Reformed Baptist Church Planting (Part 7)

A Layman’s Guide To Church Planting – Finances And Shared Responsibilities [1]

1. Begin saving for the future right now. You don’t know how long it will take to lay a foundation and gather a core group; in the meantime, you may be able to set aside a significant amount of money. This realization was a huge factor for me in my initial motivation to begin a church planting effort. I could actually see the realistic hope of saving enough money to help bring in a pastor, and that was enough to get me started.

Your core group should be challenged with this idea as well. If three families were to commit to saving $3,000 per year for three years, you would have a $27,000 nest egg from which you could fund a year of generous part-time salary. As the Lord brought together a core group in our situation, the other members caught this vision and were prepared to demonstrate that financially. Our core group took the approach of committing to a year of full-time salary, which was well beyond our means for the long term but was a rate we could sustain for a year. We hoped that the presence of a pastor would attract others to the work. The Lord chose to bless this effort with growth, both numerically and financially. Through nearly four years, we have had no trouble at all keeping our pastor fully paid.

2. Once you begin saving as a core group, consider asking your mentor church to do the collecting and financial work. This will allow you to count your contribution immediately as a tax deduction, transfer the paperwork burden to an organization that is already set up for it, and guarantee that the money will be available to the group when it is needed. Also, when the core group begins to see the collective pot grow, that will encourage further generosity and enthusiasm. The mentor church should provide some assurances about the use of the money if a church plant does not pan out within a certain time frame.

3. Don’t expect your pastor to be a one-man show. A man who can preach, counsel, do music, administrate, and demonstrate entrepreneurial skills will be a rare find indeed. Our pastor was quite up front with us that he had never even started a lemonade stand, much less a church! We did not expect him to be an entrepreneur but to come among us and preach the Word and demonstrate warm-hearted shepherding. One value of lay people taking initiative is that you will develop a culture of serving the church in that way that will continue after a pastor is called and free him for the work of the ministry. These varied gifts will also lay a foundation for identifying and appreciating a diverse plural eldership in the church.

Conclusion:

Establishing a church is God’s work, not ours. We are utterly dependent on Him every step of the way. He may or may not use every attempt we make or do so according to our timetable. However, He does choose to use various means in the process of establishing a church. He may even choose to use the feeble means of a layman taking initiative, just to demonstrate his power and glory.

Clearly, taking the initiative to start a church is a lot of work. Don’t let this discourage you!

1. First, you don’t have to do all these things all at once. Think in terms of years rather than weeks.
2. Second, you don’t have to do all these things alone. If no other interested people emerge, then continue to network and pray and wait. But if others do come on board, then spread the labor and the blessing. Also, if the work is well justified, you are likely to find a church that is willing to provide a great deal of help. My hope is that this article will also save you much floundering around without guidance.
3. Finally, I pray that your eyes are open now to some ways to get the ball rolling and that you’re inspired to make the effort for the glory of God and the good of his elect.

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[1] This article has been retitle and only selective portions from the original article has been posted here as is relevant to my situation. The full article, by Stan Reeves, is available at Reformed Baptist Fellowship blog.