Hardships in church planting part 1

  • Venues are really difficult. You are a bonus to your landlords and they don't want to do extra thinking about you.
  • Some say you should start raising money for a building from the first year. Start building in a culture of working towards a building. You'll need to eventually and it's hard to start thinking about it later.
  • Early days, gathering a core, while you are possibly working elsewhere, can be savagely exhauting. [Lots of people at this conference seem to be talking about pulling over on the highway to have a snooze, because they're so tired].
  • You may need to hold the reigns tightly at first, until you know who you really want to work with. That can be exhausting.
  • It's like swimming back from being seriously stuck out in the surf, take a breath before you get thrown back under.
  • You are carrying lots of insecurities, comparing yourself to other churches. Keep your expectations of your mother church low and be thankful. You gotta be prepared to mow lawns for a living. Better to promise less than you deliver in the context of coaching church planters.