Church-planting: helps if God’s onside

What are the reasons why church plants succeed? Why do they fail?

ChurchRelevance has a list of reasons why they fail which is originally from Griffith Coaching Network.

Here’s the list:

  1. Lack of a clear definition of “success” and a clear exit strategy
  2. Premature birth (starting public worship too quickly)
  3. Mismatch between the planter and the community/context/target audience
  4. Insufficient assessment (of the planter and the planting context)
  5. Lack of training and coaching
  6. Putting all your eggs in one basket (depending on one big advertising campaign or event)
  7. Too much overhead too fast
  8. The inability or unwillingness to recruit new people
  9. Lack of focus and ignoring the pressing priorities
  10. Inebriation (being drunk on your vision)

Oddly enough, lack of God’s blessing is not one of them. Not following God’s will is not one of them. No prayer is not one of them. The church plant not being God’s will is not one of them.

Churches are not businesses. Success isn’t a result of following a checklist. Success is due to God’s blessing, first, foremost, and finally.

That seems obvious enough to a Christian, doesn’t it?

[tags] church, christianity, building, planting, god, prayer, john koetsier [/tags]