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.