Personal Lessons in Church Planting - Part 2

Some Personal Lessons from Church Planting

This is the second article in a four part series by Graham Hill - Personal Lessons from Church Planting. You can view Part 1 here.

Here are some personal things I learned while church planting.

Church planting isn’t about church planting.

It’s about glorifying God and our Lord Jesus Christ and joining with God in mission—and mission is about discipleship, love, gospel, shalom, the kingdom of God, and much more. My neighbourhood doesn’t need another church. It needs a community of disciples who join God’s mission, commit to a distinct life together, and love their neighbourhood and neighbours.

Church planting is many experiences and feelings at once.

It’s exciting and terrifying, fun and tedious, inspiring and deflating, growing and declining, relational and lonely, pioneering and shepherding, meaningful and heartbreaking, and so much more.

Church planting often makes you feel like you are out of your depth, out of your comfort zone, and out of your mind.

You try so many things that fail. Some succeed. You take so many risks. Some pay off, and some are a disaster. You wonder whether you’re out of your mind, but you keep trying anyway, clutching to the vision God has placed in your heart, your love for God’s people, and your passion for your neighbourhood.

Church planting makes you feel like an imposter.

Deep inside, you wonder whether people will discover you’re not up to the task. You don’t have the skills, vision, training, temperament, or wisdom. And everyone is on the verge of finding this out. You’re not an imposter. So, the Spirit keeps challenging you on this insecurity. The Spirit invites you into a different sense of self and an identity rooted in Christ. The Spirit keeps whispering, “Will you let this go and trust me?”

Church planting needs a community of disciples, a community of leaders, a community of neighbours, and a community of churches.

These three things are necessary for a church plant to thrive (and each is an interconnected community): disciples, leaders, and neighbours.

Church plants need a community of disciples who celebrate the Lord’s Supper, pray, fast, read Scripture, share communal meals, share economic resources, and serve and love each other and their neighbours.

Church plants need a community of leaders who release us from thinking one or two people can build a church. This community of leaders expresses the fivefold gifts: pioneers, prophets, shepherds, teachers, and pastors.

Church plants need a community of neighbours who remind us that God was working in their neighbourhood long before we arrived and will be here long after we’re gone. Our neighbours help us see the kingdom of God among us. We join our neighbours in discovering God’s presence, reconciliation, hope, love, and restoration.

Church plants need a community of churches that connects them to the broader Body of Christ. This community of churches and their leaders must support them, stand with them, cheer them on, admonish them, and help them see their place in the bigger picture.

Church planting is about the dismantling of dichotomies and divisions.

Sacred/secular, evangelism/justice, pastoral/planting, etc. After a while, none of these dichotomies or divisions make sense, and you realise that if you don’t let them go, they’ll derail and disfigure the community.

Church planting is about praying like you’ve never prayed before.

You are so out of your depth, you have so many needs, and you’re so dependent on God that you start praying and fasting like crazy. You understand, practically and tangibly, that you are utterly reliant on God and prayer.

Stay tuned for more lessons in Church Planting in part 3 - coming soon.

Personal Lessons in Church Planting is an except from Graham Hill's blog. You can find the blog post here.

Church Planting is exciting and terrifying, fun and tedious, inspiring and deflating, growing and declining, relational and lonely, pioneering and shepherding, meaningful and heartbreaking, and so much more