Church Planter Helps...

Church Planting Resources
I put this together quickly for a class at North Central I am apart of today. It should be good to teach and train the next generation of church planters. I am all about helping churchplanters so if you are a HPC'er then this gives you a glimpse into how I think. If you are a church planter ask questions and I will try and help.

Must Read:

• the Celtic way of evangelism- George G. Hunter
  • Fantastic approach to making disciples of Christ for this generation.
• Go discover your strengths- Marcus Buckingham
  • A Must for any leader who is about to take the leap into planting
• Purple Cow- Seth Godin
  • Don't Plant unless you are the purple cow. We don't need another church like everyone else out there.
• Launch- Nelson Searcy
  • Practical, Practical, Practical
• Next Generation Leader- Andy Stanley
  • Know Thy Self
• Communicating for Change- Andy Stanley
  • Discover your voice and preach messages with practical real world application... or don’t preach! Teach.
• 7 Practices of Effective ministry- Andy Stanley
  • Good Great!
• How to Break Growth Barriers- Warren Bird
  • This is like grandpas Buick... I didn't think It was cool but when I drove it I understood why he drives it... Some are Ranchers some are Shepherds
• Life Giving Church- Ted Haggard
  • Think King David after Bathsheba... He did wrong but man is this book a MUST read!
• Simple Church- Thomas Rainer
  • this may be for more established churches to deconstruct with but it is a good reminder that as a church plant you have to be simple. It is good to be simple, Don’t ever change.
• Why We Buy- Paco Underhill
  • We have a product that we need to place well. Make sure you are aware how people perceive there environments
• Church Marketing 101- Richard Reising
  • If you don’t know that marketing is Evangelism then you shouldn't plant a church... this book will help you with both.

Must subscribe:
Wired magazine
Fast Company

Must RSS:
toryfarina.typepad.com
accesselevation.com
churchrelevance.com
daveferguson.org
garylamb.org
stevenfurtick.com
perrynoble.com
processministry.com
Risgestonebackstage.com
scotthodge.typepad.com

Must get for For free:
newspringonline.com
lifechurch.tv/open
churchofthehighlands.com
sermoncentral.com
flickr.com/groups/cfcc/
relatedchurches.com

Must Do:

• Attend a church plant
• Find resource... DO NOT PLANT ALONE!
  • get a mother... preferable a previous church planter... they will resource you much more than one who has never known living by the hand of God.
  • use a planting vehicle like ARC- relatedchurches.com or MX9- ag
  • beg, barrow, steal Money is one of the Key factors to success
  • Spend time with other church planters... as much as possible... find someone a few hundred in attendance and have them tell you your not crazy and you will succeed.
• Launch big or go Home!
• Get a team and don’t just take anyone. Warm bodies are not all you need. Get people smarter and sharper than you who can work full time and support the vision.
• Develop thick skin...
  • people who say they will support you with a lot... probably will not. People who you least expect to give... GIVE BIG!
  • People who say they will come probably will not. I went to coffee with hundreds of people to get our launch team of 40. The four people from college who said they would do it with me... never showed.
  • People will leave... You want people to leave. A good exit strategy is a must because as you grow to each level you need fresh people who can hang at that level and some of the older people where sent by God to be there in the previous level. Be warm and firm to your vision but let them go to help someone else.
• Don’t take yourself to seriously... it is only peoples Eternity at stake...
• Focus on those who are saved to help you build a good crowed... Then point them to the Lost and never look back.
• Get a good Coach...
• Go see a counselor or Life coach... you have glitches that need to be hammered out. they are professionals and will do the hammering faster than you can.
• Pray and dream BIG!
• The pit in your stomach or throat is normal and will go away in about a year...
• Help others... it is the best way to process what you have learned and where you have been

Comments

[McCool]

tory, good speaking with you today. great advise in this post. i've been apart of three church plant teams and this post is the best information you could share with anyone thinking about planting. thanks for helping the others.

[Nelson Searcy]

Tony - thanks for the shout out to Launch. I hope you find it helpful!

I have a bunch of stuff I give away to church planters. It's all here:

http://www.churchleaderinsights.com/resources/church_planters.php

Thanks of what you are doing! Let me know if there's any way I can help!

Nelson

www.ChurchLeaderInsights.com

Nelson Searcy, Lead Pastor
The Journey Church of the City
One Church: Three Locations: Six Services
www.JourneyMetro.com