Many times I meet with church planters, and soon to be church planters. It is a great joy to be able to pass along some of what I have learned over the last 9 years.
Actually my first exposure to church planting came in about 1993. At that time I was a member of a great church that was reaching many people for Christ. This church was very special to me because I was saved there, baptized there and married there. I was actively involved, serving in many capacities. (I was not on staff. I was still in business at this point.) This church was about a 30 minute drive from where I lived. One day the Pastor approached me and asked if me and my wife would be interested in helping begin a new church in our community (Jupiter Farms)
Our first response was "no", but we agreed to pray about it.
After wrestling with God about it, we reluctantly agreed. Our first meeting was in our living room with a very small core group. We eventually "officially" began and started meeting in an elementary school. Keep in mind, I was not on staff, but nonetheless got an up close and personal picture of church planting. I learned aot about what to do and even more about what NOT to do! I am proud to see how God is using that church (Church in the Farms) to impact the Jupiter Florida area. If you would like to know more about that church you can click here.
When we moved to Seneca, South Carolina in the summer of 1996 we didn't think we would ever be involved in beginning a new church again. We actually moved here to start a new business, which we did, but after 6 months I felt God's call to ministry, so I began to take some seminary classes. It was obvious to me that with my background of starting businesses and being involved in the church plant in Florida, that church planting was in my DNA.
I won't bore you with the details, but we launched Foothills Community Church in April of 1998. It has been such an incredible journey!
As I mentioned in the beginning of this blog, I meet many church planters who want to know what to expect, so I thought that i would devote a couple of days to pass along a little bit of what I've learned along the way, as well as some things that I would do differently if I was starting over.
Today I want to leave you with one thing.---- Church Planting Is The Hardest Thing You Wll Ever Do!
That's it. It's hard! That's why so few actually make it.
To those who have never done it, it looks easy. It looks glamorous.---It's not.
It is fun. it's exhilirating. It's the greatest adventure you will ever have. But it's not easy!
Many guys want to plant a church for all the wrong reasons (that's another topic for another day) They read about churches like Northpoint, NewSpring, Elevation or even Foothills, and think "man that's a great job. Just prepare a message and stand up in front of thousands of people and deliver it."
What you don't see is all of the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into laying the foundation of that church. When everyone else leaves for the day, the one who carries the burden of that church is that Lead Pastor. No one, no matter how committed, carries the responsibility like that Lead Pastor. If that church closed down tomorrow, everyone else would find a new church, but for that Pastor he would grieve as if he lost a loved one.
So if you are an aspiring church planter, that's cool, but just be ready to pour yourself into that role. It is not a job. It is an absolute calling! Go for it!
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