Seven Steps for Planting Churches Partner Edition

Seven Steps for Planting Churches for a whole new generation of Americans following the events of September 11, 2001. For those residing in the United States, nearly everyone can attest to having been impacted by friends or family members who have been mobilized —meaning they have been called up to fulfill a military service obligation. In a similar way, mobilization is the process of fulfilling the parenting/sponsoring commitment. It is at this point that some congregations experience action amnesia.

Action amnesia is the term I use when churches or individuals renege on previous commitments. My former supervisor, Phil Langley, likes to say,“The problem with every great idea is that they always digress into hard work.”2 Hard work is a pretty good description of what it takes to effectively mobilize members of the sponsoring congregations. Mobilization is where the rubber meets the road. It’s not uncommon for the sponsoring church to get all excited about the prospect of being a part of a church plant, but when it comes time to send out members or secure commitments, action amnesia kicks in—or as Phil would say,“the great idea . . . digressed into hard work.”

Many church planters have experienced the setback of never receiving resources they believed to be forthcoming. In many of these cases, a church pastor or leader suggested the church would be able to provide a resource. The planter takes the suggestion at face value, and is disappointed when he discovers that the promised resources were never budgeted approved or requisitioned. Jesus’ instructions were clear,“let your statement be ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no.” (Matt 5:37).

A similar exhortation is found in James 5:17. It may be worth your time to call your church planter during this step and ask,“In order to ensure that we are on the same page, what resources are you expecting from the partnering church?”

Hopefully, you will find that both of you are on the same page. Just as it is important to ensure good communication with the church planter, it is critical during this step to communicate with the membership, Missions Committee, and others involved in the church planting partnership.

During the mobilization phase, it may be appropriate to conduct one or more of these types of events: • New Work Baby Shower: Encourage the church planting team to provide the partnering congregations with a list of items that are needed before or immediately following the public launch. These items can range from inexpensive (folding chairs, $10 each, boxes of pens $5) to more elaborate items, such as sound equipment, song books, video 42