How to Fund Your Church Plant
Money is a touchy subject but a necessary part of the church-planting conversation. Here’s how you can wisely and effectively maneuver this integral part of starting your new church.
Money is a touchy subject but a necessary part of the church-planting conversation. Here’s how you can wisely and effectively maneuver this integral part of starting your new church.
There is an art and science to preaching. But the power behind preaching comes from the Word of God.
Learners make the best leaders, and this saying applies to the work of your ministry, too. Here are four reasons—plus, some helpful resources!—to help you consider the role of education as you live on mission.
New churches are needed in unchurched areas. Get your church involved through church planting partnerships! This…
So, you want to be a church planter… Now what? Here are three things that church planting networks are looking for in their next lead planter and how you can be ready to take your next steps in faith.
Your church doesn’t more pew warmers. So, here are three reasons to lead your people on mission and to see the gospel grow in your midst.
Discouragement, challenges, and trials are guaranteed realities amid our church planting journeys. Through it all, here are three ways God accomplishes His mission through us as we live on mission for Him.
Why should you preach for the mission? Because God wants to pour out His power through…
We are all called to live life on mission—whether locally, across our nation, or overseas. Discover the role you’re called to play within the body of Christ, living out the Great Commission near or far.
You probably didn’t become a planter because you love logistics… Even still, here’s how implementing these intentional systems can allow you to further the gospel more effectively.
Your role as a ministry leader is to share the gospel and guide your people to do the same. Here are four ways to cultivate a church culture where your congregation is faithfully leading others to Jesus.
Money is perhaps one of the largest stressors in church planting. So, here are seven things to keep in mind as you seek out financial partners for the sake of the gospel going forward in your community.
Meetings shouldn’t be your entire ministry, but they can play a huge role in what you do! Here’s some helpful advice as you make appointments with the church members you shepherd.
If you’re new to church planting, you’re likely coming onto the scene with just as many questions as you have ambition. So, here are some tips, tricks, and guidance to help you consider the best ways to lead your launch team in this new season.
You can’t pursue the work of a fruitful, healthy ministry on your own… but you can make a wise, informed decision about who will walk alongside you as you lead. So, here are some tips for picking your ministry partner well.
The work of pastors and planters is often grueling work. So, how are we to navigate the difficulties of ministry life professionally while still pursuing the Lord personally? The answer isn’t as counterintuitive as it may seem: through rest.
Scripture says to be prepared to preach the Word in season and out of season. So, here are a few things to remember in those slower seasons when feeding a smaller flock.
You can’t exactly clock in and out of your work as a church planter. If your role in ministry entails bivocational pastoring, then this occupational guide for planters may be for you.
Your congregation and its families play an essential role in the life of your church. As a result, the man or woman who equips them in the ways of the Lord is crucial. So, here are 5 things to look for as you determine the next leader of your children’s ministry.
In the age of small screens and attention spans, it’s harder than ever to maintain the interest of an audience. So, here are 10 steps you can incorporate into your sermon preparation and presentation to captivate your congregation as you proclaim the name of Jesus.
All year long we wait for the summertime season. Yet even here in this highly-anticipated time of year, our ministries still continue. So, here are 4 ways to use this season well, all to the glory of God and the good of your congregation.
First-time planters and first-time parents share so much of the same experience. Here are three key lessons to learn as you seek to nurture and care for your new core team.
Christ calls us to take His gospel far and wide. Doing so means making disciples and planting churches. So, here’s how and why we must lead our people to live on mission.
You cannot claim to be “just a preacher, not a theologian.” Here’s how your work as a preacher impacts your congregation’s understanding of God and why you must lean into it.
How do you leave your role well as a church planter? Here are five steps to implement in a healthy succession plan as you consider how God may lead you into new kingdom efforts for His glory.
How can we connect our people with outreach opportunities that make a difference? Here are 7 ways to make evangelism happen within your community.
Self-care isn’t contrary to biblical Christian living. Here are a few ways you can view caring for yourself as a means of worshipping God.
You may be wondering about the role that church planting plays in your life. Here’s how you can add clarity to your calling to multiply disciples to the ends of the earth.
The time to extend a gospel invitation is now. Here’s how you can create space for the lost to respond to the gospel in your next worship service.
As we continue on our journey as church planters, we venture into new seasons and opportunities for growth. But how can we know what’s next? Here are five ways to rely on God as you move confidently into the future.
The Core Team phase of church planting sets the course for where your church will go. Here are seven common mistakes to avoid as you embark on your journey as a new church planter.
If God is sovereign over all things, then our work in the marketplace is an act of worship, too. Here’s how we can see His divine hand at work, even in the midst of the mundane.
Church planting is difficult work; you can’t accomplish the work of God’s kingdom alone. Here are three ways that joining a church-planting network will change the trajectory of your missional calling forever.
Planters should preach Bible messages they spend time developing themselves, but time is at a premium. Here are suggestions for what to preach and why in various contexts.
If planting a church scares you to death, I want to offer you some amazing encouragement: You not only can survive, but you and your family can thrive on this journey! Here’s how.
If our goal is rapid church multiplication, we must strive toward a movement that, as the saying goes, “breeds like rabbits.” Here are four characteristics of multiplying churches with movement cultures.
When I planted my first church, I had never heard of Year Zero. We didn’t even have a Week Zero! But I now understand I suffered three important losses by being in a hurry to launch weekly services.
For a new planter, the thought of asking someone to take out their wallet can be next-level cringeworthy. These five steps could lead to God providing for you in amazing ways.
The community we planted in was divided down the middle, both socioeconomically and racially. As the Lord led us to plant a multiethnic church there, we learned three important truths.
Why should a church planter recruit a team to work alongside in the mission? Here are two compelling reasons.
While pastors today have a positive demeanor toward church planting in their communities, you still can hear four common excuses for not leading a church to multiply.
To plant disciple-making, missional churches, we must change how we think about God’s mission and the…
From the very first Sunday, the clock is ticking toward finding a permanent space for your church. All the details can become a fog. Here are five facts about facilities every planter should know.
Pastors today have less time to do the one thing we have been commanded to never neglect: the ministry of the Word. Here are six ways a sermon preparation team can help you solve that problem.
I like to do things my way. But only when I was willing to lose my life was Jesus able to save it … and accomplish things I never could have myself.
At some point, the question comes up: What does this church believe? Every church should be able to point members and visitors to a doctrinal statement. Here are five reasons why.
Easter is an excellent opportunity to reach the lost and make much of Jesus, regardless of your worship style, church size or budget. Here are four ways to make the most of your Easter service.
I have learned a valuable lesson for battling in the trenches: When you discover what works, stick with it. I want to share four things that are biblical, effective and, regardless of your context, will yield success as you battle in the trenches.
As a young planter, I had the passion of William Wallace but the self-awareness of Gomer Pyle. On the battlefield, I learned four things that I will never do again.
A covocational church planter has no other option than to plant with a team. But how do you foster team dynamics to plant a healthy church that is effectively engaging its context?
How do you equip church members to become missional leaders? How to Start a Residency by…
I have struggled with the Asbury revival. I was envious. What about my community, Lord? My envy pointed to a deeper issue.
Your church needs more than you. Making this a bedrock conviction of your church-planting strategy will enable you to plant a church pleasing to God and edifying for His people.
Recruiting and retaining volunteers can be a challenge. These seven tips will help you increase your volunteer force and keep those already serving engaged and committed.
We all battle doubt. Where do we turn for renewed confidence? Here are three doubt-defeating convictions.
Do you hate New Year’s resolutions? Have you planned to change, only to be frustrated by failure? Noah Oldham offers two ways to maintain healthy habits and lead a healthy church.
When our family was beset by suffering and brokenness, our loving Father used it to teach us, and our church plant, six crucial lessons.
Prioritizing your physical health while drowning in pastoral responsibilities can seem impossible. But what if your…
We need to hear about marriage and church planting because a planter’s ministry is only as strong as his marriage – and solid marriages provide the groundwork for the leader’s fruitfulness and longevity in ministry.
Dispense God’s Word to His people with care. The gospel is church planting’s most concentrated weapon. Wave it like a banner before your people.
As we seek to send church planters who will be fruitful, we should consider these five qualities.
New Year’s is a great time to launch or relaunch your church plant’s small group ministry. It will give your people deeper community, deeper connection and a healthier church – that plants other healthy churches!
Ministry to women is non-negotiable, from the beginning stages of our church plants and throughout the life of the church.
The joy of a lost soul coming to Christ often is followed by a challenge: finding a way to baptize them. Here’s a list of 10 unique baptism options, all inspired by planters.
God has birthed your church because He has a heart for the kingdom of God to be expanded all over the world.
Throw passionate leaders together in the high-pressure context of doing ministry in hard places and you’re sure to see sparks fly as iron sharpens iron.
The task of leadership deployment is a vital catalyst in reaching the harvest set before the…
Every church must be equipped to respond well in the initial stages of learning about instances…
A tree puts down roots and bears fruit. The process of growth and life becomes observable…
God’s people have the ability to ask Him for big things. But most Christians, including church…
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.
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.
You don’t want to wait until the last minute decide what you will preach. Mike Godfrey lists seven benefits of planning what you will preach.
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.
A veteran of 20 years in strategic communications, Christian Pinkston offers a big-picture overview of several key factors in church crisis communications.
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.
It’s not difficult to convince people to join a new venture like a church. But it…
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.
Your church plant needs membership to become a church. Let me offer five reasons.
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?
Buildings too often hinder gospel advancement. The church is a people, not a building. It’s the…
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.
Among the myriad of ministries to which Charles Spurgeon was committed, one of the most impactful was his commitment to establishing new churches. Let me share with you three of his ethical considerations that church planters 140 years later still would do well to incorporate into their ministry.
Why would Charles Spurgeon, pastor of the massive Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, urge members to leave the congregation to devote themselves to the prosperity of other churches?
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.
The goal of church planting is to see new people come to faith in Jesus Christ….
Throughout my time as a church planter, I’ve reflected on how the difficulties faced in planting a church are, in many ways, harder than anything I faced in prison.
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.
When your “need” for love from others is unmet, take that hurt to Jesus in repentance.
What if one church-planting path actually offered distinct advantages over traditional and bivo/covo means?
How can we love people more than we want to be loved by them? At its heart, this is an issue of worship.
I’ve noticed a sort of “postpartum depression” in church planters after the birth of their new…
Who has to deal with the fear of man more? A salesman who is dependent on cold calls every day or a church planter? How do planters get the approval of those around them to win them to a church plant? That’s an issue of the fear of man.
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.”
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.
When I began church planting, I was so zealous to see new churches started and so confident in God’s power…
Today, I had someone introduce me like this “This is Noah. His dad started the church.”…
Before we start this conversation, it’s important to note that church planting isn’t always a full-time…
To get started in church planting, you must confirm that God has called you to this work.