This is for my fellow pastors...
I’ve heard it all…
- We don’t need another church in our area. (You probably do.)
- I will lose members. (You might.)
- I don’t like the way they do things. (Did Jesus ask for your opinion?)
- I don’t like their music. (Never heard that one before.)
- I don’t like the way they dress or how they do their hair. (Remember when you were in your 20’s?)
The bottom line is that many pastors view church planters with
fear. That fear usually leads to ungodly
emotions. How are you going to explain to Jesus that your biggest hope for a
local church planter is failure? Remember you are talking about Jesus’ church.
Years ago I made a conscious decision to embrace church
planters. They were coming whether I liked it or not. But I had a choice. I
could sit and sour myself, or I could stretch myself and support them. In the end I found that I was the one being blessed.
Church Planters have some of the most infectious faith that
I have ever seen. They are excited, yet they are afraid. Most have a great
network of fellow church planters, yet they feel so alone. Sound familiar?
They are full of ideas but have little experience with
leading people. Remember your early days in ministry?
I realized that I didn’t need to understand or even agree
with their methods to be their friend and mentor. They deeply desire to have an
older pastor mentor them. They need a safe place to talk about their marriage,
their kids, their team and their church leaders. They need help with time
management, balancing family and church. They need to be loved.
Here are some simple ways you can make a difference:
- Call them. Ask your DOM or state convention to let you know when a church planter is coming to your area so that you can reach out to them even before they arrive on the field.
- Invite them to lunch to introduce yourself (and you pay)!
- Ask them how you can pray for them. I keep a prayer journal on specific prayer requests for church planters.
- Not all relationships will click, but be open to meeting regularly with them if they desire it. Sometimes the relationship is for a season.
- Offer to meet with them via phone or in person to pray. Each week I spend 30 minutes on the phone with a church planter in another city. We talk, and we pray. Our time always ministers to me. In fact I learn from him. Some of the most creative ideas I have had for my church have come from this young church planter. Go figure.
- Listen to them. Sometimes they just need you to listen. Don’t feel like you have to have all the answers because the truth is, you don’t.
- Be a safe confidant for them to vent.
- Help them navigate the challenges of dealing with people.
- Before you meet, ask the Holy Spirit to give you a discerning heart. He knows what they need to hear.
- Bless them with your words. But if you really want to take it up a notch, bless them in tangible ways. Provide a date night for him and his spouse. If you have a church member who has a retreat home on a lake, in the mountains or at the beach, arrange for a free week of vacation.
There is a beautiful six bedroom house available to my family at the
beach. On one occasion my wife and I took four church
planting couples along with our church counselor and his wife. We had a blast.
We played and we laughed. We ate great food. We sent the couples on a date night. During
all of this our counselors met with each couple privately. We had several Bible
studies on marriage and ministry. In the end, each couple was refreshed and
recharged. One couple said to me “this retreat saved our marriage.” I had no
idea. I think Jesus was pleased.
My faith is stretched by their amazing faith. I have great
hope for the next generation of church leaders.
