COPING WITH DIFFICULT CIRCUMSTANCES
Church planting is an exciting faith journey, as we progressively see God create a new work. However, that adventure is not without its disappointments and its challenges. The difference between a career pastor and a church planter is that the career pastor responds to an invitation and negotiates the conditions of his employment, while the church planter is a pioneer. He receives no invitation, there is no salary, and the conditions are very simple: there are none to negotiate! All he is offered is the opportunity to see a new work born of the Holy Spirit, which is a wonderful reward in itself.
The church planter unavoidably buys into a load of problems for which he has to find solutions. Depending on the situation, he could well find himself without musicians for the worship, money to pay the bills, a building in which to hold the meetings, a kids’ church for any families who might come, a leadership team. There is also the need to set up a legal entity with the necessary protection policies and banking… to mention but a few.
The Greatest Challenge for a Church Planter
The biggest challenge is people. Generally, one doesn’t have the luxury of planting a church with 50 people from the “mother” church. Some who come will be very supportive and a great blessing to have in forming a team, but others will be on the fringe. This is the lot of every church, but when planting a church with a small number of people, each personal situation is magnified so much more.
A church planter is not like Adam, who received a lush garden that God had created and was given the task of managing it. Adam was a gardener. The pioneer is more like Abraham, a landscaper, of whom it is said:
“By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Hebrews 11:9,10
Church planting requires faith in the promises of God and that faith will be tested at times, as was Abraham’s.
The Importance of “Scaffolding”
in Building a Church
One of the things I learnt from my senior pastor, Trevor Chandler, was to understand that God sends some people initially to be like ‘’scaffolding’’ for the construction of a building. They will be there for a time to serve a particular purpose. However, they don’t embody the vision of what God is doing and, after a time, they leave. When it does happen, it is a real disappointment because we discover that we are more attached to them than they are to us. But didn’t Jesus say that the Father, who is the vinedresser, prunes His vine for it to bear more fruit?
8 Keys to Successful Church Planting
When faced with difficult circumstances in church planting, to last over time, there are several keys:
There is so much more I could add, but I will keep it for future articles.
Please tell me which of the points above particularly speak to you. You can leave a comment below.
