Mark Zuckerberg recently suggested that Facebook could (and maybe should) become your church. A lot of pastors and Christian leaders are freaking out about this, but Zuckerberg is merely following to its natural extreme an ecclesiology most evangelical pastors and church planters have bought into for decades. (Skye Jethani has a fantastic collection of tweets about this, by the way.) The …
4 Pro Tips for Church Planters Looking For a Place To Meet
For church planters, Where do we meet? is a top-of-mind question. You can start in homes, but eventually most church planters realize they need a public place to gather for worship. When I first started dreaming about planting my first church, I suddenly looked at every place I went with new eyes. I’d evaluate very bookstore, restaurant, brewery, office building, coworking space, …
4 Church Planting Mistakes I've Made
I don’t like making mistakes. I’d rather do things well the first time, and get praised for it. Who wouldn’t? But of course I’ve made mistakes. I’ve planted a couple missional churches where we sought to root our work in discipling people into participating in God’s mission, and then multiplying from there. All throughout this journey, up until this very moment, …
People Are the End, Not the Means
Church planters need to have vision. They need to be able to see a future that doesn’t exist yet and call people into it. But too often the vision becomes a “thing” that we use people to accomplish (rather than calling people to inhabit the vision). One of the greatest temptations you’ll face as a church planter is to use people …
You Won't Like Everyone in Your Church Plant, and That's Okay
I was talking with a first-time church planter about how things were going. As we were talking about some of the difficulties he was facing, he blurted out, “I just don’t like the people who are coming to my church! I wouldn’t choose to hang out with these people, and it’s hard to create a community with people you don’t enjoy hanging …
3 Lessons Church Planters Could Learn From Content Marketers
I’ve written before about how (oddly enough) copywriting made me a better evangelist. I also think the church could learn a thing or two from the world of content marketing. Now, just like with my post on copywriting, I probably need to clear up some misconceptions. Hang with me here. Isn’t content marketing kind of shady? First of all, a …
Practicing Patient Tenacity During Advent
We’re in the season of Advent: the beginning of the Christian year and a time of waiting, longing, preparation, and expectation. In the midst of a culture that wants to rush toward the warm fuzzies of a sentimentalized Christmas season, how can we cultivate the kind of attitude Advent is meant to evoke in us? How can we honor what this …
Why Service Projects Won't Make Your Church Missional
When I first was captured by the idea of missional church, I started by coordinating service projects. Mostly because I didn’t know what I was doing. My imagination had been captured by a bigger vision for what life, faith, and ministry could be, but I didn’t know how to get started moving in that direction. Telling People to Live on Mission My wife …
Why "Making Things Happen" is a Bad Idea For Church Planters
I’m still not sure how I became a church planter. Seriously, my gifts and talents don’t seem to make me a likely candidate. I wasn’t picked early as having “church planting potential.” I don’t have that serial entrepreneur thing that a lot of planters do (although I did start a punk rock band in high school and we were actually kind …
How to Spot an Immature Teacher and What To Do About It
“How to Spot an Immature Teacher” is the fifth in a series of five articles on recognizing immaturity in fivefold ministry and what to do about it. If you have no idea what fivefold ministry is, check out Alan Hirsch’s brief descriptions here, or JR Woodward’s video introduction here. If you’ve ever planted a missional church, you know it isn’t exactly a …