10 Mistakes Made by New Church Starts (Part 2)

OK, I finished this cool book "Ten Most Common Mistakes Made by New Church Starts" and I recommend it to all the church planter guys out there. It's short and useful, lots of useful ideas per page. That's a cool way to rate a book. I must work on that...

Anyway, my last post related the first five mistakes, followed by a sentence of explanation. Here are the last 5 mistakes, followed in the same way by a sentence describing the mistake or how to avoid it in your ministry.

6. No plan for the other six days of the week. "Prior to the launch a plan must be in place to connect people to each other and to God. Failing to do this results in a church dependent upon the planter."

7. Fear of talking about money until it is too late. "Stewardship of money must be taught from the moment you begin to gather people."

8. Failure of the church to act its age and its size. "Teach your people to say, 'We're not there yet.'"

9. Formalizing leadership too soon. "Leaders must prove themselves in your plant." (emphasis is the author's)

10. Using the "superstar" model as the paradigm for all church plants. "You CANNOT plant a church on a 'borrowed' vision." (emphasis is again the author's)

Again, this book is pretty good stuff for the church planter in the position that I am in... Emily and I know we are called by God to plant a church and where we are going, but we haven't planted yet.

So, there's no theology of why to plant a church in this book, but there is a great deal of useful, practical stuff to keep you from messing up your life, the lives of others, and bringing "anti-glory" to God and his church. I recommend that all planters check this one out.