What are the three stages of church planting?

I am a veteran of church planting, having planted three churches over the past thirty years. I have as well given counsel to others planting churches. One thing I am quick to explain is that there are two difficult phases to get through before things begin to get more smooth.

The first phase is the absolute beginning phase. This phase is marked by uncertainty and excitement. What defines it, however, is the sheer loneliness. By this I don’t necessarily mean the psychological experience of loneliness but the practical kind. You will have very little help. You will, as with a business start up, be chief cook and bottle washer.

If, in this first phase, you have any visitors, the likely reason they will not come back is because they don’t want to have to share in those early burdens. They’d rather board a ship with quite a few strong rowers below deck. The good news in this phase is that you get to make all the decisions. The bad news is that you have to do all the work. Want to celebrate the Lord’s Supper weekly? Congrats. No one will object. But no one will fill the little cups either.

If you make it through this phase, getting to the place where survival seems nearly certain, and where growth is robust and steady, congratulations. In this second phase you will not only have the resources you need, but plenty of volunteers. There will come, however, a new challenge. All those volunteers? Many of them are there because you have successfully planted the almost perfect church. They just need to control this one committee, provide this element of the vision, remove that practice to bring it all the way home.

In short, all these volunteers want to take over. If, however, you can make it through this phase, you will be in the clear. You will reach a critical mass that is not easily moved. You have reached phase three, a time of stability and manageable growth.

There will be, however, another journey through the phases coming. Some in the church will insist that perfection has been reached, and want to close the door behind them. They resent those who come in after them, creating cliques and divisions. Others get excited, seeing the opportunity to grow a mega-church, and, as in phase two, want to control the church’s rudder. This version of phase three, however, usually ends up either with a split, a splant (a split disguised as a plant) or a more long term stability.

I’m not trying to be cynical. I am trying to avoid being a romantic. Church planting is deeply challenging and not for the faint of heart. Every church out there, the good, the bad, and the ugly, was once a church plant of one kind or another. And every one had people willing to do the work, take the risks, guide and guard the flock. If you are not church planting, you can make a profound difference in the health of your church, whatever phase it might be in, by laboring diligently alongside the shepherd who loves and serves you.

This is the twenty-seventh installment of an ongoing series of pieces here on the nature and calling of the church. Stay tuned for more. Remember also that we at Sovereign Grace Fellowship meet this Sunday January 12 at 10:30 AM at our new location, at our beautiful farm at 112811 Garman Road, Spencerville, IN. Please come join us.