Starting a church is not cheap.
Doing it effectively in a way that reaches large numbers of people is actually quite costly, but I think it’s more than worth the investment of time and money. However, I have compiled a list of 10 TOTALLY FREE RESOURCES that have made all the difference for me during the first 9 months since we launched Courageous Church!
I’m not going to pretend…I love FREE stuff. I am a pretty frugal dude and a notorious cheapskate. I bought my laptop @ Wal-Mart, my shoes @ Costco, and my eyeglasses that you see in the pictures on this blog for $9 @ Zenni Optical (that’s lenses and the frame). Nothing beats free though :-) These 10 free resources have been as valuable more valuable for me as a church planter than any MacBook Pro or amp or software that we’ve purchased.
10. Hard Work – Building a launch team, creating momentum, training people, having a Grand Opening, and then actually leading a growing community of faith takes a lot of elbow grease. If you’re not prepared to work hard – don’t do this. I work hard. I work late. I work early. Yeah – we spent some money along the way, but the hard work that I put in alongside the long hours of faithful volunteers has been a huge key to our success.
9. Studying & Reading God’s Word – Don’t believe the hype. People really want to know what the Bible says. I lead a young, diverse, highly unchurched, skeptical congregation and preach messages week in and week out that are bible heavy. I study it and read it for myself and then go share this with people on Sunday morning. It works. The more I read it and the more I share what it says with people – the more I see lives changed.
8. Reading Blogs from Pastors & Leaders that Have Already Been Where You’re Going – I have a collection of books that have shaped me in a major way, but the blogs I read daily from pastors & leaders keep sharp and encouraged more than anything else out there. I follow what they say, learn what’s working (and not working for them), discover some best practices, and even hear God confirm some things for me when I see how God is moving in other churches around the world. Mark Batterson, Eugene Cho, LifeChurch.tv, and Perry Noble are some that I look forward to every day. I read about 20 blogs regularly and subscribe to them through BlogLines.
7. Twitter – Twitter has been central to the success of Courageous Church and it never cost us one single penny! Our church uses to Twitter to stay connected to people and keep them informed of all that’s going on and I use Twitter to learn from leaders, stay in the loop, and keep people connected to who I am in some very fresh ways. I have made close friends on Twitter, communicated with leaders and mentors that I otherwise would not know, we have raised funds and awareness there, and so much more.
6. Email – Our church uses Google Apps to host our email services and I push email hard and heavy. I send and receive hundreds of emails a day. I try to respond regularly, quickly, and shortly to almost every email I receive. I also send out informative and inspirational mass messages to our church. I heard that email was going out of style, but we don’t act like it.
5. Making the Big Ask -My friends giggle at how much I ask people to do and give, but it works. I regularly challenge people to step up and serve God in our city and they almost always say yes or have a very good reason why they can’t do what I’m asking them to do. Do I get nervous when I ask people? Sometimes. But having nobody serving God makes me even more nervous.
4. Be Motivational – I try hard to be an encouraging force for people by speaking words of love, kindness, warmth, and hope. Even if I have to deliver bad news, I try to shape it in a way that shows the glass as being at least half full. Politicians, the news media, and doggone near everybody else has the ANGER & DEPRESSION market down just fine. If you choose to be a motivational voice, you will probably be in league of your own. To me, a depressed pastor is a living, breathing oxymoron. God has called us to lift people up with the GOOD NEWS!
3. Facebook – While our church uses paid Facebook ads pretty often, one of the main reasons they work so well for us is that all of the effective free stuff we do on Facebook has already created goodwill and friendships in our city. I have over 7,000 Facebook friends (on two accounts) that I communicate with regularly. We joke. We pray. We debate. We live life. I counsel people through real challenges on Facebook. Our church has nearly 2,000 people that are a part of our Facebook group. Every single Sunday we have a ton of new visitors that learned about our church on Facebook. Some saw ads, but just as many say they are friends with me or friends with my friends that told them about the church.
2. Prayer – I still don’t pray as much as I would like to, but I pray today more than I ever have. I am completely convinced that if I’m not going where God says to go and doing what God says to do that I am wasting my time and yours. I so badly want to be in tune with the heart of God for the church and not just promote my own goofy ideas that I find myself just asking God for his guidance and strength. Try it.
1. A Great Family Life – I love my big family. My wife is my best friend. My kids are my biggest fans. Home base is a safe place for me and gives me the confidence to go out into the world and be bold because I know my family will always love me. I invest my love and energy and time into leading this family the best way I know how. I made a value decision many years ago that I would be known as a good husband and father and that this reputation would be a major part of my ministry. I am not the best leadership guru (I’m learning), or the best preacher (I’m growing), or the best dressed dude around (this will never happen), but when it comes to being a husband and father, I’m one proud dude.
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