Searcy Baptist Church, where my mother & sister are members, lead a Bible Study at a Mobile Home Park in Covington. They’ve been a vital partner in our ministry for years. Grateful. 

I realized a few years ago that every church that I have ever been a part of since birth has played a role in my church planting journey. Beyond the investment in my life to share the gospel, care for my family, & teach me the word of God while I was there, they have either taken mission trips to help our church plants, given money or supplies, served as prayer partners & encouragers, or done all of the above. Looking back, I can honestly say, that I’m still planting churches today, because of God’s grace, & the incredible partners that He has put in my life to hold the rope for my family through prayer, care, & generosity.

When someone says to me now, “I think I want to plant a church one day”, one of my first questions is “How’s Your Network?” Because I know, I could not have made it, without every relational connection I have. I’ve needed every ounce of concern, care, accountability, & generosity they’ve given.

Church Planter, understand that you will need to leverage EVERY relational connection you have to be successful. God started developing your partnership network when you were born. Develop partners by:

1. Make a list of everyone you know that may be interested in your spiritual journey, seeing you be fruitful for God, & seeing new people come to faith in Christ.
2. Send them a letter or email letting them know about what God has done, is doing in your life, & invite them to be a partner through prayer & involvement. (You may need to call them & apologize for tearing down their basketball goal while a teenager, or some other shenanigans. Guilty.)
3. Communicate regularly how God is using your work together to make a difference for Christ. Email, Facebook, Phone Calls, Text Messages, etc.
4. Make the connection between God’s grace in your relationship with that church or individual & your own fruitfulness. And thank them every chance you get. And thank God for the gift of relationships with generous people.

Some come to faith in Christ & Church Planting later in life & don’t have as deep of relational connections as those blessed to be born into the faith.

• Don’t sweat it. Remember, God put you on this journey. He will bring the people around you to hold the rope as you dive in.
• Still, think way back to teachers, coaches, churches that may have taken an interest in your life & let them know where you are now. If nothing else, they’ll be blessed to see your faith & courage, but they may jump on board in other ways.

We share other partnership development hacks & resources at our Greenhouse Training for Church Multiplication. The next one is September 15 & 16 at Acadian Baptist Center in Eunice. Get more info & register HERE.

And, if you’re a church wondering what you could do in the world, let me suggest taking a look around at those who have grown up & gone out from your church in ministry to other places & see if there could be partnership opportunities. And there’s no right or wrong way to be a partner. Check out these 10 Ideas to get you started.

Planting a new church is one of the loneliest and most vulnerable tasks one can undertake. Momentum can be allusive. Area churches can be at worst territorial, at best uncaring. The needs in the community greatly outweigh the capacity of the team. The loneliness can be stifling.

One solution: The Church Planter Peer Network. Getting together with other planters for prayer, encouragement, and collaboration can broaden the perspective of planters to decrease the role loneliness plays in the church planting process.

Research has shown the validity of church planting networks. In the Church Plant Survivability and Health Study realeased in 2007, by the North American Mission Board, a survey found that church plant survivability increased by 135% when a planter met with a group of church planting peers regularly.

Another survey of 600 church planters revealed that first year attendance was over 50 percent greater in the churches planted by those participating in a peer network.

As I speak with those that supervise and work with church planters, the difficulty of getting network participation often comes up. Why? Let me speak for myself:

• Pride. To be a planter you’ve got to have a bit of an independent streak and that can lead to an arrogance that says “I don’t need others” or “I don’t have time for others” or “I don’t care what others are doing.”
• Insecurity. Church planters are usually forced by circumstances to perform outside of all the boxes and decisions are made with little positive or negative input and uncertain consequences before or after. Insecurity about ideas can make a planter fearful of negative peer criticism, so we stay away.
• Competition. Probably one of the most disgusting things among ministry peers is territorialism and competition. As if one person or one ministry or one approach could possibly reach an entire area with the Gospel.

Acadiana Church Planters got together for fellowship in the Spring at Christ Church, Lafayette. 

One of the best things that planting a church has done for me is drive away my independence. I am more certain than ever of my need for God (remember, we’re never alone as we go into the world – Matt hew 28:19-20), my need for others, and my desire to invest and add value to those working to expand God’s kingdom through church planting. I’ve planted a church without a peer network and now, planting my second church, I’m excited to be leaning on peers in church planting for prayer, encouragement, and collaboration.

Summer Network Luncheons

This Summer, we’ll be putting on Church Planting Network Luncheons all over Louisiana. Connect with one of them if you’re planting, considering planting, a fan of planters, a partner of planters. We’ll tell stories, encourage one another, & talk about the places of need in your area. RSVP to one of the below luncheons HERE:

• Baton Rouge – June 21st – Baptist Associaton of Greater Baton Rouge Office – 11am-1pm.
• Bayou – June 23rd – Revival Life Church in Houma – 11am-1pm.
• CenLa – June 28th – Baptist Building in Alexandria – 11am-1pm.
• New Orleans – July 19th – New Orleans Baptist Association – 11am-1pm.
• Acadiana – July 21st – Evangeline Baptist Associaton Office – 11am-1pm.
• Northshore – July 25th – Maritime Museum in Madisonville – 10:30am-1pm.
• West Monroe – July 28th – First West – 11am-1pm.

And let me know of other networking opportunities in Louisiana.