Ten things I've learned as a non-traditional church planter...

I've actually learned a lot of things, but here are ten that came to mind today:

1. Where God guides, God provides.

Learn to discern when something is just a simple, faith-building challenge and when it's a divine "no." Sometimes, God is allowing you to have your faith tested. Other times, you're just being stupid and stubborn. Learn to recognize the difference.

2. Meeting expectations is second only to managing them.

Never oversell your plan or your goals. Manage the expectations to realistic levels, then when you exceed them, you've got a team-building win.

3. People are gracious: If you make a mistake, admit it and move on.

Never deny a mistake. When you do, you lose credibility and relational cash. When you admit it and adjust, you become more credible and actually gain relational cash.

Don't underestimate the positive power of making mistakes. At least when you make a mistake, it often means you're trying something new! This creates an atmosphere where people - your volunteers and ministry leaders - are free to try new things, too. Maybe most of them will fail, but the new things that succeed are worth the list of previous failures. In this realm, failure is a GOOD thing!

4. If people don't like you, it doesn't matter what you believe.

John Maxwell says, "People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision." If they aren't buying into your vision, you need to honestly assess yourself. A friend says, "Most people overestimate two things consistently: The good smell of their breath, and their people skills."

If you're not the kind of person who already has lots of friends, you're probably not gonna make it as a planter. People will not follow someone that don't like AND respect.

(We began by having parties and picnics together for the first year. We didn't even have our first actual Bible studies until after we launched. By that point, people knew us and trusted us, and the they were VERY open to what we had to teach. And yes, we did it the old-fashioned way: we started Adventure with mostly unsaved people!)

5. Don't confuse being a day-dreamer with being a visionary.

I know too many guys who sit in their office and dream of being somewhere else where they don't have a board or council and things are "better." Understand: Day-dreamers are wishful thinkers who wanna be somewhere else and lack the skills (both people skills and leadership skills) to make things happen. They struggle and can't ever figure out why they are succeeding.

Visionaries, on the other hand, know where they need to be and they can both sell the vision and recruit the people to go with them.

Honestly, most church planters I know are day-dreamers, not visionaries - hence they monster failure rate we see around us.

6. God only reimburses money you spend wisely.

Never horde money. It's for ministry. Use it for wise ministry and God will keep replacing it.

7. Change is one of the most important traditions you can establish.

Talk about change constantly. Change keeps your people flexible and adaptable to whatever situations God brings your way.

btw, you're gonna have traditions even in a non-traditional plant, but at least you get to determine what they are! :) Keep them few, but make them healthy, meaningful ones knowing that some day some young kid is gonna come in and disrespect them and change them - which is exactly what should happen.

8. Never criticize other congregations.

Let's admit it: Most church plants are in reaction to something negative somewhere else in the planter's life. Not all, but I feel safe in saying "most."

Be careful that you don't criticize others in trying to sell your vision. Don't juxtapose yourself against someone else. If you do that, you will draw critical people to you...the very people who will eventually hinder and sicken your ministry - and eventually they will turn on you.

Sell the positives of what you're gonna do, not how you're not gonna have the (real or imagined) negatives of someone else.

9. Choose who you lose.

It is as important who you choose to lose from your congregation as it is who you choose to keep. Dysfunctional people who are not immediately teachable need to be lovingly invited to go elsewhere. Never be afraid to ask someone to leave. Part of the job of a shepherd is to remove unhealthy sheep and prevent exposure to the rest of the flock.

You've probably noticed this already, but healthy people don't stay around sick situations for very long. If you keep losing the people you'd like to have stay, you need to get really honest really quick and deal with the situation.


10. If you "need" people, you'll never have a healthy ministry.

Many planters are not themselves healthy. They have a strong need for approval. If you need the approval of people, you'll never be able to lead in a healthy manner because you'll always be afraid of displeasure - even when you shouldn't be.