Resources
Keys to establishing a Church
Tony Thompson shares advice about what to do during the establishing phase of a church plant.
It normally takes at least three years from the launch of a weekly public meeting to become a mature, established church. It will probably take around 5 years to grow an elder, unless you have readymade ones given to you!
The major change that takes place over these three years is from a single church planting team to multiple teams. Normally when you launch your weekly services it is “all hands to the pump” with everyone mucking in and doing what is needed. When you have become established people are serving in their areas of gifting. Key areas of church life are served by teams seeking together to move things forward. Teams will be leading the church forward in worship, children’s work, youth work, and administration. The overall life of the church will be overseen by either an eldership or leadership team.
As a church gets established there is a change from everything being very fluid to things being much more established.
There are a number of pitfalls to avoid when developing these teams whether it is identifying those who will lead individual teams or those who will be part of your main leadership team.
Many people join a church plant or a small church because they want to be a “big fish in a small pond”. Given positions of influence they will keep the church small; they will squash those they feel may be more gifted than they are. Don’t give them positions of authority!
Others to be wary of are people just wanting adventure, wanting glory rather than graft! Those who have joined escaping problems and situations are also not good bets for leadership until the past has been fully dealt with.
A pitfall many church planters fall into is valuing gifting similar to their own and not recognising other forms of gifting. This results in an unbalanced leadership which inhibits growth.
The team that takes a church through to maturity is different in gifting and make up from the initial church planting team. This can cause some difficulties if there is a wrong view of hierarchy and position. Some of your initial team can become disillusioned that they no longer have such an influential position as the church grows towards maturity. This needs to be handled wisely and sensitively, but is does need to be handled. Wives in particular who have been working side by side with their husbands can feel sidelines once an eldership is established. This too needs wisdom.
What to look for in potential leaders.
I always place a high premium on character rather than just ability. I am also looking for people who have a track record, who have consistently shown attributes I am looking.
Jesus uniquely spoke about the importance of servant leadership. I understand this as being leadership that seeks to serve rather than to control and to have a position. I will therefore often initially give people a job rather than a title!
Vision is important to me; I therefore want people who are fully on board with our vision. I do not want to be continually battling for control of vision.
I am also conscious of what role someone will play in a team. We all need friends but we shouldn’t just surround ourselves with friends. Unless people have a specific role and contribution to make they will soon get frustrated.
Some people have a major contribution to make but in order to fulfil their full potential they need very high maintenance. You know that they will need large doses of encouragement and support. I know I have a limit amount of time and cannot therefore support too many “high maintenance” people. You have to be careful of having too many people in key positions who demand high levels of care.
How to turn a team into a good team.
Have a clear vision and sense of direction. Clarity is essential; know where you are going and where you are on that journey. Also work hard at relationships, care for one another, and meet with God together. It is important to have fun.
Get to know peoples strengths so that they can be moved into them, keep the team dynamic rather than static.
Conclusion.
The gifts required in establishing a church are different from those required in the very initial stages of planting a church. Not all church planters are able to establish the church, very few are able to do it without help. Therefore invite experienced church leaders to help you, read leadership books in the same way that you used to read church planting books. Most importantly, trust God for this stage of the journey in the same way that you trusted him to get things started!
Comments