6 Mistakes I Made as a Church Planter

One of the greatest joys of my ministry career was planting a church in northeast Tennessee in 1991. I made several mistakes, which hopefully you can learn from the easy way—through my pain, not yours. These are not the only mistakes I made in the 10 years I pastored that church, but they are the ones I regret the most.

1. I stole church members’ ministries.

Church planters are notoriously hands-on entrepreneurs. We like to be in the middle of the action and are often tempted into thinking that the success of our ministry revolves around us. A pastor’s job is not to perform all of the ministry, but rather “train the saints in the work of ministry” (Eph. 4:12).

2. I hogged the pulpit.

I think my reluctance to share the pulpit was rooted in secret insecurities. I loved to preach, which is good, but it would have been better to raise up other preachers.

And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. (2 Tim. 2:2)

Another bonus to shared preaching is staying fresh. Literally half of my time was spent preparing three messages for four services each week, which was neither necessary nor biblical. Although today’s church planters are much less likely to prepare three messages, they are tempted to make themselves the star of the show by convincing themselves that it won’t go on without them.

3. I cast vision inconsistently.

This church plant was technically a replant, since there were eight remaining members left in the ashes of a struggling church that eventually called it quits. These survivors were joined by eight families who created a core team, which relaunched as a completely different church with a new name.

One dirty secret of church planting is that most of the founding members are former members of other churches. Your members start day one with a preconception of what church should look like. Church planters need to cast a compelling vision so consistently that the members are able and willing to communicate it conversationally to new people as they arrive.

4. I did not pursue a mentor.

In this season as a church planter, I had plenty of ministry peers (Barnabas) and mentees (Timothy), but cannot think of one mentor (Paul) I reached out to. The initiative for mentoring starts with the mentee, not the mentor, and I made the arrogant mistake of not pursuing this important relationship.

5. I focused too much on buildings.

My formative years were the 1980s, when churches believed that, “If you build it, they will come.” We spent a lot of time, energy and money building and remodeling facilities. I don’t regret a dime that we spent, although I do regret spending so much of my personal time on these projects. Church planters need to see themselves as Ezras (priests), not Nehemiahs (governors/builders). If you don’t have a trusted layperson to be your facility specialist, wait until you find one before you move forward.

6. I neglected personal evangelism.

Our first year exceeded everyone’s expectations for conversion growth. This sense of urgency was fueled by prayer and vision. After a few years of fruitful growth, we became comfortably stable, and my heart grew uncomfortably cold. We wasted several years on the treadmill of transfer growth, which was primarily my mistake.

Mark Dance (@MarkDance) is a veteran church planter, pastor and director of LifeWay pastors at LifeWay Christian Resources. This article was originally published on LifeWay.com/pastors. For more: MarkDance.net

Mark Dance
Mark Dancehttp://markdance.net

Mark Dance has decades of pastoral experience. He speaks at churches, conferences, and retreats—often with his wife Janet. Mark has contributed to several books and offers encouragement at MarkDance.net.

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