Catalyst Financing Church Planters and Teams

Financing strategies for church planters & teams

Survey of financing strategies for church planters & teams

Goals of the survey

This survey sought to identify potential financing strategies for church planters and church planting teams who are sent from the UK or the West to the UK, Europe, and other parts of the world. There will be some application for church planting teams from other environments, but they do need to consider carefully their context (where they come from as well as where they are going) before assuming whether any read across might be useful.

It also sought to develop training for current and potential church planters, and some ideas for those supporting church planting to consider.

As I analysed the input I received there were many helpful suggestions on “other things to consider”. I concluded that the most helpful way forward would be to spell out the potential financing models and strategies that I had encountered in some detail, and to provide something of a brief checklist of “other things to consider” before embarking on church planting.

Big picture questions

For those considering appropriate financing strategies there follow some big picture questions for church planters and church planting teams to consider with those advising them:

1. Which financial model(s) of planting churches are being used?

2. Are there any further financial models for planting churches that the team and supporters should consider?

3. What financial resources, and how much of those resources, will it take to get (1) the lead church planter, and (2) the church plant itself to be financially selfsustaining?

4. What further revisions to the financing strategy are needed to close any gap?

5. What is the revised plan in the light of considering all the available financial models?

Acknowledgments

I recognise that this has heavily relied on input from a substantial number of people involved in church planting for which I am very grateful. I hope and pray that their lessons and experience will be truly helpful to those considering church planting, and those who are reviewing how their church planting efforts are going. I am full of respect and awe for those who are pursuing this difficult but essential activity to advance the kingdom of God. I take full responsibility for any errors in my presentation, interpretation and assembly of all the input I have received.

Richard Wightman

May 2024

With input from all those listed in Appendix C.

The driving forces of church planting

1. Church Planting happens from a revelation of Jesus. We plant churches in response to a revelation from Jesus, or an even better way of saying it would be, a revelation of Jesus. The ultimate reason for church planting is seeing the lost saved and the Kingdom of God advancing. Without a settled, sound biblical theology of church planting in the local church, church planting remains a good idea which will only last as long as it takes for another idea to come along and distract from it. We need to realign our financial stewardship in local churches accordingly.

2. Start with the WHY do we plant local churches. The why will determine, the what, when and how. First God speaks, then hearts move, then that leads to prayer into and finally the actions to go and establish the work and so it gets repeated!

Isaiah 6: “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us” (God speaking) and then the “Go and tell this people”.

”

Church planting is a movement into a new place, and so the financial strategy will be shaped by this movement to plant churches. If we live the why, like Isaiah, our lips are touched, our guilt is taken away. We see God, we carry the revelation of our sins and the sins of others, and we say “Here am I send me”. We go so that their “guilt can be taken away and their sins atoned for”. This becomes our purpose and we know that we can only reproduce what we are. Apple seeds will only produce apple trees and church planting must be at the heart of the local church or it cannot reproduce it in its fruits. Church planting cannot be done merely as a ministry or a project. To equip 1,000 church planters needs local churches to become planting churches and not just giving money in to setup a church planting school etc. Elders came on team on their way to planting churches.

Local Churches have to commit to it, and it will cost them everything!

For the local church it becomes the mission, and from it, it will raise up and release people and resources from within to reach the lost. This implies that we have to recalibrate the purpose of local churches, how they are spending their finances, staff resources and programs, and how they are training new leaders.

A church planting movement outside Newfrontiers in the Middle East closed down all financial support to parachurch organisations and charitable activities. 15% of their total income was redirected into church planting initiatives, initially into that done by others and later into their own. From this start they planted three churches in three nations (Paris, Bahrain, and Gold Coast, Australia) in three years. This also gave momentum to the formation of an apostolic movement as other churches (friends) started to relate by inviting them into their churches. Every resource, elder, staff, congregation member and volunteer was encouraged to go and make disciples. The church started to mature because they were doing it. For example, all ministry leaders were sent once a year to go and serve in another setting (fully paid); it totally changed the face and shape of the local base church. The base church grew from just under 400 to over 1,000 while planting and God kept adding but they also kept sending out. The financial support to parachurch organisations and charities was re-established, but only when the movement again had margin to do so. All their kids and youth leaders were asked to take their teams once a year, and later three times a year, to other nations. Everyone, every age, and every ministry, was asked to go and serve. It became part of their programs. Those kids later became church planters and so the cycle reproduced itself.

Timescales

We should consider planning the financing over a significant period of time which will vary according to the scale of the adjustment required:

For a “strawberry” plant the timescales would be shorter than for a “parachute” plant.

₀ A “strawberry” plant is where a church (or site) is planted that is local to the planting church, so it does not need the members or leaders to move house or employment to get things started. It is like strawberry suckers popping up nearby, and it is somewhat easier.

₀ A “parachute” plant is where a church (or even a site) is planted in a location remote from the planting church, and which requires the church planting team to uproot, and move houses and jobs to a completely new location. It is often the only way you launch in a completely new environment, and can be the base from which multiple strawberry plants are then planted out.

For a national church planting within its own national environment the timescale will be shorter than for trans-local church planting because relationships are easier, and there is an understanding of language and culture. The socio-economic background of the community into which the church is being planted will impact the duration of essential funding support.

For cross-cultural calling it will require a longer period of external finance. Where language learning is required it will be longer, and also will vary according to the:

₀ Complexity of the language. (Rules of thumb for intensive language learning of 2/3/4 years have been suggested).

₀ Aptitude of the individuals for language learning. If there are dependent children the planning will need to be further ahead and longer.

Some recommended minimum planning timescales would be:

₀ 3 years for a strawberry plant in an affluent area within country.

₀ 10 years for cross-cultural “parachute” church planting including complex language learning. The aim here is the financial support firstly of the church planters and secondly the financing of the entire new church planting team. A follow-on question is for how long you finance the lead church planters, and for that matter the church planting team, if it isn’t going so well.

Strategic models to consider for financing church planters

There are material world view, cultural and commercial differences by market/country that mean different church financing strategies work in different places. It is also highly dependent on the skillsets of those leading the church planting team.

1. Missionary model

In Wycliffe Bible Translators the usual model is for an individual to raise funds by asking for support from friends, family, sending church, and usually three or four other churches with which they have a friendship.

One church planter found that after five years the people who gave initially wanted to give their money to something else, and there was a significant tail off.

Raise 30+ personal donors from among your close family and friends at £10 - £100 per month. It is a relational model engaging the people who know the church planters and are interested in supporting the church planters.

Stewardship in the UK offer advice for people church planting (https://www.stewardship.org.uk/churchplanting) and also provide a way for Christian workers to receive gifts (https://www.stewardship. org.uk/partner-account-individuals) through their website (with gift aid).

This model is difficult to sustain in the long term without a significant investment in time for comms (regular newsletters to a wide distribution list) and visits to churches which can take weeks if everyone wants a Sunday. It is also unsettling, expensive and emotionally draining when trying to get established in a new location. It is also difficult to raise enough funds via this method. (30 donors at £10 - £100 per month is £300 – £3,000 or £3,600 to £6,000 which in one church planter’s experience is not enough to fund a family of four in Europe, especially if international school fees are required and for most people expensive rent.

Ongoing finance can quickly be at risk, relationships change, as does people’s ability to give. This model will usually need to sit alongside one of the other models, and can actually damage relationship where people feel they are now being viewed as primarily a source of money. It needs very careful communication.

2. Church sending model

3. Grant model

Ask another church to manage the finances and invite them to raise funds with / via the congregation / Gift Days etc. (City Hope have done this)

People are likely to need a combination of models 1. and 2. above to raise sufficient funds unless they are from a large church with a significant number of generous long-term donors. One church planter knows of one family that is largely funded by one individual who felt called to support them long term, but that is an American, and generally American churches seem to have a very different missional giving mindset.

This can be a good model, but it needs very clear agreement between the church and church planters regarding commitment and responsibility. The church needs to understand that ‘sending’ is very different to ‘blessing someone as they go’, and can carry a legal duty of care.

Focus on the charity work and apply for many grants from many institutions (Catalyst and Hub included) This funding directory guide from the Church of England can be helpful: (https://parishresource. wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/ Charitable-Grants-for-Churches-July-2023.pdf), as can https://christianfundersforum.org (a network of Christian Trusts and Foundations). It would also be worth exploring if the individuals know anybody who has a Charitable Trust or Foundation too (as they may choose to support the individual on an on-going basis through a Trust). Most areas have a Funding Advisor (with funding directories) and Community Foundations.

These first three models might work very well for the initial church planting phase, later transitioning to another model. The main problems with these first three approaches are that: they tend to decrease over time as connection with the base wanes, and ultimately they drain the Kingdom of funds, except to the extent that they inspire people to give on a scale that they wouldn’t otherwise have done. They can create a dependence that can be unhealthy, or even transmit the culture of the finance providing locations. They are also often very time consuming. They can also create a ‘paid missionary’ mindset in the sending church – essentially paying for mission through giving.

Big denominations in Africa rent facilities for church planting. The pastor is a part of and comes from the denomination and they fund him, and this can continue for a long time. Sometimes, after three to seven years, there is sufficient local funding for the central denomination to reduce the support provided, but the central support can continue for a very long time.

It is better to pay husband and wife from grants if they are both going to be actively involved in the work of church planting, at least until one or other has acquired other sources of income. This is more honouring and releases both to engage in the community.

Over dependence is a potential issue, and one church planter questioned whether this may be a Western mindset as there are very few (if any) churches planted in the Middle East which are self-sufficient financially. Another church planter questioned whether ongoing support was realistic. Very few western-planted churches can survive self-sufficiently, and indigenousled churches don’t seem to have the same issue. The solution may be to hand over leadership to indigenous leaders as quickly as possible. Church planting movement catalysts suggest that external finance limits growth and slows momentum. The UK may have stopped giving them funds, but this has just led them to seek funds elsewhere, often from America and / or relying on leadership by tentmakers or pensioners as they may be able to raise funds for projects but not for paying leaders. This has the potential to limit growth, stop leadership being handed on to the next generation (no pensions to rely on), and risks the mission being financially driven by those who don’t share Newfrontiers values and therefore getting off course. There is a risk of exporting western expressed Newfrontiers values rather than culturally shaping indigenous leaders to lead new churches.

There is also a risk of the church planters becoming trapped, dependent on the giving from elsewhere to maintain lifestyle, and either not having the skills, or being out of the market too long, to return to secular employment, leaving them with no way back.

4. Entrepreneurial business model

The church planters work part-time using seed-corn funding provided as a one-off grant to run a business locally. This model requires the church planters to focus on business development AND church planting, which could be very difficult. Also, it requires business orientated church planters. Few church leaders make good individual entrepreneurial business people long term. The skills and motivations are different, and pastoral issues often derail them! However, the biggest risk is that starting a new business can be all consuming and so mission is likely to be significantly reduced. This is a good model, but church planters need to have some expertise from the start to avoid wasting money, and it is more likely to be appropriate to the team supporting the overall leader.

A couple in Lisle in France acquired a building in which they rent out space to facilitate entrepreneurs developing their businesses.

Successful pig farming businesses were run in Mbaya, Tanzania and in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after the provision of seed-corn funding. In the DRC the pig farm failed initially due to a lack of understanding of the need to vaccinate to minimise the risk of disease, and they learnt the need for local knowledge to make this model work.

For this model to be successful the following elements are usually needed:

A documented business plan.

Training of the entrepreneur, particularly in:

₀ finance for the short-term cashflow management.

₀ Marketing, which is more important for the longer term.

For example, in Eastern Europe and Africa people tend to start with a product they want to sell rather than with a problem that the product could resolve

Mentors, usually at least two:

₀ One with an understanding of the business, who could be external and remotely located.

₀ One with local insight who can help with the entrepreneur’s character.

Mentoring on top of seed money doubles the likelihood that a local business start-up will succeed, particularly in Africa. The power of discipleship works in business too. In Africa and South East Asia this model is often difficult to make work because of the mindset of the individual who are more often looking for a dependency model, lack the mindset to persevere, an didn’t plan ahead, all of which make it difficult to make this model work. Hence the importance of the local mentor.

A network of contacts.

The ability to talk to someone when there is a difficulty.

In Zambia an apostolic leader has found a talented young trainer who has developed a chicken farming business. They have developed all the supply chain connections to get reliable feed and vaccines, and they are now training other indigenous church planters to deploy the model.

“In Africa, notably Malawi and Mozambique, we often send pastors to go and live in their church community, but give them skills and a short term capital investment to start a business, usually something around farming or agriculture. Most pastors in this context have to grow their own food anyway, so helping them set a sustainable way of doing that with business opportunities attached has proved generally fruitful. As ever, cyclones, natural disasters and economic changes etc can have a serious effect on these.

An avocado business started by selling avocado trees, making a certain amount of money. Then the entrepreneurial support advised them to move on to selling the avocados themselves, and doubled its profits. Then the business was advised to press the avocados and sell the oil, and made ten times as much profit.

The three tests used are:

1. Would a local pastor validate the character of the entrepreneur?

2. Would a local business person support the business, for example with market research?

3. Would the wider business entrepreneur believe in the problem and the product and its solution?

Most of these types of model that require discipleship to create a business opportunity cost £3k to £5k per unit in southern and Eastern Europe, and £300 to £500 per unit in Africa.

Relatively few pastors are good business entrepreneurs as the skills are quite different. One specialist in this field estimated that less than 5% of pastors should start their own business.

Having a legitimate business reason to be in a country gives credibility both with locals and the government. A consultancy senior employee has been church planting for a decade in a Middle Eastern country when other pastors have been expelled.

In Turkiyee there is a great opportunity for teachers coming from the UK to work in schools (particularly helping raise standards and bringing the highly attractive western education influence), be it through English language or more general teaching experience. A team member in Turkiyee learnt language and then got a job in a British school, and is now a head teacher influencing and earning well in his work.

5. Paid employment model

“A church planter started out as an English teacher in Turkiye, then became a business consultant, in both cases parttime whilst also a member of the church leadership team, then became the church team leader, and then again a member of the team once local leadership had developed.

”The church planters work in part-time or full-time roles. This is less common for ex-pats, but common for indigenous church leaders, because local wage rates tend to be low and there is usually severe competition for jobs. There are opportunities for full time work where the skills and experience of the church planters is appropriate.

The increase in part time working and the consequences of fewer jobs because of Artificial Intelligence on church finances make this increasingly relevant.

This model is more widespread, and there are more opportunities to use skills in other countries now as wealth increases. However, it is not advisable beyond five years as: the idea is to plant a new initiative and this will generate more and more work and activity which will leave less time for the secular employment. If it runs too long there is a danger of burnout. In any case in Europe now UK passport holders would need a 12 month contract offer in order to stay in an European country more than 90 days in 180.

This route does make it easier to expand the team and to delegate.

There is a Western and unbiblical mindset of a sacred /secular divide. The market place is very much an unreached mission place - Paul was a particularly effective part time evangelist, part time gig worker (who supported others too), but was only a part-time gig worker when he had to be. (A typical Christian in their lifetime may spend 5000 hours in church meetings but 80,000 hours in paid work mostly with non-Christians.)

6. Consultancy model

A church planter in Athens is working part-time as a town planner for his former employer, a local authority in the United Kingdom.

In a church in Tirana in Albania the church planting wife works fulltime for a Christian organisation which brings in both money and contact with a wider network whilst the church planting husband focuses on the churches. It is, however, very tiring for the working partner who may feel they never get any down time with working all week, and

church responsibilities all weekend and in the evenings.

The church planters also work part-time in ex-pat consultancy roles. This very much depends on the church planter’s skill-set and network of relationships in the UK but is becoming more common with virtual working.

Models 5 and 6 are probably the best models for church planters in the West, after the initial church planting phase, but they eat into time and capacity. If the expectation for the (oversees) church planters is to get something on the ground straight away, then Models 5 and 6 are going to be very difficult.

As support under models 1 and 2 inevitably wains, if achievable this is a sustainable way to stay long term without having to keep coming back for weeks to drum up support. The downside, as for any of the tentmaking models, is that the capacity for mission is reduced especially in the early years where language learning is still a priority. There is a risk that we get drawn into more project work over time and get distracted from the mission. For some the consultancy model also avoids being the professional Christian and is a good example of work to the people we serve who may be attracted to Christianity for the Western money. Being bi-vocational often means that you can run longer in a different culture because the consultancy work is often more energising.

The problem with the consultancy model is that it is emotionally taxing. The time commitment and the mental load are difficult.

A church planter in Athens says that this has definitely been true for her. She really enjoys her consultancy work and it is much easier than the spiritual battle of mission and language in a cross-cultural context which takes courage every time she walks out the door even to do simple things.

7. Business partnership model

“A software company in the UK which is passionate about working and serving in Turkiyee connected with some people in a church in Turkiyee who had Turkish language skills, had recently graduated, and who were struggling for finance. They now work as part of the software company’s development team.

”8. Passive income model

Where a business partner funds the church plant through their entrepreneurial efforts. This is utterly dependent on the relationship between church planter and business owner remaining strong, which is a very significant risk. Strong business leaders often seek to control and direct in ways they shouldn’t. Also, there is a risk that there is no obvious relationship with the apostolic oversight. This solution also provides team and potentially employment opportunities for others if the values are aligned.

The main protection against this risk is to form a church planting team that includes the business partner, and for them to own the church planting vision and to see the business activities as part of the church planting activity.

A church plant would ideally have a pastor (with faith for people), an evangelist, a worship leader and a business entrepreneur (with faith for business).

See model 4 above for a lot more detail on available processes for training, equipping, mentoring and supporting entrepreneurs and business partners.

The church planters have a source of income that provides independent means that does not require active work, freeing them to focus on the church planting alone. Examples would be property ownership and royalties from music, books, and online coaching or counselling courses.

This is an ideal form of income because it leaves time free for the church planting, but it is not easy or that common, and not everyone can tap into this. Also, the examples given are not that passive. They would all require some input of time and effort at the outset in order to produce income in the long run.

The downside of this approach is that some of these forms of income, such as an investment property, can also take significant time and capacity and specific skills set and / or significant personal funds.

“

The expectation was that for two years the prime focus would be language learning... ”

General For oversees church planters it is difficult to decide which model of church planting should be employed before living in a place for a while. The solution may be to raise funds under models 1 to 3 to provide an income for two to four years, so that the planters can concentrate on language learning, settling the families and learning about the local culture. The problem is that if a suitable model is not then found the entire church planting plan could be unsuccessful. There therefore needs to be at least an initial plan for the subsequent years, even if lived experience leads to its subsequent adjustment.

In addition, these decisions are impacted by whether the church plant is a Micro model, relying on a base church to provide support services, an autonomous church plant or a site of a multi-site church.

Another way of thinking of the eight models outlined so far is that there are three types:

1. Bi-vocational models.

2. Close discipleship models. e.g. Subsistence farming using approaches such as “Farming God’s way”.

3. Church planting team models. This would ideally have a pastor, an evangelist, a worship leader, and a business entrepreneur.

A bi-vocational model is becoming more and more common. Within the Shengen area it would be easier to locate the employment in a low admin and low corruption area even if the work itself is in a different area.

“We came as a team staggered over nine months. The team came together. They had a number of different models of funding – working part-time, being fully funded. The expectation was that for two years the prime focus would be language learning, and it is not helpful to work in the first two years. It didn’t work for half the team because of the pressures on their finances. Most had some support given from churches or individuals for at least two years for language learning. If Arabic is involved it is probably three to four years and Germany, France and Spain maybe one year. Most people pivoted to find work. Most foreigners in Turkiyee have to move from support to sustainable, and in Turkiyee westerners can get work, but need the right skills.” Some who have local opportunities choose to continue with higher salaries in global companies.

TrainingSuccessful church planters are convinced of the call to plant there at the outset and are ready to persevere. They are people who feel God has called them to pioneer. They are ready and able to go the extra mile and to make sacrifices. You also need a good feedback system. Best leaders are ones who come from the city and who move back to plant because they understand the environment.

”

Joshua, going into the Promised Land, had a plan and a strategy. He moved first west (Joshua 1-8), then responded to the attack of the southern Amorite kings (Joshua 10.1-28), then attacked the remaining southern kings (Joshua 10.29-43, and finally responded to the attack of the northern kings taking all their land (Joshua 11).

Sometimes people talk of “living by faith” and simply relying on God to provide financially for the work of church planting. There will always be an element of living by faith because income from most sources has an element of uncertainty, and circumstances can change over time. Nehemiah planned the required resources before leaving the king and travelling back to Jerusalem. He had the resources in place before he started, even though some of the strategies then changed as he encountered active opposition.

We want to encourage potential church planters to think out all the approaches in advance of church planting, and to enter into the process with a clear plan, and a fallback plan if the first doesn’t work out. The “living by faith” should be the way in which the intentional plan is delivered and remaining gaps are filled, rather than being an alternative to having an intentional and focussed plan. It is usually easier to plan ahead before the church planters are in the midst of resettlement and relationship building in their new environment.

Consider what it takes for healthy leadership, with perhaps modules on (1) Emotional Intelligence, (2) giving and receiving feedback well, (3) conflict resolution skills, and (4) re-emphasising the model of ‘knowledge, skills, and character’ as a framing of training agenda.

We also need to train people in: Safeguarding. Stewardship. Emotional intelligence. Local knowledge – as every country becomes more multi-cultural it is important to understand how different people groups interact. (Sharon Clark says there is an excellent tool for this online.) Ability to pivot, as the strategies will undoubtedly change more than once, and the initial vision needs to be held lightly. Story telling.

Getting people to seek God’s input on the various models.

Training needs to be broad, and not just to cover leadership and theology. The pastor must be prepared theologically, emotionally and in leadership, and that usually takes one to three years. Training needs to include training in understanding the area in the area. Benin church started leader, but had no apostolic oversight to lay proper foundations. Build teams from the local area.

Faith for money and resourcing

Personality has a big role to play in this. Some can maximise their relationships and can catch people up in their vision through their own story telling. They have a natural energy about them.

Some others simply don’t have the ability to attract in the same way.

We have to be clear whether this is something that can be taught, or whether it is actually an essential ingredient for a successful church planter.

A possibility would be to set up a training/coaching consultancy that could employ leaders anywhere as associates. The consultancy would provide training, ongoing supervision, accreditation and marketing support. Selection could be complicated, and not all would be suitable.

Recommendation

Train people thoroughly before they go. Help people to plan thoroughly. Take into account all the planning dependencies listed above.

Train in sustaining healthy leadership. Train people in safeguarding, stewardship, emotional intelligence, ability to pivot and story telling.

An element of preparing for church planting is to develop faith for raising finances and resources.

The biblical principles include it being good to give, good to support one another, and good to give where there is a need, and for there to be a healthy interdependence amongst churches.

In the Western world this can lead to there being too great a desire to be autonomous, with a risk of directing how others’ behave and of colonial style control.

In the Eastern and African worlds it can lead to a dependency on rich benefactors with charity giving not a significant cultural norm, and in some countries little culture of significant giving. The upside is the community and family nature of mutual support.

One church planting church found that the most long term sustainable model has been a combination of bi-vocational work by the church planters complemented by local church support topping up the financial needs. The aim has then been to reduce gradually the latter as things hopefully grow. This has been true in the UK.

Views on money differ widely in our experience, so it is worth working out the expectations and assumptions in advance. Far too many church planters give up because there is insufficient early training and planning. Training should address the various models that the church planters can be good at and have faith for, rather than imposing any given model on them. This requires a bigger discussion on various models that are ‘OK’ within our family of churches. Most people plant from what they know, but there is a wider debate as to what is appropriate in the situation into which they are planting.

It does need strong ties with a sending church, providing somewhere to return to, and that can provide support. People’s hearts are where their money is, so it is worth securing the maximum possible connection.

A church plant in Turkiye considered the financing of the whole team of about ten people, rather than leaving each individual to work out their own funding solution. Their aim was to give the church leader the space to focus entirely on the church, and to visioncast, whilst other team members worked in secular employment and supported the team leader with their tithes.

If people do not learn to and model a ‘living by faith’ element before they relocate, the chances of doing it in the period of intense stress of relocation are very slim. Faith for finances is something God develops in you over time as he prepares you to step out further and further. It starts with recognising that however you receive money it all comes from Him. Faith builds, and God gives you faith. God prepares you step by step to have the faith for the gaps that remain. Because it is step by step, it takes time.

Giving differs by country (even with teaching). In southern Catholic Europe - Spain, Italy, Greece - people don’t understand tithing/giving, and the government take a tax (0.7%-0.8%) already for the Catholic church. A local pastor in Italy can still be broke relying on giving from a congregation of 50.

Fund-raising is a means, and in many places a necessity. However, the ideal should always be to create self-sustaining churches and missions wherever that is practical.

The team leaders should consider the funding exercise being a team exercise and a team discussion.

Personal development

Some of the preparation over time could be to plant in an easier environment as preparation for a more difficult environment.

A couple say they planted first into the easier for them environment of Aylesbury in the UK. They look back now and can see God’s hand on this as it has been part of the provision for them in moving to Greece. At the time, it was very challenging and the husband often felt that he wasn’t doing justice to either his church leadership or secular employment role.

Expenditure

Most church planters in the Middle East seem to use tourist visas, and are legally non-resident. That does raise ethical issues, but there may be no practical alternatives. “ ”

Of course, the income is only half of the issue, as understanding the expenditure is equally important.

The church planters also need to scour the ground well with repeated local visits and interaction with local people to understand: the local environment and its demography. the real local costs of living for every expenditure. the ease or otherwise of accessing local housing, schools, facilities and employment as appropriate. the practicality or otherwise of remote working. whether a car is necessary. the tax arrangements and constraints of the sending country and new country of domicile. Tax rules vary in different countries. In many it is very complicated and expensive. The key is to prepare thoroughly, and to consider the ethical issues involved. Schooling.

If there are children the availability and costs of local schools have to be considered, and whether public schools are practical or whether private schooling has to be planned and paid for.

Think about pension arrangements.

Standards of living viz a viz the locals around It is difficult to reach people effectively if the standard of living is visibly different. It needs to be commensurate with the surrounding environment. Gross income will need to be a bit more because the incoming church planters won’t have the same local family safety nets, but net income needs to be similar.

In addition to annual living expenses and travel back to the sending country, there are also significant oneoff upfront costs of moving which need to be paid in advance. Depending on the country, there may also be a need to pay for private healthcare which is also expensive.

Mosaic Church Ltd. In Leeds currently contains Mosaic Church, The Oak Church (planted from Mosaic 12 years ago) and also Grace City (a church being planted now) – streamlining their charitable structures to enable mission is critical.

Even if there is access to the public health care system, there are still the costs of social security contributions and in practice a mixed private / public system where only a percentage of medical costs is paid by the government.

Employment and ministry don’t have to be in the same country. The EU Schengen Area provides a unique opportunity to start a business in a low tax, lower bureaucracy country and be employed as a company representative in another EU country.

The second part of this is the budget, the income and expenditure plan:

Write down all the expected sources and quantity of income for each year of the plan.

Write down all the anticipated expenditures by item and year for the duration of the plan.

Identify the surplus or shortfall each year, and where there are shortfalls work out how this could be addressed if there is no miraculous provision. Write down the actions still needed to:

1. Crystallise the expected sources of income for the first two years.

2. Confirm or adjust the sources of expenditure at least for the first two years.

Test the plan with trusted advisors, either a coach or someone with expertise in the area, and also with someone who has church planted in a similar environment who will know what costs need to be considered.

A couple of other ideas to consider:

Explore use of digital resources. Can sermons and digital platforms be shared?

Explore the sending church providing a ‘platform’ type service to provide admin / ops / governance support to Church plants, but syncing with the autonomy of the local church.

This is usually more practical where there are fewer cross-cultural issues, for example when church planting within a single country.

Other related issues to address

The church planters need to consider:

How long they are in it for.

Most talk of a potentially life-long commitment, but at least one church planting couple only committed for five years, and could not find replacements, so it folded when the planters returned to the UK. It is essential that any successor leaders are able to cast vision successfully to engage a team.

Work out how to set up in a new country, understanding the local bureaucracy.

It takes one to two years to get acquainted with an area to understand what would work and what would not there. The church planters will first have travelled there and will know the place.

“ ”

Residency rules vary in different countries. In Middle Eastern countries many church planters work on tourist visas and rely on travelling into and out of the country every few months. That usually also limits the legal means of working. These are matters to consider carefully, and for which to have a plan, before moving.

Nationality of the church planter(s).

Visas.

If planting in another country from that of nationality decide which type of visa to seek

₀ The country of origin can significantly impact the ability to obtain visas. Generally speaking, visas are more easily acquired by UK or US citizens than if nationality is from an African country.

₀ In Middle Eastern countries many church planters work on tourist visas and rely on travelling into and out of the country every few months. That usually also limits the legal means of working.

₀ Tourist visas in Sri Lanka don’t allow tenancy agreements, so property cannot be rented, which is essential for credibility.

Barriers around discrimination. For example, in Arab countries, Indians are often looked down on, and would find planting more difficult.

Media (Communications) or more specifically social media. Today this is critical.

Partnering. Can we form a strategic partnership with say YFC, YWAM, Bible Society, US church and mission orgs for international church plants?

Working collaboratively with partner agencies would be a good, kingdom move. This has to be carefully considered in the light of those organisations connectedness in the local community and the authorities’ reaction to such organisations.

Can we form partnerships with established churches to provide access to unused / minimally used church buildings?

Is the first role hired more ‘solid administrative’ rather than church leader? This may depend on the finance model being implemented.

In Lagos a ministry has a NGO that funds schools with currently three in Nigeria and two across the border.

“ ” Running schools is a very effective strategy in Africa because it empowers people.

The church planters are advised to:

Really connect locally before moving to the new location.

Visit at different times of year to see the environment.

Understand what strategies might enable them to immerse themselves in the local culture. Not start to get the plant off the ground before learning what model would suit the place well.

Church planters in Munich found that they were working so hard to make ends meet that they could not learn the language properly, or settle the family. As a consequence of going into this with insufficient local contextual understanding they believe they launched with a completely wrong model for the church plant. Catholic Bavaria is very different from most of protestant Germany, and people do not invite others into their homes for anything “house church”. That is seen as a cult. With hindsight, they realise that better would have been to raise enough money to rent a room before launching.

Train up locals

Always seek to train up local indigenous leaders. When troubles come they will be able to take over.

“Train Europeans going out to Africa to understand the culture and cultural context. “It is different, not wrong.” The person should be thinking from the beginning about raising local leaders to whom they can hand over. When a church leader first went to Sierra Leone he found that the missionaries had rescued slaves from the high seas and had returned them to their countries of origin to evangelise, and it worked very well. On the other hand some American missionaries there had tractors and buildings, but were not developing local leaders to take it on. When war came, and the missionaries were forced to leave, there was nothing left and it therefore had little impact. In the middle part of Nigeria when white South African missionaries left in the 1970s it grew massively in the years they were away because they had raised up locals to take over. When they came back in 1998 the churches had grown massively. We should always have in mind to develop people to take over to lead not just serve them.”

Issues for the sending church

And from the senders’ perspective, how do we identify who is the right “fit” for church planting, given that the “right” people have massive faith and spirituality, and can often be more willing to just go and see what God does, but risk disappointment if it doesn’t work out

and

for Catalyst

Local churches and Catalyst can use available employment, for example managing communications or events, to provide church planters with for some limited flexible employment. They should consider how best to use such opportunities.

In some less well off communities there may be a need for longer term regular or intermittent financial support.

For external support it is important to talk about the finances as part of the review element of support.

A key lesson for a church planting movement was on sewing and reaping in finances. They had seasons draining the barns while they were planting and other seasons when they were replenishing the barns ready for the next season of church planting. They kept an eye on retaining seed for the next season, planting season and preparing and equipping the labourers. They also learned to look for the places where there was nothing, and there they invested (money, people and time). This helped them plant and grow healthy churches that look to God for provision and not to them as a apostolic movement for financial support.

In terms of raising finance for church planting/new sites etc, one church’s experience has been that it has to be a faith-filled intentional commitment to set aside money in their local church budget that then becomes available as the Holy Spirit leads. They would also work with the church planters to see how they were doing financially in terms of investing in what God has called them to.

Big picture questions for church planters to address

What preparatory work do we need to undertake, such as training and investigation?

What are the possibilities in our planned new environment?

What will the church look like in 10 years’ time (the dream).

What model could be most helpful to get there?

Which financing models will we invest our time and effort in, and over what periods of time?

What are our essential expenditure needs, and over what period of time do we anticipate the need for external support (which might need to be open-ended)?

What would be the criteria for whether this church plant is “taking”, and how/when would we know if it is not “taking”. (This is an ongoing conversation, not just a one off.)

Starting and supporting businesses in Newfrontiers spheres

Workshop hosted by Seedfund c 2021 collating some spheres’ experience of church planting

The following is a summary of a meeting in June 2022 to gather together the experience within Newfrontiers on supporting new businesses in other countries. The aim was to learn from each other, and put together some guidelines, resources and best practice as this is likely to become an increasingly significant focus in the future. This is drawn from the transcript of the meeting. Where possible it has been adjusted to remove personal references and colloquiums.

Seedfund itself has operated since 2010 in over 10 countries and with a wide variety of businesses, churches mainly linked to Martyn Dunsford. More recently other churches and spheres have started to invest in helping individuals start businesses as a longer way of supporting churches and communities.

The main lessons we have all learnt are grouped under the following headings:

A. Selection of suitable potential businesses

B. Country specific factors (based on limited experience)

C. Business Factors that tend to lead to success

D. Training

E. Effective coaching and mentoring

F. Practical issues

G. Catalyst experience

H. Relational Mission experience

Selection of suitable potential businesses

1. The most important predictors of success are as follows;

Strength of relationship with in-country apostolic/senior leadership. Some business experience in the apostolic leader or his team. Apostolic leaders who are also effective business people are very rare. A potential entrepreneur of proven character vouched for by the team to run the new business. Key characteristics are reliability, honesty, determination, humility and teachability. An understanding of the cultural challenges of that part of the world (see below).

A genuine hunger or need for the business to be a success.

2. Be careful with church leaders or staff trying to run a business alongside their ministry. Investigate how good they are at consistently running such different and demanding challenges.

3. Establishing an effective coaching/mentoring relationship at least doubles the chance of success (see below).

4. What makes things succeed is largely people, and what makes things fail is largely people. Essentially you end up backing a person, a plan, and a vision, but mostly you’re backing people. An ‘A team’ with a ‘B plan’ is better than the reverse.

5. This is particularly relevant for church planting teams in developing countries. Making sure that there is an entrepreneur as part of that church planting team, in the same way that you would send an evangelist or a worship leader or a pastor. Someone that can equip and inspire others to create wealth, remember the poor, and make the community more liveable again.

6. There’s a role for business in church planting, making disciples, raising leaders, and remembering the poor. It’s particularly added value in countries where the only alternative route to supporting people is for them to get their own jobs.

7. Industry experience and reputation in the community is very helpful.

Country specific factors (based on limited experience)

1. Russia/Eastern Europe. A tendency to want to be told what to do, risk averse and not used to taking individual responsibility. Truth and contract law sometimes seen as optional. Good with tradebased businesses, medical and artistic work but weak on financial management and marketing.

2. Ukraine and Poland more entrepreneurial and willing to take risks, and are very strong on IT skills. Even there though there is limited understanding of marketing and selling.

3. Southern Europe. A tendency to bureaucracy, protectionism, a strong grey economy and sometimes corruption often makes starting a legitimate business very difficult.

4. Balkans. Generally hardworking, with a business mentality but a tendency to be too optimistic. Political instability can sometimes be a problem, particularly government interference when things look as though they are going well.

5. Middle East (except Saudi Arabia and UAE). Hardworking and determined, often creative but struggling with major political instability, violence and religious oppression.

6. Africa. Many possible business opportunities but sometimes fail due to lack of consistency and long term planning. A temptation and pressure to employ/ favour family and tribal responsibilities to the detriment of the business. Tend to be very short term in their outlook and lack creativity around new ideas. Lack of good examples to learn from or be encouraged by.

7. South East Asia. Naturally entrepreneurial but tendency to independence and lack of feedback and accountability. Also strong loyalty to family which can distort business decisions. Need to ‘save face’ can lead to avoiding reality.

A useful reference is the World Bank ‘Ease of doing business’ guide, where they come up with sets of categories that they grade across a range of scale on how easy or hard is it to set for business, how is the rule of law and so on. It hits a number of the categories already mentioned, but is systematised through their model. If you want to have a glance how easy or hard is it in a new country, that’s a good reference point.

Business Factors that tend to lead to success

1. Small scale domestic support or service business often work best, based on the skills and network of the entrepreneur. Christians tend to be nice people who are trusted.

2. Debt collection is key, as much as possible payment should be up front.

3. Marketing is usually word of mouth, through family and local networks.

4. The key is to find a need and satisfy it profitably and securely.

5. Large farm animals are inherently risky, as is land purchase.

6. Avoid the temptation to copy successful business where the market is already saturated, but also be careful of being the first in the market- it sounds good but is hard work. Encourage the individual to spend time understanding the market and competitive pressures.

7. Be careful when individuals are under too much pressure to make it work, it often leads to bad decisions and burnout. Some pressure however is necessary.

8. Successful businesses have included a bakery, taxi services, market garden, photography, pharmacy, restaurant, barber shop, scrap metal business, corner shops, confectionary import/export, carpenter, seamstress, fish farming, breeding chickens, building a car park, making building blocks and rental apartments.

They fall into basically three categories; One is craft where people largely use their labour and skill. And the advantage of that is it’s not high capital but it’s high skill, and it’s quite mobile which is often helpful.

Another range of businesses that work well are where there is a high growth factor built in. So chickens, fish farming, anything where you’re getting a lot of yield per annum with very quick turnaround. And the third is the importance of networking and community connections. One of the success factors Joseph has had in other countries, not Zambia, is where the community has lent to the community. So the management of those loans is actually by the community deciding who’s going to lend to it. And therefore, in a shame and honour culture, there’s a very high level of incentive and repayment because you’re essentially having to pay back to the whole community.

Training

Marketing is a key area for training. It is revealing that there is no Russian or former Soviet Union state word for differentiation. The understanding of what marketing actually is and involves is often very low. The idea that you can promote your product to the detriment of others. That’s a foreign concept for many people. The idea of building an identity and a brand is quite a novel concept for many people.

Basic finance training is really helpful. Getting a list of ins and outs, just understanding what the cost base is and how to build a financial model as well as the business model.

A good model for the style of training is inspire, inquire, require and perspire. Usually it starts with some kind of inspiration. We want to motivate people to start a business and give them a reason why. And that’s often telling our own story or coming along with some really good case studies, and ideally local case studies of where it’s worked and how.

The second part is there’s a tendency in Africa and other places to go for very much a preaching model of trying to deliver training. It’s almost always ineffective when people just take notes.

Effective workshop training often involves a number of things;

1. Some quick discussion of some key principles, some ability to do breakout groups and people to actually write something down, put a plan on next steps, what they’re going to do. At least 50% of that workshop should just be questions and answers, often in a dragons’ den style, which is very effective. Much of the learning happens from bringing likeminded people together who learn from each other as to what you contribute. Most of the training after the initial bit is quite tactical; How do you get money? How do you set up the business? How do you hire the right people? How do you get a customer? how do you start a business and what were the lessons, why you fail and why you succeed?

2. Secondly, how do you grow the business? This tends to be more things on marketing, finance, people.

3. And finally some specific mentoring. If you have a day, probably most of the morning is group work, but in the afternoon you almost always do one on one mentoring because there are always people who want to come to you and get very specific advice about their business.

Effective coaching and mentoring

1. Rapport and building a relationship between the coach and coachee quickly.

2. Agree on a set of aims, regular meetings every three weeks or so.

3. Being useful straight away.

4. Mentoring where the mentee has expertise in the area being covered.

5. Ask open and well structured questions.

6. Use of case studies and personal stories, good and bad, about what works.

7. Clear action points, less than three. start the next meeting saying, “How did you get on with those action points?”

8. Ask questions that generate insight.

9. Visit where possible, because when you have relationships on Zoom or on phone, it’s never quite the same with most cultures as a face to face visit, even though that’s expensive in time and money, especially for those that are visiting. It’s worth putting aside some for money that’s raised for those kind of visits if the mentors or coaches are unable to fund themselves, or they’re feeling uncomfortable about funding themselves, and call it an administrative cost. And then it’s up to the local person on the ground to deal with transport and accommodation, things like that, so try to keep costs down.

Relationships where two coaches/mentors are involved have been so much richer for a number of reasons. If one person has to step down for whatever reason, then there’s a continuity. And that means that then a new person comes along and they can fill in for the other person. It’s a biblical model of going out in pairs even if you’re on a Zoom meeting. It means when one person is asking a good question then the other person has a chance to just pause and reflect about where the session is going and actually is something missing? Perhaps being sensitive to where the Spirit’s guiding them in that conversation. Record keeping is very helpful, even if it’s only a very simple record of those action points. How often you’ve met or when you’ve met the key action points, not pages of notes. No one’s got time to read through pages of notes. Just some key action points, and then the next meeting, did they do those action points and how did they get on. Again, that helps that if someone comes in, because one of the pairs has had to leave

Practical issues

for whatever reason, they can look back at those notes and get an idea. Obviously, it’s very important that they’re kept confidential, but again, that’s part of that agreement at the beginning, about building that relationship at the beginning, by saying, “Everything you say in this conversation is between us”.

Try and avoid making suppositions and assumptions that you understand their situation, and even you understand their business. And therefore, those open questions, it’s so important to keep them as open as possible because the answers are often surprising. ‘What are the reasons why you’re choosing this?’ is less aggressive than ‘why are you doing this?

1. Financial transfers and receipts

SeedFund use a company called Equals to move foreign exchange around. They’re very good because first of all, they don’t charge you a fee. It’s in the exchange rate. So that’s really helpful because it saves having to raise a load of paperwork on the side to pay the fee for the transfer. And they’re really helpful. Money laundering regulations are tightening all the time: if you want to move money to anyone, you must be able to get their passport. If you cannot get a copy of their passport, don’t even think of doing it. It’s not possible anymore.

It’s really useful using Equals because Barclays will only transfer out in Sterling. So, your receiver has to have a Sterling bank account, which doesn’t work. Whereas Equals will put it in any currency on the globe, even Bitcoin and transfer it. So that’s really helpful. And they provide an end to end receipt system as well, you’ve got proof that the money’s gone. But it only gets to the account. What it doesn’t do is get receipts back, which is still incredibly difficult.

Visit where possible, because in many cases, the only way you get proof that something was actually built, delivered, running, et cetera is to actually see it with your own eyes.

RM is starting to go down a slightly different route, decentralising RM as much as possible. Local churches to own the relationship (for example, there is a church that’s got strong relationship with Kenya, another church that’s got strong relationship with Zambia, another one with Bolivia and another one with Japan. RM will transfer the money to that UK church. And then the UK church does all the due diligence, all the collecting of information.

Catalyst phase the payments and subsequent payments are dependent upon having submitted reports.

2. Safeguarding

For Safeguarding we are inherently reliant on trust because the basic issue is truth and honesty. People can lie about anything. The hardest thing was to find an honest person who we can trust, and typically two or three so you get triangulation.

The key is to get somebody on the ground who understands what the word safeguarding means and what it may mean in their culture, and you trust when you ask them some questions. We need to be thinking about how to find creative solutions to it.

Catalyst experience

Over the past 12 months or so, we’ve given just over £100,000 out of the Catalyst offering towards setting up sustainable businesses.

The model that was put in place was really aiming at the micro enterprise level, with a ceiling of grant per person of £500 pounds in sterling. They were then grouped into up to 10, with someone at a church or local organisation level to coordinate. A small team would meet and have a look, sense test their applications and so on, and approve or not approve. So that meant we were agnostic in terms of the type of business.

We’re relying on the good local trust expertise on the ground. And then the working group to bring the more business focus and the challenge. That was done predominantly as grants, not as loans on the basis of where people have lost all of their working capital, just to get them back on the feet. We left that decision at country level.

Some of the pros and cons that we discussed: the pros of loans are exactly as others have said of the sustainability element, and of the sense of feeling an obligation to deliver. The downside, in some instances, is whether it creates too much pressure and does it potentially damage relationships? And so we didn’t insist on that. There’s some degree of recycling happening, about 20 to 30% at the moment.

We’ve tended to then not need stuff that requires additional skills or training inputs. So, where somebody already has a skill or some kind of prior expertise in running a micro business.

Relational Mission experience

There was an initial offering of about £110,000 with about another £30k or so that’s been donated since and the fund is being kept open. That was two years ago. So it was mid COVID, and we’re still finding avenues to distribute the money and we’re giving loans of anything from £1,000 to £15,000 per project.

So what was interesting for the apostolic leaders was that they’ve been doing Christmas appeals for ten years. Since the beginning we have never raised more than about £50,000, so to have something that was double, if not more than that, shows that the church really recognises that there’s a need, and this is a good, godly thing. It just captures people’s imaginations.

So far, almost all of them have been startups, a high risk strategy. They’ve been going into countries, and what we’ve done is very similar to what’s already being discussed, we identify a POP, a person of peace within the country that would manage the seed fund. They would either be responsible for themselves or they would allocate someone who would collect the loan that’s given out. And they would help us find entrepreneurs within the country and ensure that the loan’s repaid back. They also help us collect some stories, which we use every now and again, which are very helpful.

But we’re early days, I feel like we’re just beginning and scratching the surface. What helped was a video that was led by Mike Betts, the apostolic leader. A really good promotional video that he then personally promoted across all the network of churches. I think if it doesn’t come from the apostolic leader, it’s much harder to get traction.

Useful contacts for entrepreneurs

Name Organisation Contact details Subject area(s)

Charles Glass SeedFund www.seedfundinternational.com Financing & coaching entrepreneurs

David Lyndon Reputation Leaders www.reputationleaders.com Church planters going themselves

Laurence Evans Reputation Leaders www.reputationleaders.com Business owners financing others

Chris Page Business Link www.businesslink.site

Various Operation Mobilisation Contact via website

Coaches & links church planters & business owners

Same goals and working together in different roles

It is important that the church planters in these situations really work rather than use it as a veil with centrally provided support behind them.

It is important that they really understand the local context. This has proved to be a problem with some ex-pat organisations.

People who have provided input into this paper

The following have kindly provided input into this paper:

1. Martin Tibbert, Lead elder of Woodside Church, Bedford.

2. Sam Amara in Lagos, Nigeria who leads a church there and a group of churches across West Africa.

3. Richard Green, leads All Nations church, Bedford and supports churches in Malawi and Tanzania.

4. Jonathan and Sarah Crowhurst, church planting in Athens, Greece.

5. Paul Godfrey, church leader in Valencia, Spain.

6. Rada Adams, church planting in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.

7. Sharon Clark, administrator of Catalyst.

8. Steve Westwood, Finance Manager, Wycliffe Bible Translators and part of Kings Arms church, Bedford.

9. Chris Mason – church planting in Bradford, United Kingdom.

10. Charles Glass, Chair of Newfrontiers and Director of Seedfund. Author of Appendix A.

11. Mike Saxton, Chair of Catalyst and Charity Director.

12. Abi Flavell, church planting in Hull.

13. Sean Green, church leader of Reading Family church supporting church planting particularly in the Middle East.

14. Johan van den Heever, previously church planting support with New Covenant Ministries Intl.

15. Laurence Evans, Director of Reputation Leaders and of SeedFund supporting entrepreneurs.

16. Chris Page, Relational Mission and Business Link.

17. David Lyndon, leads a church in Istanbul, Turkiye and COO of Reputation Leaders.

18. Richard Wightman, former church leader in Milton Keynes who supports churches in the Balkans, Kenya, Spain and elsewhere.

19. Joel Kendall, who leads a church planted in Istanbul.

Catalyst is a network of churches working together to make disciples in the nations of the world. Part of Newfrontiers. A company limited by guarantee. Registered Number: 8284434. Registered Charity Number: 1150242.

Registered Address: Catalyst Network of Churches, Eaton House, 1 Eaton Road, Coventry, West Midlands, CV1 2FJ