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.

10 Mistakes Made by New Church Starts

OK, so I've read back over my blog posts, and they seem a little long and not-too-frequent. So, my new goal is to shrink down the size of the posts and make them more frequent.

The past couple days, I've been reading a book loaned to me by Neal McGlohon called "Ten Most Common Mistakes Made by New Church Starts," by Jim Griffith and Bill Easum. It doesn't look all that great on the outside (kinda like alot of those 'for dummies' books), but it's been awesome so far! Griffith and Easum have both planted multiple churches and are now church planting coaches, so you can trust their experience and knowledge.

Most church planting and leadership books are kinda long and have tons of good info, but they are tough to digest and apply quickly. This book isn't like that at all. It's got the 10 mistakes, tips to avoid them, and even some advice for church planting coaches to offer their planters. Cool touch.

Anyway, I thought I'd review this book by listing the first 5 mistakes (see, shorter posts!) and one descriptive sentence for each mistake. If you have questions, just holla or buy the book!

1. Neglecting the Great Commandment in Pursuit of the Great Commission. "Are you a church planter trying to love God, or a lover of God trying to plant a church?"

2. Failing to take opposition seriously. "If you want to plant a church, you will face, and must be prepared for, spiritual warfare." (emphasis added by the authors)

3. A love affair with one's fantasy statement blinds the planter to the mission field. "God doesn't baptize the details or the strategy, only the goal; God honors only those planters who love the people more than their fantasy church!"

4. Premature launch. Launching a church's weekly public services is like having a baby--it shouldn't be rushed out of the womb until it can survive on its own.

5. Evangelism ceases after the launch. "How often do you provide events to which your people can invite their friends to 'come and see'?"

The last 5 most common mistakes are coming up in the next post.