words of wisdom --part 2

I'm often asked what I would do differently if I were starting Foothills over again. My first answer is always, "I would start with a larger core group." I think I would try to build a core of at least 50 people before launching.
Statistically speaking I have read that churches that have core groups of less than 50 people will rarely ever make it to the 200 level.
I remember 9 years ago when we started with our core group of 17, and held our first service. It was great 70 people showed up! We were ecstatic. The problem was that the next week we had 38, and then 32 , and one Sunday after about 4 or 5 weeks our attendance was about 25 people.
I was discouraged personally, but what I was really worried about were the people in that core group. I was afraid that they would be ready to bail out. I remember after that service, gathering everyone together and giving the best motivational speech I have ever given. I told them that God was at work, that next week there would be more people, that this was really going to work. That we just needed to trust God.
I'll never forget all of them looking at me and saying, "Hey, you don't have to worry about us, we're not going anywhere. You can save your speech"
After that Sunday we began to grow. Literally week after week, we would set attendance records. That was definitely our turning point.
Thinking back on those early days, I'm not sure how we ever retained any of our first-time guests. It must have been extremely intimidating for guests to walk into a service where there were 30 people. Had we built a larger core we would have been able to have critical mass, even when there were very few guests.
Another reason that it's good to have a larger group is for logistical reasons. You need people to serve. You need people to set up and tear down every week, serve in the children's areas, greet, play in the band, sing, hand out bulletins, follow-up with guests, etc.
Then there's the financial side of the equation. It's very expensive to start a new church. There are a lot of expenditures that you have to make for the first time. like letterhead, envelopes, logos, bulletins. There is a ton of expensive sound equipment, and trailers to haul it, and a million other little things that you don't think of.
Yes, Foothills has defied the odds. I was forttunate to have people who surrounded me in that core group who had tremendous faith, and were willing to do whatever it took to reach people.
But if you are thinking about starting a new church, do yourself a favor, spend the time to build a bigger core group.