Greetings, all
Church planting can be a dangerous undertaking. So many “reefs” can crop up, to obstruct or shipwreck your work, your colleagues, or your own faith. Geneva Push Coaching Director Craig Tucker spoke about navigating “Church Planting Reefs” during our first Planter Sessi
on for 2015.
For Craig's full discussion with Scott Sanders, click here to view Church Planting Reefs.
Among the key issues discussed by Craig and Scott are sex, money, and power, and how they can impact a planter's personal growth, inhibit leadership development, cause mission drift and hamper teams.
Because this is such a vital and far-reaching topic, we were unable to put all of your questions to Craig, during the Planter Session. That's the bad news. The good news is Craig kindly agreed to answer those questions. Read on, for more helpful wisdom about navigating the waters surrounding “Church Planting Reefs”.
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
1. DUVINH: During the Planter Session, you said that you speak to each visitor about whether or not your church is a good fit for them. But isn't church a place where Jesus welcomes all? (I do realise the wisdom of talking to those who have had problems with their previous church).
CRAIG'S RESPONSE: Great question. Two thoughts.
First thought: Jesus is not always welcoming. As I look at Jesus, he is welcoming to the broken and the sinner, but not to the self-righteous (refer to his rant in Matthew 23) or those who will not wholeheartedly follow (like the bloke in Luke 18:18-30; see also Luke 9:57-62). Jesus loves people by challenging them to repent where they need to. When someone wants to join a new church or launch team, having left a previous church with issues they have not dealt with, it is (1) bad for them; (2) bad for the new church, where the same unrepented issues may emerge; and (3) bad for the previous church as they are robbed of the opportunity to reconcile. If you encourage people to come to you because you put on a slightly “better show” than the Bible-believing church down the road that they currently attend, all you do is affirm them in their consumer mindset (the opposite of a servant mindset), as you also fill your own church with consumer-minded Christians. You will reap the whirl-wind in years to come.
Second thought: We need to distinguish kingdom membership from church membership. If I discourage someone from churching with me because it's not the particular church that is most helpful for them – there could be a bunch of reasons why, such as distance – I am not saying they don't belong to Jesus. It's just that this church is not best for them. We should distinguish the “whosoever” invitation to salvation that Jesus offers to all, from my democratic right as a consumer to church shop wherever and whenever I want to.
2. MARK: Being accountable to someone, to avoid the “Church Planting Reefs”, is best. Should that be someone in the pastor's Church or outside?
CRAIG'S RESPONSE: I reckon outside. To have someone you shepherd, take on that accountability role, can confuse your role and their role.
Honesty is the great enemy of accountability working well. The reason we, as leaders, need this kind of accountability is that we are prone to pretend and conceal our sin from others. It is an immensely strong temptation, because of the expectations of church leadership being a model to the flock. It will tempt you to pretend even more than otherwise, if your accountability partner is someone at church.
3. JOSHUA: Do you have any suggestions about how to set up a church constitution, in a way to guard against these dangers?
CRAIG'S RESPONSE: I think Scott can answer this. Outside my skill set!
SCOTT'S RESPONSE: I am happy to speak with anyone, in more detail, about any of the legal and technical documents necessary for starting a congregation in Australia. Click here to email me. Also, Andrew Heard has walked us through how to “Get Governance Right First Go”. Click here to access that instructive, practical resource.
4. SEBASTIAN: How do you take an existing church and plant into it?
CRAIG'S RESPONSE: Not sure what you are asking, mate. There are models for planting new chuches in old buldings, for revitalising old churches with a team from outside. While these can be valuable ministries, I wouldn't call the latter “church planting”. But that's really just to quibble about definitions. I intend to do a blog post later in the year on various models like the ones mentioned here, with a “Strengths and Weaknesses” comparison. Stay tuned!
5. RACHEL: Church plants always struggle with leaders and leadership… What have been the challenges of developing leaders?
CRAIG'S RESPONSE: Savvy question Rachel. Wow… this sounds like a whole webinar on its own. I'm going to duck this for now.
No need to duck the question, Craig. The Planter Sessions already has covered that topic. Click here to check out “Building Effective Leadership Teams”.
For more excellent and practical assistance, don't miss out on the next Planter Sessions: Click once to register for 'Big Events That Actually Build Churches.'
– Ed.
