Ideation Experience – Church Planting from Niche to Norm
Posted by Doug Foltz on May 22, 2009 in Church Planting, Small Town, Strategy | 11 commentsLeadership Network is hosting what they are calling the Ideation Exeperience. People were encouraged to submit ideas that could shape the Church in the coming decade. Leadership Network then selected a handful (65 according to the website) to come to Dallas and discuss these Kingdom shaping ideas. A friend encouraged me to submit my idea about small town church planting. My idea was chosen to be presented. I’m excited but realize my idea needs some fine tuning in order to present it. That’s where you come. I need your comments. Help me shape this idea. I will only have 60 seconds to present it. A video synopsis can be found on Vimeo.
Church Planting has had a place in the church since the beginning. In recent years, church planting has become the popular thing to do. The majority of churches are planted in city and suburban areas. Small towns are left out in our current models. The majority of church planters are very driven and influential type leaders that are in short supply.
- There is an endless supply of video based content for services being generated by multi-site churches. We need to create a distribution platform for that content and provide it for free to church plants with leaders who adopt best practices.
- We need to utilize social media to create online learning communities for coaching and peer support.
- We need to recruit a new type of leader. Leaders that are bivocational. Using video based content makes it possible for a planter to start part time. Recruitment should shift to successful campus ministries and half timers as a source for such leaders.
- We should engage Bible Colleges to provide student internships.
- Funding needs will be substantially less. You significantly limit the biggest expenses of salary, marketing and facility.
- Use national platforms such as Exponential to spread the idea.
To shift church planting from a small niche to a movement it must spread to smaller population areas, become more cost effective and widen the pool of candidates for planters. Imagine the ask for planting a church being as common as the ask to lead a small group. Its at that point that church planting ceases to be a niche and becomes the norm.
Doug this a great idea. I grew up in a small town outside of Birmingham AL and there is a need for more small town churches. However, streaming video to these small towns is not the answer. People need a teacher and someone to relate to.
Video gets old.
If a small town church was streaming video I would go to Facebook church
Back on topic… Have you heard of Jim Graff with significant church network? (watch video on bottom right until he speaks) He says that church planting in a small town is different. You can no longer go after 2% of your town. Small churches have to get a larger percentage of a small town.
The goals and strategies of small town church planting are different therefore the coaching and mentoring need to be as well.
I agree… Church planting must be spread to smaller population areas, but not by the big church planting networks.
Thanks for the comment Guy,
I do think strategies have to be different for small town church planting. I would argue though that not having a live teacher would not limit the ability to relate. In fact, I think having a video based service will give a pastor even more time to relate and connect with people, particularly in a bivocational situation. Will that culturally work??? One of the biggest problems small town churches have had in recent years is finding good preachers. Again this is about finding a different kind of leader. Think more like a small groups and connection pastor skill set. Think less of a teacher from the pulpit and more of a teacher that says follow me as I follow Christ. I think a pastor who is in the work real world work force and is leading the church will have an incredible amount of credibility.
I also think that there is a myth about suburban and city planting. There is this idea that you can reach an entire city by planting a church. Very few have that scope. When we planted LifePointe we focused on an area of Charlotte that was about 30,000 in population and drew the majority of people from within that area. We certainly had people from other areas of the city that came but the primary focus was a smaller area. That’s not that different from targeting an entire small town.
Finally I’d also say that I hope the big church planting networks can find a place in small town church planting. Their voice and influence is much needed. I think the movement will be from larger population areas to the smaller population areas. So I do think the big church planting networks have got it right by starting in big areas and moving from there. Keep pushing me on this. “As iron sharpens iron.”
Get it down to 60 seconds by talking really fast.
Doug,
I love people who want to expand the Kingdom through church plants. I also think the video venue could work and I agree that small towns will require more than one approach. I am interested in pushing on the pastor that speaks model as another option as well. I think the key is how you develop and encourage the courageous people that are called to plant a church.
I actually think a lot of them are out there now, they just resist consistent help and many do not survive. Some thought time needs to be spent on how we can serve this group that I think are not open to the bigger planting networks and likely the video venues (even though it might be the right answer).
The key is to “close the back door” to quote Larry Osborn and help the small town planter make it. How can you get them to trust others advice when many gen yers have been trained not to?
Good question Johnny,
There’s a part of me that wants to say that if a younger planter doesn’t want to be mentored then let them fail. Mentoring is fairly biblical after all. The key is to develop relationships and build trust. That is a key value for the younger generation. Most organizations are led by older people who don’t value the touch feely relational stuff as much as just getting the job done. The organizations need to hire young guys who get it to connect with younger planters and build bridges of trust. Without proper training, assessment, and coaching plants will continue to be short lived.
Doug,
As a church planter in a rural community with a population of about 5,000, I wholeheartedly agree with the idea that we need more small town church plants. I felt compelled by God to plant Mountain Valley Church (www.mountainvalleychurch.net) two years ago in Montevallo, AL.
I’m a bi-vocational church planter who hasn’t finished seminary. I work full time as an engineer and full time as a pastor
It has been a great privilege and incredible challenge to start a church in this town. I’ve rubbed shoulders with many church planters and found very few that were crazy enough to plant in small town! I’ve attended many conferences and found that the “typical” church planting model doesn’t apply to me.
I have considered becoming a multi-site of our parent church in the suburbs. I’ve discussed it with our core group and they unanimously feel that it isn’t the right fit for us or our community. I see the value of utilizing a video venue to lighten my load, but consider it an essential part of connecting with my people. We have used video teaching extensively in our small groups which has lightened my load considerably. I think each planter must analyze the culture and determine if it would accept a video venue.
I would agree that more material could be distributed to church planters for free or reduced cost. I’m constantly balancing the need for resources to teach or lead with the limited budget I have. I’ve been frustrated by tools that can really make a positive impact on our church that are too expensive for us to use. I’m working to utilize open source alternatives to cut costs (ie. WordPress, OpenOffice, etc.). I would love for some of the greater minds in software, video production, internet development, social media, etc. to help us utilize free and/or cost efficient resources to organize and spread the Gospel more efficiently.
You’re right on with coaching/mentoring. I’ve wanted to be involved with coaching to a greater degree, but have been limited by my full time job. I can’t travel much or attend local seminars that happen during the week. I’d love to see a coaching network that used off the shelf video conferencing (like TokBox) and networking tools to share ideas and troubleshoot problems. Most resources put out by planting networks and our denominations favor the full time pastor.
We need to rally around bi-vocational church planters. Not everyone is called to give up their secular job. In fact, I think there are significant factors in favor of planting as a bi-vocational pastor. That’s for another post for another day….
Funding is less, but not as small as you might think. While we don’t need $100,000 to get started, there is another dynamic at work. We are serving and reaching a low-income demographic. While we have successfully assimilated these people into the church, they don’t bring a significant financial resource to the church. We have survived on minimal funding, but are very limited in the ways we can reach out to the community.
Sorry for the tome of material in this comment! I’d love to talk some more if you’re willing. I’m passionate about planting in small towns and continue to ask God for grace and strength as I attempt to share the Gospel in a place that desperately needs it.
George,
No apology needed. I can’t imagine the amount of time and energy you are putting into this church plant. Thanks for leading the way and doing something different. We have a lot to learn from you. Please send me an email doug@newchurches.com and we’ll figure out a time to connect.
Let me push you a little on the video venue and see what you think. First, I believe it is best used as a short term solution to getting the church established. Once the church can support a “preacher” they should ideally move to that. Here’s my question: Do those disconnected from the church even realize that video is not the norm? Won’t the norm for them be what define it? I guarantee that all of them watch lots of tv so the medium is nothing new. When we started LifePointe, the lead pastor, Matt McGue, had the idea of meeting around tables and chairs. When I talked to Christians about it they said you can’t do church that way. When I talked to non-Christians they thought it was an intriguing idea. We found that non-Christians were very comfortable in that setting and it broke down their perception barriers about church. I think video is much the same. Even my initial response is to say no, but I don’t think it matters to non-Christians whether in a large city or small town. What’s important is the relational connection with each other and certainly the pastor. I think that connection can be done in ways other than preaching. I would think though that most would want intro the teaching video with 5 minutes or so of a mini-vision message from the lead pastor. What do you think?
In terms of money, the fact that you are saying you don’t need $100,000 reveals that it is substantially cheaper to plant as you have. I work with planters who raise between $200,000 and $500,000 for their plants. Under $100,000 would be great. It is true that many small town areas are not as financially stable. That’s why many young people move away to the suburbs and cities in search of high paying jobs. I think in that scenario the pastor has to be willing to live at or below the standard of living of those being reached. Hopefully other expenses like facility will be substantially less as well. When it just cannot be done, that’s when other churches need to step in to provide regular ongoing support.
Thanks and keep sending your ideas!
Doug,
Currently in the second year of a small town church plant. I agree that the means of planting a church in rural areas and small towns needs to be different from the mainstream urban model. I appreciate to no end the information given on your blog in regard to the new technology and means by which people stay in contact and now interact with one another. I tend to be less techy than some, but see the huge potential in the social medias, websites, and blogs.
However, and along the lines of Guy Walker, one thing that I think that is missed is that small towns are different than urban areas. The reputation, and not necessarily in a Biblical sense, of the Pastor in any small town will be as important, or even more important than the mode by which he reaches the area. His ability to meet people where they are and be real will be a huge factor in the success of a small plant.
Last, Guy Walker is absolutely correct in his assertion that the percentage of the community that is reached has to be far greater than in a urban area. I have experienced this personally, and the small town church planter should expect to run himself ragged for a while connecting with the people.
Great stuff! I have been looking for something like this since before I started Planting because the lack of rural church planting stuff is overwhelming. I’ll be back!
Pastor Sam
Sam,
Thanks for the comments. I’d love to talk you more and pick your brain about your first two years. Send an email to doug@newchurches.com and I’ll give you a buzz. I completely agree that building relationships is extremely important in the small town setting. (It’s important in every setting, but even more in a small town). I think that’s why we need to find ways to free up the small town church planter to spend more time in relationships. I see too often that the opposite is true. Because its a small town plant fewer resources are allocated resulting in a pastor with more to do not less. This leaves too little time for building relationships. That’s part of the reason I’m a fan of doing the sermon by video. It would free up 10-15 hours a week in the pastor’s schedule to spend with people. I also think we need more focus on outreach and connection events. I’m in the process of doing a needs assessment in the small town I live in. Early on one of the emerging needs are gathering places and fun family things to do. What an opportunity for the church! When small town churches were first planted back in the pioneer days, they were built as local gathering places. The small town church needs to get back to those roots in a modern way.
Doug,
I love this…a blog on small town church planting. Lots of good information here from guys doing it in small towns. I’m in the planning stages of planting a church in my hometown of Nashua, IA (pop. 2200) and definitely looking forward to it. Four churches in town, three are dying and the largest one is constantly is quarreling about a building project. They all need Christ, but it’s going to be interesting.
But in doing this, I totally agree with Sam on the pastor’s reputation. I’ve had mixed feelings about being called to plant in my hometown because many people know what I was like in my B.C. days, yet can clearly see how Christ has changed my life. I was amazed at how fast word traveled about my career change to becoming a pastor. It will travel just as fast when they know I’m back to plant a church. All to say reputation and relationships are HUGE!
Like others have mentioned, coaching has been a struggle for me. I’m having a hard time finding a CP coach who’s close enough to talk with yet who can relate to small town church planting. Large urban methods and models won’t necessarily work here. I just recently discovered Charles Hill & The Sticks Conference which looks awesome, but I’m curious what others have done.
Darin,
You might find a dual coach approach. Find someone to coach you on some of the unique aspects of church planting and then find someone who can coach you the small town pastoring.