ChurchPlanters.com "Giving You Permission"

My First Church Plant

Let the movement begin!  Rick Warren was right when he said, "We tend to overestimate what we can do in a short period of time and we underestimate what we can do over a long period of time."  My good friend and pastor of Crossroad's Church e-mailed me the link to his blog with this picture.  While you can't tell the guy behind the podium is me, this was my very first church plant that launched on March 26, 1989.  We had 178 people attend and we met in an elementary school.  Here is an excerpt from Ken Adam's blog,

"This past weekend we had over 6500 people attending in seven different Crossroads Churches in the U.S. That wouldn't have happened if this church had not been planted nineteen years ago. At Crossroads of Newnan we had over 3900 people walk in the doors of our church this past weekend. Dozens of people raised their hand indicating they had accepted Christ in our services."

Is that cool or what!  To read Ken's blog click here.

ChurchPlanters.com Evolve Conference Resources Available

Our recent Evolve Conference was incredible.  We now have all of our conference resources on line.  Visit our store to pick them up.  Here are the picks for talks I wouldn't miss...

1. Shawn Lovejoy's talk on the Healthy Leader.  I know Shawn...been with him through the journey...he lays it on the line.  When it is all said and done I believe that it is his talk that will most impact the Kingdom by saving leaders lives and family.  It is a must for anyone planting or leading a church.

2.  Steven Furtick's talk on the Courageous Leader. Steven described himself as a throwback to a 1950's preacher.  He got down.  The spiritual truth in his message was over the top...his delivery was something to behold.

3.  Bil Cornelius' talk on the Resilient Leader...but why purchase it...listen to it for free on our website.  Bil is great leader who leads a great church.  Who would have ever thought that his first church was a bust.  He knows what he's talking about when he talks about resilient. 

4. Shawn  Lovejoy's and David Putman's breakout on Best Practices of Church Planters.  This is what we do.  We coach young leaders in Best Practices.  Check out this breakout and sign up for our Best Practice Practicum in July.

In reality there are so many good session I would buy the complete set and share them with my team.  Make plans now to attend next years conference.  Our theme is Consumed and in our main sessions will focus around our Best Practice of Redefine Discipleship. 

churchplanters.com - giving you permission to do what it takes to reach those disconnected from Christ and the His Church!

ChurchPlanters.com Evolve Conference Resources Available

Our recent Evolve Conference was incredible.  We now have all of our conference resources on line.  Visit our store to pick them up.  Here are the picks for talks I wouldn't miss...

1. Shawn Lovejoy's talk on the Healthy Leader.  I know Shawn...been with him through the journey...he lays it on the line.  When it is all said and done I believe that it is his talk that will most impact the Kingdom by saving leaders lives and family.  It is a must for anyone planting or leading a church.

2.  Steven Furtick's talk on the Courageous Leader. Steven described himself as a throwback to a 1950's preacher.  He got down.  The spiritual truth in his message was over the top...his delivery was something to behold.

3.  Bil Cornelius' talk on the Resilient Leader...but why purchase it...listen to it for free on our website.  Bil is great leader who leads a great church.  Who would have ever thought that his first church was a bust.  He knows what he's talking about when he talks about resilient. 

4. Shawn  Lovejoy's and David Putman's breakout on Best Practices of Church Planters.  This is what we do.  We coach young leaders in Best Practices.  Check out this breakout and sign up for our Best Practice Practicum in July.

In reality there are so many good session I would buy the complete set and share them with my team.  Make plans now to attend next years conference.  Our theme is Consumed and in our main sessions all of our talks will focus around our Best Practice of Redefine Discipleship. 

churchplanters.com - giving you permission to do what it takes to reach those disconnected from Christ and the His Church!

Why We Do What We Do!

It's Wednesday morning after the conference.  I'm tired!  I don't want to do anything. I take that back all I want to do is go get on my motorcycle and ride.  Yet it's to cold. As soon as warms up to 45 I'm on it.  Its suppose to get up to 62.  Perfect!

This morning I got an e-mail for a former staff member and I was reminded of why we do what we do...

Hi friends!

I hope the CP hangover is not too bad this morning.  From what I hear the conference went GREAT!  Our TN pastor's wife called me Monday night to say that everything was great and everyone was so wonderful!

The real point of my e-mail though is to say thank you for all your hard work to put on the conference and to create a place where young churchplanters, like my TN pastor and small team, can come and hear from God and learn from the greatest church I've ever been a part of.  I have a whole new appreciation for the conference and your hard work to make it happen because I'm on the other side.  I know I will see growth in our young church and leadership as a result of the CP conference.

I continue to pray for MLC and for you guys as you lead and impact thousands of lives directly and indirectly by the works of your hands.  You do not labor in vain...press on!  I love you all and miss you tremendously!

Renee

Thanks Renee for reminding me...I'm going to press on...I can't wait until next year...I can't wait until our practicum...and I can't wait until our next coaching network...

ChurchPlanters.com Evolve Conference

Milestones or Calendar?

I will never forget my conversation with Lyle Schaller on a summer day back in 1996.  Dr. Schaller is one of the early adapters in what was then the Church Growth Movement.  Since that time this movement has given way to the Church Health Movement and now the Missional Church Movement.  At the time I was working with a major church planting organization and I asked him to critique our church planting strategies.  He was ready for the challenge... He said something like this..."Dave you guys (church planter types) are all driven by calendars.  I mean you are going to start your church on a certain day like Easter regardless if you are ready to plant or not.  When that happens you often plant your church prematurely  which leads to poor health in your church for years to come.  What you really need to do is start  your church based on MILESTONES."  For the next five hours we talked about milestones and thus began my journey of developing milestones. As far as I know that is where the concept of Milestones derives it's beginning for us church planters.  Since that time many of us have adapted a milestone approach to planning our church launch.  If you haven't you should.

When you reach a milestone it signals the achievement of a series of activities and events that indicate that you are now ready to move on.  When it comes to church planting there are a number of milestones that you must achieve if you are to move on in the planting of a healthy missional church.  Here are the ones I most often talk about...

1. Determine your church planting readiness - As a church planter you have to be absolutely ready to plant a church.  As a leader you have to lead yourself before you can lead others.  Spending time focusing on your own leadership and preparedness is a must.
2. Develop an intercessory prayer team - Church planting is above everything else spiritual in nature.  When a church is planted strongholds are broken down and what was once enemy territory is retaken. 
3. Select and define your church planting context - The right planter with the right place makes all the difference.  Choosing where you plant is crucial to your success.  Understanding that context is even more critical when planting a missional church.
4. Arrange financial support - Avoiding church planters bankruptcy is crucial to the mission.  As a church planter it is your responsibility to finance the mission. 
5. Develop a church planting team - Church planting is a team sport.  Going out planting all alone can be suicidal when it comes to church planting. Choosing your first staff member prior to planting is essential to success.
6. Discover a shared vision - Vision clarity is essential in church planting.  Every church planter must answer the following questions:  What is God calling us to do (Vision)?  What are the non-negotiable (Values)?  How are we going to do it (Mission)?  What are steps for accomplishing it (Systems)? 
7. Gathering a group of investors - Who are the 30 to 40 individuals who are going to help you get the church started?  They may be new followers, mature followers, or people who are still trying to figure out who Jesus is...but they are invested in the church plant and become the hands and feet to make it happen on a weekly bases.
8. Establish a community presence - What niche are we filling in the community?  What are we about?  Why should people show up on the weekend?  These are all the questions that must be answered prior to launching your public worship services?  How are you utilizing media to get the word out?
   
9. Launch public worship - There are hundred of logistical details related to launching public worship.  Are all these details handled?  Are they reproducible?  Are we ready to do this each and every week?
10. Assimilate attenders and multiply followers of Jesus - Have we develop simple steps for getting people to stick?  Are there means for involving people in volunteerism? Are their small group structures in place? 

Here are ten milestones I use for organizing the development process of a new church.  Make plans now to attend our pre-conference session of our February 18-19, 2008 ChurchPlanters.com Evolve conference.  It is going to be awesome and I will be presenting these milestone. 

In addition you will want to hear from guys like Shawn Lovejoy, Darrin Patrick, Steven Furtick, Bil Cornelius, Mark Batterson, Gabe Lyons, Gary Lamb just to name a few.  It is going to be awesome.

Check out our conference at our www.churchplanters.com today.

Church Planting Conference

EVOLVE, our church planting conference is fast approaching! If you haven't registered yet, here's the cool part. This year our Ministry Partners have been so generous that we are going to be able to extend our "Early Bird" conference rate of $99 all the way through February 1! We'll raise it it at that point just to keep you from procrastinating and help us plan effectively. But, now, thru February, you can register for $99! Don't forget church planting spouses are already free! Steven Furtick, Mark Batterson, Bil Cornelius, and Darrin Patrick will all be here, not to mention TONS of practical breakouts by David Putman, Gary Lamb, Devin Hudson, Gabe Lyons, Eric Bramlett, and others! Don't miss it! Register NOW!                                                                  

EVOLVE, our church planting conference is fast approaching! If you haven't registered yet, here's the cool part. This year our Ministry Partners have been so generous that we are going to be able to extend our "Early Bird" conference rate of $99 all the way through February 1! We'll raise it it at that point just to keep you from procrastinating and help us plan effectively. But, now, thru February, you can register for $99! Don't forget church planting spouses are already free! Steven Furtick, Mark Batterson, Bil Cornelius, and Darrin Patrick will all be here, not to mention TONS of practical breakouts by David Putman, Gary Lamb, Devin Hudson, Gabe Lyons, Eric Bramlett, and others! Don't miss it! Register NOW!                                                                  

Best Practices of Church Planters Practicum

October 22-23, 2007

The Practicum is a workshop designed for new churches that are getting ready to launch their weekend ministries or have launched their weekend ministries and are now faced with the challenges of growing a healthy missional church.  In this workshop we focus on the following Best Practices that through God MLC has been using to impact the world in just 7 short years.         
                   

• Nurturing Vitality
• Being Mean about the Vision
• Financing the Mission
• Thinking Team
• Redefining Discipleship

Sessions are lead by Shawn Lovejoy, David Putman, Chad Ward, and Casey Graham...all part of the Mountain Lake Church Team.

October 22-23, 2007 The Practicum will begin at 12:00 pm and end at 12:00 pm on the following day.

Cost:    $150.00 per person (includes 2 additional ministry team members, 3 staff members and beyond are $50.00 additional per person).

Bring your team and spend two days with the Mountain Lake Ministry Team.  Register while there is still time. 

Catalyst Conference, etc...

Yesterday was an awesome day...I spent it at the Catalyst Conference with a lot of really cool people.  Shawn and I co-sponsored the Church Planting Lab with Passion for Planting, New Thing Network, Emerging Leadership Initiative just to name a few.  My hats off to Todd Wilson who put it all together and Ed Stetzer, Dave Ferguson, Darrin Patrick, and Shawn Lovejoy who either led one of the sessions or served on our panel. 

Bottom line I love church planters...talking about revival...these guys are modern day revivalist. I believe God is really doing a neat work in his body and specifically in the church planting movement as it relates to calling us back to the centrality of Jesus. 

I just finished a book on this, Breaking the Discipleship Code; Becoming a Missional Follower of Jesus.  It will be out May 2008.  Like most forward thinkers I've move on to my next project that really gets me fired up.  I am currently working on Losing my Religion...Finding the Jesus Way; Detox for the Overly Religious. 

Make plans now to drop by the our ChurchPlanters.com booth at the Catalyst Conference over the next two days. 

Best Practice Practicum

A number of you have asked if we have any room left in our Best Practice Practicum.  We have about five more spots.  We have limited the number of teams that can participate.  So if you are interested it is first come first serve.  The Practicum will be hosted at Mountain Lake Church on October 22-23, 2008.  You can register by visiting our website at www.churchplanters.com.  Here's the link to the event.

ChurchPlanters.com Evolve Conference

Also check out next years ChurchPlanters.com Conference February 18-19, 2008.  It is going to be awesome.  We have Steven Furtick, Bil Cornelus, Darrin Patrick, Mark Batterson, Gabe Lyons, Gary Lamb just to name a few coming.  You can register here today. 

Catalyst Conference

Guys, If you are at the Catalyst Conference Labs...stop by the main main registration table today for a free ticket for supper co-sponsored by ChurchPlanters.com from 5:00 to 7:30 today October 3.  Our guest panel will include: Ed Stetzer, Dave Ferguson, Shawn Lovejoy, and Darrin Patrick.