Launch Conference, Part 2: Eight Contrarian Ideas

Ok, next section from the Launch Conference….

These are the 8 Contrarian Church Launching Ideas. What that means is that these are ideas that are true of church planting, but don’t necessarily seem intuitive. Here are those ideas:

1. Your call to start a church is the most critical factor to the church’s success.

• It will be hard. You’ll feel like giving up at times. But the conviction of your call will sustain you.

2. Don’t be afraid to raise funds from other churches.

• Pursue all avenues for raising funds: individuals, churches, mission organizations, etc.

3. Build your new church from the outside in.

• Here, Nelson Searcy drew the five concentric circles that Rick Warren talks about in The Purpose-Driven Church. At the center is your Core group. Then moving outward: Committed, Congregation, Crowd, and Community.
• Don’t start by building your Core. If you do, they will become too inward-focused.
• Build up from the Community and move them in toward becoming the Core.

4. Resist the temptation to do everything at first.

• Don’t try to do everything when you start. You’ll spread yourself and your church too thin.
• Focus on doing one thing well—in the case of a new church, the weekend service.
• In the early days of the church, don’t do small groups.

5. Use 3-6 monthly worship services to build up to weekly services.

6. Don’t try to gather the churched; stay focused on the unchurched.

• Church planting is about reaching the unchurched.

7. You can start a church much faster than you think.

• You can start within 4-9 months of moving into the area God has called you to reach.

8. You can grow a church much faster than you think.