Church Planting, Preaching, and Patience Part II

“When you plant a church, prepare your first year of sermons in advance. That way you can spend the first year soulwinning.” Healthy advice? One other thing that makes me uncomfortable about this statement is the inference that church planting is a sprint. I remember being told about one very successful church planter who worked 70 hours a week during the first years of his church plant – and this was suggested to me as a positive example to follow!

Things here on the blog might be quiet until I return from the celebration of my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary and 50 years in pastoral ministry. My father is a faithful soulwinner. My parents have worked plenty of 70 hour weeks when necessary. But when people talk about Mom and Dad, one word comes up repeatedly: faithful. Fifty years worth of faithfulness doesn’t happen if you treat ministry like a sprint. My dad was always up before me, with his Bible, feeding his heart so that he could feed the hearts of a flock on Sunday.

This brings to mind one of my favorite quotes: “Church planting requires determination, vision, and a willingness to pay the price of ministry. Many church plants fail, and people who have been involved in them are sometimes left disillusioned. People enter church planting projects with high hopes and with a sense of excitement. It can be no other way. But, as we know, the higher our hopes the greater the force with which they can be dashed on the rocks of realism and disappointment. All of this is just another way of saying that church planting is a long-term initiative, and that ought to be written into the contract.” (Stephen Timmis, Multiplying Churches)

Church planting is a long-term initiative. Don’t burn out your own heart or your flock by spending the first year preaching stock sermons. “Work hard at preaching and teaching” (I Timothy 5:17).