The Reality of Planting a New Church

Starting a new church is no small task. 

While it might sound like a fresh adventure with the Lord (and it is!), the journey can be filled with hurdles. Planting a church can be both logistically and emotionally challenging, and it requires preparation, planning, and of course, prayer to see the mission accomplished. 

In this blog post, we'll dive into what it really takes to launch a new church, including practical steps, mindsets, and spiritual disciplines that can help you thrive as a church planter. 

Let's uncover what it truly takes to plant a church in today’s world!

Key #1: Team is everything.

As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1-3)

Some church planters would argue that who you plant a church with is as important as where you plant a church. That’s because team dynamics can ultimately make or break the church planting experience. Just as Jesus sent out the 72 in pairs of two (Luke 10) and the Holy Spirit sent out Paul and Barnabas together (Acts 13), you need to plant a  church within the context of community. 

“The team dynamic has the power to make it a really negative experience, or a positive experience,” says Suzanne Lair, three-time church planter in Mexico and California. “A lot of that depends on working through conflict in a healthy way.”

But before you can develop the conflict-resolution skills necessary to sustain a team, you need to actually recruit and develop a team. 

Before you plant a church, consider the people that you regularly meet with, mentor, or disciple. They might just be your future church planting comrades!

“Your team is going to be part of the people that you harvest and invest in,” says James Racine, church planter in St. Paul, Minnesota. 

Key #2: You need external support. 

Just as you’re not meant to plant a church without a team, you’re also far more likely to succeed if you have the oversight and accountability of a sending organization. 

Unless your home church acts as a sending organization, you need to partner with a sending organization that can provide support, coaching, mentorship, and assessment.

“Do not do it alone,” says Mike McCrary, the director of funding and strategic partnerships for the Church Multiplication Network under Assemblies of God. “Don’t go rogue…you need an army behind you. You have to have a network of supporters and think like a missionary.”

If you’re not affiliated with a sending organization via your denomination, then consider an organization like Stadia.

Key #3: Planting a church requires financial sacrifice. 

New churches are unlikely to have the funding and income of larger churches, which means staff members often have to live on limited budgets–or live bivocationally–at least temporarily. 

“Maybe someone needs to come off payroll,” says Alyssa Candelaria, the Director of Bookkeeping for Stadia Bookkeeping. “Or maybe someone needs to take a reduction. Or maybe, you’re just eating out all the time.”

In any case, staying aligned with your church budget can simply come down to making a few hard decisions.

“Budgeting is often about making the hard decisions,” says Alyssa.

Key #4: You may have to change location–and then change location again. 

One of the most difficult parts of planting a new church is finding a place to meet…especially if you’re starting a church in a city or a higher rent area. 

“We spent the whole time renting out spaces,” says Susanna Fleming, former church planter in Boise, Idaho. “First we met in a house, then we rented out a dance studio. Then we found a church, and rented space from them.”

While moving locations can be logistically challenging–and emotionally draining–it’s also an opportunity to strengthen your ability to be flexible. Most importantly, it’s a great opportunity to remember the often-repeated adage that “church isn’t a building.”

Key #5: You need a day off, too. 

Ironically, some of the most burned out professionals out there are people in ministry–in fact, 40% of pastors show risk of burnout. 

Unlike few other careers, church planting can be all-consuming. When you feel a constant pressure to invite people to your church, develop relationships, serve your community, and plan for the logistics of a weekly service, you can easily work seven days a week.

But church planting doesn’t exempt you from the necessity of rest. There’s a reason that God commanded a Sabbath in the Old Testament!

That being said, make time for rest from ministry. This might look like a day off during the week, and it might even look like turning off your phone for a day for a digital detox. 

Key #6: You need a “missionary mindset.”

Most church planters are starting new churches in communities that look different from their own. Even if you’re staying in the same state or county, you may encounter entirely different demographics or even sub-cultures than what you’re accustomed to. 

That being said, it’s important to maintain a “missionary mindset” when planting a new church. This includes learning your new home community inside and out–what makes people tick? What are they longing for? What kind of clothes do they wear, how do they talk, and what do they talk about?

While you don’t have to become an entirely new person to church plant, it’s a smart idea to think like a missionary so that you can become “all things to all people.” (1 Corinthians 9:19)

Key #7: Your church plant may look different than you imagined.

A church plant will typically look dramatically different than an established church–especially if that church is very large or well-resourced. 

One of the most important things to remember about church planting is to stay open-minded. While you never want to compromise on your core values or beliefs, you may need to shed old mindsets and preferences involving what a church “should” look like. You may just discover a newfound freedom, creativity, and fresh faith in the process. 

Church Plant with Tithely

One of the best ways to make sure you’re successful at church planting is to use technology that can help you stay organized, efficient, and engaged with your new community. 

Tithely offers a whole suite of super affordable tech tools that make things like collecting online donations and building a website a cinch. 

The best part? Tithely offers their entire package of tools free for one year to new church plants. To learn more, click here.