Every day I get people to ask me for secrets and tips and pointers for things that I’ve done well as a church planter and pastor of Courageous Church. My wife and I giggle because so many people treat us like we’re experts, but we usually feel like bumbling, idiotic amateurs most of the time! Don’t get me wrong, we’ve done some things well and the grace of God has really been on us during these first three months, but I’ve made a ton of mistakes! A TON!
If you are as bull-headed as I am, you church planting types will probably makes these exact same mistakes in spite of my warnings because church planters are notorious for having to learn from mistakes they were warned against (and for reinventing the wheel), but you won’t be able to say that I didn’t try to help save your sorry butt some heartache :-)
10. I completely, totally, absolutely (did I say completely) overestimated how much money we would be raising from week to week. 50% of the people that are a part of our church are unemployed. A huge percentage of the employed adults that attend are either in a financial crisis or are a bit skeptical about giving to churches. We’re working on solutions for all of these things, but I made many decisions based on these estimates and soon found myself in a bit of a leadership crisis without the financial resources to support the decisions I made.
9. While I would give our team a big ‘ol A+ for creating buzz and momentum leading up to our Grand Opening on January 11th, I channeled nearly 100% our early attention to creating this buzz and gave almost no attention to putting in place the programs, systems and structures that would keep our momentum going. While I am glad that we had a huge grand opening, I regret not putting in place simple things like information cards, follow up emails, a clearly defined system for baptism or membership/partnership, etc.
8. I was told by a few gazillion people that launching and pastoring this church would be like working two full-time jobs. I thought that was stupid. Turns out I was a bit stupid! I did not properly plan for just how much time and effort it would take to plant and lead this awesome community.
7. I made a few really bad hires and put some people into leadership positions that I would not wish on my worst enemies. Because we are a brand new community, we just didn’t have time to get to know some people that we put a lot of trust into. This is very, very tricky. From this point forward, I will make sure that we are very, very picky and much more intrusive before we make any hires.
6. I underestimated the need for office space. I have heard a lot of different opinions on this and regularly read that it is not advisable to jump right into having an office, but we need it. With a family of 6 in a small urban townhouse, my home is a terrible makeshift office space. We will still make use of public space, our house, other homes, etc., but a dedicated office space is pretty essential in my opinion.
5. I really regret not having a very clear, well conceived definition of what it means to be a member/partner of our church. Some of this really stems from my own personal hangups on the idea of membership. However, I am thinking that I through out the baby with the bathwater on this and we are now working hard to define what this means in our context.
4. We spent way too much money on our first Sunday morning facility. Nobody in the world could have convinced me of this. Nobody. Even though we have some very legitimate reasons for creating poor projections for our income, I still think that our first facility simply cost too much money. If we were raising more money maybe I would be thinking differently, but I doubt it. With all of this said, it was really the only choice that opened up for us in January and we had to do what we had to do.
3. We didn’t launch with a functional assimilation system that would really channel excited attenders into committed volunteers. We are just now starting to get this together, but I think we burned out a few volunteers in the process.
2. We weren’t courageous enough and being courageous is essential to who we are as a community. Atlanta really doesn’t need another church doing the same old stuff that reach old people. When we started to have some stress and systems challenges after our launch, I started to fall back on default church mode and lost touch a bit with the unique call that God has for us. I feel strongly that SERVOLUTION helped us get our mojo back!
1. I wasted way too much time either thinking about & engaging my critics. This not only got me distracted from the work of God, but really put me in an unhealthy place emotionally. I think I was surprised that the public criticisms started so soon and regret even caring in the first place.
—
I hope you can learn something from these mistakes! I’ve made more than these and will definitely make more in the future. The key, in my opinion, is not to make the same stinking mistakes over and over again. My hope is that making these public will cause me to fix these and move on!
I’d love your thoughts and would like to hear about any mistakes you’ve made along the way!
{ 39 comments }
welcome to the "i started a church and made so many mistakes that i today i'm paying for it but God is good and i'm learning and growing and still as passionate as ever about his mission in the world" club.
:)
I'm for you bro!
Good stuff bro. I really like point 3 – "assimilation systems." once people walk through the doors more than once…what steps do you take to get them plugged into the community and mission. Praying for you guys.
Shaun,
Great insights bro. As a church planter in Mississippi I saw many of those same mistakes as well. Two that really hit home with me that are very true of us, early staff hires. We tried to start being this church that had staff because that was supposedly what made you legit. We put some people in places that had NO business being there. Bad mistake. God has slowly been teaching and helping me to see that it is about developing people. We want to continue developing church plants so reality is we may never have a large staff.
The second one that is huge….office space. I was going to save the church money by NOT renting office space. It was difficult. Hard for young kids to understand and separate the difference of home and office. Daddy are you at work or can I come and talk to you? Best thing ever happened was to keep home as home and church office as the office. Best thing we did.
The final thing I would say is I took two concepts from churched background that I wish I could have NOT had. One is to attract, talk and develop leaders. Those who are leaders will give time, money and energies to a cause they believe in. They will spend unbelievable time and money carrying the vision out. Secondly, be obedient and listen to what God wants you to do in your context. Willowcreek, Northpoint etc etc have great principles and ideas, but I am NOT called to be those places. I need to follow the plan God has for us. Thanks for the thoughts
I follow you on twitter and was really glad to read your post. I started a ministry for military wives three years ago and MANY of the items on your list I could identify with! It's encouraging to know I'm not the only one who has made these kinds of mistakes. Thanks for sharing your heart and being so transparent.
Shaun,
Great post. We're facing some volunteer burnout issues, especially in our children's area so, like you, we're working to tweak our systems.
I also did not anticipate how up and down people would be. I guess because I grew up in an established church and most of my previous ministry work had been in churches with really solid core congregations, I just expected that once people committed to LifeGate they would be there week in and week out. I didn't account for the fact that most of the people we are attracting were unchurched or dechurched. So they're not really in the habit of being there every time we open the doors. It's almost like we've got a 1st and 3rd Sunday congregation and a 2nd and 4th Sunday congregation. I'm hoping over time that this evens out. Our finances have also been all over the place. It was so bad one Sunday last month that I almost cried. But then I went to the mailbox on Monday and we had some unexpected checks.
Let us know how the assimilation and finances stuff work out. Great blog.
Yes, let's not make the same old mistakes! But do we really have to make new ones? May I encourage to go yet further?
Have you looked at these ten lessons in the light of scripture? Have you looked at your solutions in that same, raw light? What if you let go of ALL preconceptions about church, and resolved to do things as Paul did them throughout Acts, along with his advice throughout the epistles?
1. His methods required NO money at all. Do we really need to do differently?
2. He planted churches and after a long while (about 18 months typically) he would come back and see who had emerged as leaders, observe that this was through God and not their cleverness, look at their character, and then recognize these leaders among the people. Why do we need to it in the reverse? (ie, select leaders and then go about gathering saints).
Why not get really radical and try it God's way all the way? I wonder how God would respond to this approach in your situation? What yet unimagined ways might the church you are planting develop and solve its own problems with its own resources as the saints follow the Head of the church?
We will help.
Shaun, great post, man! I have been there, done that same stupid stuff, too, but we survived and you will too. Your entire future does not depend on the past 2-3 months. It's not too late to build in all those things you've mentioned, cut expenses, and regroup. But, the office thing I agree with. I started a new church with an office in my house, and it does not work well for long. We rented office space quickly, but used Marriott hotel convention space for our church on Sunday. Worked great and we were only 1 week away from being able to change instantly. Having a real office gave us a place to hold meetings and anchored the leadership. I have got to meet you, because I love what you're doing. Keep it up!
dude, I appreciate your honesty and authenticity in this post. I think if everyone was honest here they would admit that they think they could do a great job church planting. At least for myself I think often “how hard can it really be?” your honesty and mistakes brings out the tough and importance of church planting.
I don’t want to get philosophical with this comment.
I do appreciate this post though.
*Kyle
This is great, but it is so different from the model we used in planting Reconciler. Interesting stuff, Shaun. Thanks for sharing it.
Absolutely love your last point. Critics, who needs them? Why listen to them? Listen to the One you are trying to please. Jesus made a lot of “religious people” mad. You go, follow God, be strong and courageous! You are changing your community!
Thanks for sharing your mistakes, that takes courage! He who walks with the wise grows wise.
Thanks for sharing, very helpful. My observation is that many of these mistakes are true and applicable for established churches, who often neglect organizational, institutional, cultural, and community development. They perpetually struggle with and suffer from a lack of attention to these very issues that need to be dealt with during the establishment phase. Again, thanks!
Thanks a ton Jason! Glad to know that I'm not alone! Keep pushing man! it's worth it!
We're working on that Drew. Can't focus on this enough!
Great insights Philip. Thanks for your feedback on the office space & staff hires too. Have a link to your church website?
Hey Sara!
Good to hear from you. Glad to hear about your ministry too. Just work hard to learn from your mistakes and make sure to improve in those areas. Keep working hard!
Thanks Ashley! Hang in there. Just know that a lot of guys like me talk a very big talk, but we have struggles and issues just like the ones you described. I hope it helps you to read what I have said and to understand that you are not the only one having these challenges. Keep pushing and don't lose your courage!
Thanks a ton for your encouragement Chuck! Means a lot to me man. Hey – I heard from the Outreach team. Thanks for telling them about us.
I read several times that we should avoid an office space and we tried, but it was really holding us back.
Hey Tripp – I'd love to read more about your model. Have any links?
Hey Israel! Thanks for making it relevant to all churches man!
I am amazed by your honesty. Thank you so much.
My husband and I pioneered a church, it lasted 4 years, the biggest mistakes were: being side tracked from our vision, lack of prayer, isolation(from our Pastor & leadership) and hastily putting people in ministry. I can relate to you!!!!
Hang in there, your generation desperately need a relevant Christ centered Church's.
Hey, planting in Canberra Australia and I know the feeling. You hear of every mistake and still seem to fall in so many of the same holes. I think I have comitted most of the same mistakes you list (except we scored a totally free facility initially – NOW that was a blessing.
4 Life,
Josh
LifeCity Church Canberra
http://www.lifecitychurch.com
Way to be honest and real, Shaun. Thank you so much!
I'm not a pastor or pastor's wife. I am one of the 12 who helped get our church planted. God called us to start another church in a town (pop. <3000) that already had 7 SBC churches, 2 UMC churches, a Catholic church, & 2 Pentacostal churches. (That's not even counting the outlying areas!) We, too, were called to be/do something different. We, too, have made mistakes. Plenty of them. Sometimes, we (leadership) have been too pigheaded to admit it was a mistake and move on from there.
It's awesome that you're willing to look back at this early stage and learn from that. I believe your church will continue to grow and change the world. One thing I have learned that I will pass on to you. Sometimes, "grow" doesn't mean more people. Sometimes, "grow" means the people you have grow spiritually and move out to serve where called. That's not a bad thing, it's actually fulfilling the Commission. Growing disciples who go out and make more disciples who go out and make more disciples who…..
Very helpful stuff. I was recently called to pastor an 85 year old Baptist church in Los Angeles–prayerfully, I start in June. Reading you maverick church planters, I feel blessed to have an office, fellowship hall, classrooms, etc. at my disposal. Still, I don't want any of that stuff to get in the way of the type of bold action and great usefulness you guys are known for. If it does, we are better off without it.
Besides, my church-to-be has a cool office, but no website at the moment. Which would you REALLY rather have if you had to choose? Count your blessings :-).
Thanks for being courageous and allowing us to learn with you!
Honesty used to be a problem for me many, many years ago…now I tell it all every chance I get :-)
Congrats Seth! This is so cool man. I did not know you were even considering this path. Proud of you. I will be praying for you in the days and months ahead!
I will be sure to count my blessings!
Oh yeah – try http://CloverSites.com for your website! Best deal on the market – hands down!
I will be sure to make sure that we don't just measure growth in width, but also depth Faye. Thanks for this reminder!
Just read this on Tony Morgan's live blogging at Catalyst of Guy Kawasaki:
http://tonymorganlive.com/2009/04/23/catalyst-wes…
Good post Shaun. I appreciate your passion for church planting. I really believe that only people who have planted churches know the ups & downs of stepping out like you and others have. I am a church planter and feel that kindred spirit that somehow connects some of us together in these type venues. I am not as “church-planting-savvy” as most – BUT I do want to share my GOD STORY with you and others that have posted here. About SIX MONTHS in, I made (actually stumbled into) a decision that had unbelievable results. I didn’t know it then, but looking back it was KEY. You may already be doing (or have heard about) Nelson Searcy’s Leadership Network (no he is not paying me). lol. This is a full 1-year leadership system where we are learning his proven strategies (currently I’m in month # 8). Lake Hills launched with 90 people in our local Senior Citizen Center. I decided to implement his systems as quickly as I could as we grew each month. We started with STEWARDSHIP and the next Month was ASSIMILATION and so on. After 4 months we moved out of the senior center and into a strip mall and it was a terrible location. Really – it was not visible from the highway but we still continued to grow. In March of this year, we moved into a restaurant that went out of business. This gave us more space to grow. I believe because the systems were in place we are able to assimilate and keep new guests and close the back door a bit with our small groups and outreach. Last month our weekly worship average was 180. We doubled in attendance in 14 months. Our weekly offerings have also doubled in 1 year. Oh, and I need to tell you that I am currently the only paid full time guy on staff and that our church is functioning by volunteers using these systems. Yes, we are badly in need of paid staff and yes our volunteers are getting tired but I would not have changed anything we did because we used the needed funds to leverage the bigger vision. We are getting ready to hire staff and I can’t wait. Last year we baptized 20 people and our weekly offerings have more than doubled. We hope to go to 2 services this fall as God leads. Thanks for letting me post here. Praise God from who all blessing flow. A fellow church planter.
Thanks for this keen advice Jack! So glad to hear your story too man!
dude,it's tough everywhere right now. we are fighting to keep the bills paid and are going to be a family of 5 away from being at max capacity….and running on fumes with teachers…
Courageous post Shaun.
Your honesty and transparency will translate into longterm success.
Your humility, here, mirrors the humility of some of your heroes.
Malcolm, Martin, Medgar, Benjamin, Thurgood, Abraham, A Phillip, etc…
10. Caught my eye. I think we've all had our fingers crossed thinking the economy was going to rebound overnight, and all would be well. The reality is prior to this recession many of us were stretching a little and barely getting by. One of the first things that people begin to waiver about is their commitment to stewardship, tithing, etc. I've been unemployed since Nov. 2008 and I practically sat down and convinced myself that our understanding of tithing was skewed simply because I didn't want to share my meager unemployment check.
Crazy fresh dude! I planted and had almost all the same mistakes. #1 for me was leadership, leadership, leadership. In my plant everything bottle-necked or flowed through leadership, bad or good. And almost every time I was the bottle-neck. And as I grew, so did we. And the mistakes you and I made were fewer and the results better. I like you and don't know you. You probably could be my gf. Peace.
Okay, I've made all these mistakes…except one. Our church has given WAY more than I estimated. The only thing I can attribute this is too is that they fell in love with Jesus and His church really quick and the fact I have taught on tithing every single Sunday since our pre-launch experiences. Or maybe this is just a fluke.
Nonetheless, I really can relate to the fact that we have been courageous or DANGEROUS ENOUGH!
I too have fell back on what was most familiar and I feel like we just have had "nice" services. We don't want to be nice. Time to crank it up!
Watch for my "Top 100 Mistakes" post (LOL)
Keep rockin' brotha,
Bryan McKnight
I made a lot of those mistakes and we could not recover from them. I burned a lot of good people out and eventually I was burned out as well. It’s been 2 years and I am just now ready to go again. Here’s to learning the hard way.
affirming what Artmealer said…………We as humans so often follow schemes, Paradigms, and models…….what would happen if we were totally dependent on Jesus as our truly functional head??????
Shaun, thanks for the encouragement. I have made a gazillion mistakes. We recently launched here in Central Florida and it is by far one of the hardest things I have ever done — greatest personal and family sacrifice ever — but I wouldn't trade it for anything else. Thanks for your honesty!
Bro. Sahun,
indeed a courageous post. Again, I encourage you to stay on course with your dream and the vision that God has planted inside you and your wife.
As a minister who is in the process of forming a church, I take your pointers as guides for the future. I have a small Bible study group and for the most part I am waiting patiently on the Lord to lead me into my divine destiny. A few weeks and months ago, I was anxious to launch out further and God kep restraining me and closing doors. Now I understand why: work and study would make it impossible to dedicate all the time needed to build a community. So I am taking it at God's pace and I can see Him at work,
I encourage you to press on and stay focused. Again, thanks for the honest and down-to-earth post.
{ 11 trackbacks }