7 Big Church Planting Mistakes

I found this post helpful which is a summary of a talk given by Ed Stetzer on mistakes made when planting churches.  I excerpted a portion below. You can read the full post over at churchrelevance.com


"All too often church planters run gung-ho into church planting like they’re storming the beaches of Normandy but then get mowed down. I share mistakes, so that hopefully you can avoid them.

ED’S BIG 7 CHURCH PLANTING MISTAKES

1. Forgetting the mission.
   Our motivations can naturally be mixed. We often focus on our own agenda rather than God’s agenda. If at the end of the day, you could have done it without God, then God isn’t in it. The goal is God’s glory. You can’t become distracted by the tools.
2. Being married to a model.
   If you are more excited by the “how” than the “who,” then you are being distracted. I must be sure that I do not fall in love with someone else’s ministry model and mission. If you listen to other churches’ success stories, you can become distracted by the model. ...Too many church planters plant a church in their head and not in their communities.
3. Not taking care of yourself.
   (1) First and foremost, you need to take care of yourself physically. If you don’t take care of yourself, then you will not be able to properly prioritize God in your life.  If I am not taking care of myself, then I will never be able to be who God wants me to be.
   (2) You also need to take care of yourself spiritually. Your people need more a pastor who has been with God than an entrepreneur that is full of ideas.
   (3) And you need to take care of your family. Your family will be with you in the end, but often the people you start a church with are not the ones you finish a church with.
4. Arrogance.
   I was too sarcastic and didn’t listen well. There are different reasons people are arrogant, but my arrogance was from trying to desperately prove myself to others. I needed to realize that my Father in heaven is already pleased with me.
5. Not taking believers deeper.
   People who are yearning for maturity are longing for what Christ followers need. But I made the mistake of thinking their quest to go deeper was not aligning with the church’s mission to reach people. If your vision doesn’t take people deeper spiritually, then you have a bad vision. 
6. Ignoring hidden agendas.
   Every person in your church has a vision for your church, and it may not be the same as your vision for the church. Often the people you start with go away, and the people who stay try to hijack the vision a year later.
7. Afraid of finances.
   Part of why I was afraid of finances is because of the popular mindset of the time that said that talking about finances would offend seekers. Talking about money is fine… just don’t talk about money in a creepy way."

Good things for us to remember as we pray!