is afoot: More church planters are choosing to plant bivocationally because they see it as a more desirable way to plant a new church. Here are three advantages to bivocational church planting.