Church Planting 201: Training
As we have journeyed into the unknown of church planting, the time of training and preparation has been rejuvenating and extraordinarily equipping. One of the questions I’ve received from others is, “Matt, do you really need more training? You’re a pastor. You’ve graduated from seminary and now are pursuing a postgraduate degree. Plus, you have the Bible and the Holy Spirit—isn’t that enough?”
This is a fair question. Is specified training for church planting really needed?
What is church planter training and why is it needed?
If you’re like me, when I hear the word “train,” the voice in my head automatically defaults to Inspector Jacques Clouseau in The Pink Panther, “So—you are Yuri the t’wainer who t’wains.” (and yes, my church planting “twainer” Kirk has been called Yuri more than once in this process!). But lest we think that all training is basically the same, we need more information. In seeking to assess the usefulness of church planter training, I want to look at three components of the process from my recent completion of the Vintage Mission training here in Phoenix. First, we’ll look at the assessment, then the scope, and finally, the outcome.
Assessment
Since church planter training is intensive and requires significant investment from the planter and the trainer, most church planting ministries have a vetting or assessment process. From my experience at Vintage Mission, there was initial vetting in areas of theology, shepherding, and communication background. In addition, church planting is not for the faint-hearted or the one who likes a slow and steady pace. It requires high energy and extreme flexibility. Because of this, certain personality types and specific spiritual giftings are more likely to succeed in a planting context. These also were assessed and weaknesses were pointed out and addressed with a growth plan within the first month of training.
But, we also know that personality and gifting alone are never enough to plant a church. These high-drive, type-A, gifted persons must also be humble (God help me), growing in teachability, and spiritual—which means they’re dependent on God. Tragic stories form a graveyard of church plants built on a person, or rather, a persona—yet never infused with true spiritual power from above. Therefore, part of the assessment phase is not only recognizing where the planter is at in his own walk with the Lord, but also providing spiritual formation and discipleship for him. To be a successful planter, his personal spiritual life must be vital and growing. He must know that God is the one who plants churches, not us. He must be willing to sacrifice and surrender for God’s glory and the sake of the mission.
All of this to say, in order to be considered for church planting, one must be qualified to be a pastor, have unique wirings and giftings that are well suited for the entrepreneurial work of planting a brand new church, and yet he must also be a spiritual man who is dependent on God.
Scope
The scope and process of each program will be different. Still, I can share from my recent experience, having just completed the Vintage Mission training. The first few weeks can essentially be chalked up to building faith. Not a rah-rah kind of a faith that blindly expects to be caught when falling—but an actual dependence and intimacy with God coupled with bold prayers and courageous moves. Church planter training starts with instilling the truth that Jesus builds His church and not us (Matt 16:18, 28:18–20).
The training process involves implementing a vision for what kind of church will be planted. Church planting is unique in that there’s no set of biblical priorities that are being inherited. There’s no foundation on which to build. No church culture or sacred cows. Not even a mission statement. So the training provides an opportunity to assess—what kind of church do we want this to be? And more important than that—what kind of church does God bless?
Then, there’s the “how-to.” Admittedly, there are probably many ways to plant a church. However, there are also many ways not to plant a church—at least not successfully. In fact, depending on which stats you believe, somewhere around 60–80% of church plants fail within the first three years, if not within the first year. So, “how-to” is not everything, but it should be included in the training. This how-to culminated in producing a Planter Playbook, which for me, ended up being well over 200 pages of typed material ranging from job descriptions for each of our eight volunteer Teams leaders, to a written policy on diaper changing in the nursery (yes, every detail matters—even the stinky ones).
Contextualization is the next key step to understanding how to plant a church with a playbook in hand. How do we bring the same historic faith to a modern context, and specifically, to our city? This contextualization training involves doing a demographic study of the city, getting to know the flow of people traffic, understanding various subdivisions and neighborhoods, and the like. How do people think in this city? Where are they from? What do they do for fun? What do they think about God and religion? These questions are essential to effectively bringing the gospel to a new region.
Finally, there’s the organizational build-out. With much of the theological and missional training done, the planting process provides greater assistance in how to actually start a church. This process can be daunting without someone walking alongside you with a step by step assistance on things like registering for a federal tax (EIN) number, filing for incorporation with your state, opening bank accounts, creating online giving portals, getting a URL, creating a website, starting social media accounts, producing a branding/style guide, developing a communications strategy, opening Quickbooks…and don’t forget about producing bi-laws, forming a doctrinal statement, creating a board, and drafting other policy that will govern this brand new entity called a church. The organizational build-out is probably the least favorite part for many pastors who want to teach God’s word and shepherd people. Yet, it is a crucial one for a well-run church to exist.
Outcome
Finally, the goal of the training is simple—clarity and conviction. If the Lead Pastor of the church plant doesn’t have clarity and conviction about what we’re doing, how we’re going to do it, and why, then an eclectic cacophony of opinions will ensue that yields a miserable trial-and-error iteration process. This seldom produces fruit or draws people. And I think I can say with confidence that this never promotes peace and unity. Instead, planter training is to clarify a tried and true planting process that ultimately stems from biblical convictions of doing things the way God has intended.
Summary—yes, more training is good.
Abraham Lincoln is known for saying the following: “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax.” In the grand scheme of a church’s life—a church that will Lord-willing grow and bear fruit for decades, that will be the conduit of spiritual life for hundreds of souls, and that will long surpass the planting pastor—it would seem that 4–6 months of final preparatory work is a small price to pay for the eternal fruit that will be born from a well-established work. After all, didn’t Moses spend 40 years gaining knowledge through education in Egypt and another 40 years gaining humility in the desert before leading Israel for the final 40 years of his life? Because of this, I believe specific training for church planting is worth strong consideration for anyone sensing a call and affirmation toward planting a new church for God’s glory. Exceptions always exist—but for the non-exceptional, rather an ordinary fellow like myself, planter training has helped refuel my spirit, focus my ambitions, and clarify my priorities heading into this exciting new season of planting Doxa Church in San Diego.
Matt Thibault
Matt is married to Trina and they have three crazy-awesome kids: Adelyn, James, and Alivia. He and his family are following God’s call into Church Planting. Matt received his M.Div from The Master’s Seminary and is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Ministry from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
