Listen to Your Pastor’s Advice

“I believe the best advice I could give one who has answered the call from God to plant a church is three-fold: 1) Communicate with your pastor; 2) Listen to your pastor’s advice; and, 3) Don’t leave until your pastor believes you are ready. As difficult as this may be to understand, our pastors know us better than we do. They have nurtured us in doctrines and biblical truths. They have watched us fail, succeed, cry, serve, and pray. All of us know that pastors are a gift from God to train us and inspire us to completely fulfill the Great Commission. That’s a given. But never forget that our pastor is our overseer. Don’t leave the nest until your pastor gives his approval.”—Al Price
Bible Baptist Church
Naples, Florida

Be Prepared to Trust God

“Be prepared to trust God. He will provide for every need that will come up in your personal life and in the life of the church. It can be something that drives anxiety, but relying on God and seeing Him answer prayers is an experience that will increase your faith and make you want to trust Him more! Stay out of debt as much as possible and build up as many resources and savings as you can. This will be a relief to your family as well as allow you to more fully invest in needs of the church. Share Christ everywhere you go! This must be priority number one, because the lifeblood of any church and the thing that will excite your flock above all else is seeing souls saved. God will also bring experienced Christians to assist in various ways, but the goal of any church should be to see people come to Christ and be discipled. The most incredible part of this church planting journey has been watching God change hearts and see people getting involved in a local church who had previously said they would never set foot into a church again.”—David Collins
Victory Baptist Church
Citrus Heights, California

Know for Sure You Are Called

“Know your calling. There is no greater peace of mind than knowing that you are doing exactly what God wants you to do and that you are in the exact place that God has called for you to be. Knowing that God has called you to plant a church and He has led you to your city will enable you to stay faithful when the difficult and hard times come. Know your purpose. Your purpose is to love the Lord with all your heart and please Him with your life. Your purpose is to fulfill God’s will and calling upon your life. Keep your focus upon the Lord, His calling, and His purpose upon your life and it will enable you to leave all the results in His hands.”—Adam Langston
Junction City Baptist Church
Junction City, Kansas

Focus on Personal Ministry First

“I would recommend that they focus on personal ministry first: meetings throughout the week, dinners, fellowships, get togethers, BBQs, and personal discipleship versus trying to start with a full schedule of services. This is especially true of southern California. The point is not to abandon the multiple services, but to allow the pastor opportunity to more organically grow these services in the future as people grow and desire more teaching. Building these early personal relationships will develop a stronger leadership from the very beginning and will allow the pastor to personally affect those ‘foundational’ Christians deeper.”—Isaac Morin
Inland Hills Baptist Church
Orange, California

Interact with the Community

“From the first day you step into your new community, find multiple ways in addition to doorknocking to interact with your community. Meet and visit with as many neighbors as you can. Sit in on City Council meetings just to show your support and to learn about your city. Introduce yourself to the City Council after a meeting and let them know that you are praying for them (since we pray for ‘kings and all that are in authority’). When you have a meeting place for the church, build relationships with the business owners around you. Go to Chamber of Commerce luncheons. As you stand in line at the grocery store, be friendly and chat with people. Introduce yourself at the Post Office and build relationships with the people behind the counter. Talk to the librarian. Register your children in a sports league and be at every practice and game. The list goes on and on. Don’t isolate yourself from the community. Of course, you will take every opportunity you can to share the Gospel message; however, many of these points of contact will simply be used to demonstrate friendship and the love and character of Christ.”—Tim Benefield
Golden Valley Baptist Church
Patterson, California

This article originally appeared in the Baptist Voice.