Joining a church planting team...

Someone asked my advice about whether or not to join a church planting team here in NE Ohio. I couldn't give a short answer. But here's what I wrote:

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What does it take to be an effective church planter? Dr. Charles Ridley conducted a study of church planters in the United States and Canada. Based upon his research and subsequent field testing, he developed a list of 13 church planter characteristics. For over a decade, these characteristics have been used to select church planters. At the end of this article is his list of characteristics and their definitions. Ignoring the characteristics or failing to scrutinize a potential church planter in light of the characterisitics is not wise.

Church planting, of course, is a very unique experience and opportunity. Planting a God-honoring church requires several necessary ingredients:

1. A ripe harvest field – a sense that God is currently at work in the target community to draw lost people to Himself.
2. The right motivations – a sense that the true goal of the church plant is to glorify God and build the kingdom of Christ, not to prop up the shaky self-esteem of the leadership.
3. The call of God – a sense that God will supernaturally empower the church to reach and teach lost people.
4. Strong support – a sense that God has called others to support the new church spiritually, emotionally, prayerfully, financially, etc.
5. An equipped church planter – a sense that God has uniquely gifted the leader to have what it takes to see the church through from the conception stage to the reproducing stage.

This last factor is huge. It’s why I have a passion is that the church planter be very well assessed and appropriately placed. I believe that God wires us differently for different callings.

Some leaders are catalysts – they thrive on starting things out of nothing. Some leaders are organizers – they thrive on organizing the “chaos” that others create. Some leaders are operators – they thrive on helping a church that is running pretty well run better. Some leaders are redevelopers – they thrive on joining a declining church to bring new life back into it.

Obviously, a church planter needs to be a catalyst. It’s important that you, as a volunteer, feel as comfortable as possible that the church planter you are going to serve with is a true catalyst. Questions to ask: “What have you started from scratch before? Did what you started last?” If the proposed planter stumbles over these kinds of questions and does not have a strong track record of starting things (whether in business or in existing ministries), then he likely is not a true catalyst and likely will not plant a dynamic church. I have said it a lot, “The best predictor of future performance is past behavior.”

Why is it important for you to determine whether a potential church planter has the “right stuff” or not? You only have one life to invest in the service of the King. Sadly, I’ve seen many people invest many years of service in seeking to help plant a church only to find out in the end that the church planter was not really God’s man for the job.

There are certain skill sets and God-given abilities that are crucial to successfully launching a new congregation. You might find the tab "Is Church Planting for Me?" helpful in thinking through some diagnostic questions that every church planter should be able to answer as you try to discern God’s leading to join up with a particular church planter or not.

I’ve heard that in our denomination, we are successful 50% of the time when we plant churches. That saddens me deeply. I think about the waste of resources – time, talent, and treasure – that happens when we send a non-catalyst to plant a church. The volunteers could have served in another church with greater fruitfulness. The money given could have been invested more wisely. The sponsoring churches could have had a better church sponsoring experience. And the leader could have been serving in a ministry more suitable for his giftings.

There is something kind of “romantic” about the idea of planting a church. I think that, sometimes, people launch out into church planting thinking that they will be the next Rick Warren, Bill Hybles, Andy Stanley, or Ed Young, Jr. But the reality is that there aren’t too many of those guys. So, the call of God can’t be a call to the “romance” of church planting, but a call to the hard, thankless, dirty, grinding-it-out, plodding along kind of work.

This is why we are really seeking to assess our planters more carefully than ever before. We want to be wise stewards of our resources and personnel. Dr. Charles Ridley evaluated successful church planters and identified 13 key characteristics of effective church planters. You need to evaluate whether the leader of your team is wired this way or not.

13 Characteristics of an Effective Church Planter

By Dr. Charles Ridley

1. Visioning Capacity... Being a person who projects into the future beyond the present. Developing a theme which highlights the vision and philosophy of ministry. Coping effectively with non-visioning elements. Not erecting artificial walls or limits either overtly or subconsciously. Establishing a clear church identity related to the theme and vision. Believing in God's capacity to do great things.

2. Intrinsically Motivated... Having a desire to do well and a commitment to excellence. Stick-to-itiveness and persistence. Having initiative and aggressiveness without the negative connotations. Having a willingness to work long and hard. Being a self-starter with a willingness to build from nothing. Having a high energy and vitality level; physical stamina.

3. Creates Ownership of Ministry... Helping people to feel responsible for the growth and success of the church. Gaining a commitment of the people to the vision. Establishing a congregational identity. Avoiding stereotyping of the congregation by imposing unrealistic goals.

4. Relates to the Unchurched... Communicating in style that is understood by the unchurched. Understanding the psychology or mentality of the unchurched. Moving and functioning in the personal space of the unchurched without fear. Quickly getting to know the unchurched on a personal level. Breaking through the barriers erected by the unchurched. Handling crises faced by the unchurched.

5. Spousal Cooperation... Having an explicit agreement regarding each partner's involvement in ministry. Having explicit rules regarding the use of home as an office. Evaluating the consequences of ministry demands upon the children. Functioning as a team through individual and collective action. Having a strategy for dealing with strangers. Modeling wholesome family life before church and community. Agreeing upon and sharing the ministry vision. Deliberately planning and protecting private family life.

6. Effectively Builds Relationships... Responding with urgency to expressed needs and concerns of people. Displaying Godly love and compassion to people. Getting to know people on a personal basis. Making others feel secure and comfortable in one's presence. Not responding judgmentally or prejudicially to new people. Appreciating and accepting a variety of persons. Spends time with present parishioners without ignoring them for new people.

7. Committed to Church Growth... Believing in church growth as a theological principle. Appreciating steady growth without preoccupation with quick success . Committing to numerical growth within the context of spiritual and relational growth. Recognizing that non-growth is threatening and self-defeating. Establishing the goal of quickly becoming a financially self-supporting church. Not prematurely falling into a ministry of maintenance. Seeing the church project within the larger context of God's kingdom.

8. Responsive to Community... Understanding the culture of the community. Identifying and assessing community needs. Responding to community needs on a priority basis. Determining successes and failures of other attempts to respond to the community. Not confusing what the community needs with what the church wants to offer. Acquiring and understanding of the character and pulse of the community. Adapting the philosophy of ministry to the character of the community.

9. Utilizes Giftedness of Others... Understanding the culture of the community. Releasing and equipping people to do the task of ministry. Discerning of spiritual gifts in others. Matching the gifts of people with ministry needs and opportunities. Delegating effectively in areas of personal limitation. Avoiding personal overload by delegating effectively. Not prematurely assigning ministry positions before people are equipped. Not placing unwarranted restrictions on other's spiritual giftedness.

10. Flexible and Adaptable... Coping effectively with ambiguity. Coping effectively with constant and abrupt change. Adapting oneself to the uniqueness of the particular church planting project. Shifting priorities and emphasis during various stages of church growth. Doing whatever is necessary whenever necessary.

11. Builds Group Cohesiveness... Developing a nucleus group or groups as a foundation. Quickly incorporating newcomers into a network of relationships. Engaging others in meaningful church activity. Monitoring the morale of people. Utilizing groups effectively. Dealing with conflict assertively, constructively and tactfully.

12. Resilience... Experiencing setbacks without defeat. Riding the ups and downs (i.e. attendance).
Expecting the unexpected. Rebounding from loss, disappointments and failure.

13. Exercises Faith... Possessing a conviction regarding one's call to church planting ministry. Believing in God's action. Having expectation and hope. Having a willingness to wait for answers to specific prayer requests.

Dr. Charles Ridley, A leading pioneer in church planting assessment, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana