Church Planter: Preparing to launch

For Church Planters Only…

…preparing to launch

I'm continuing to answer questions from church planters. Here's the third question:

When Am I Ready to Launch the Church?

Before I say anything, let me offer a disclaimer for my answer: this is my opinion. Every church denomination or association has their own metrics for when to launch.  So listen to them first. I don't want to undermine what they are saying.

But from my experience here are five things I'd be looking to have in place before launching a new church:

#1 - Launch the church when you have a good worship team.

It doesn't have to be amazing, but whatever you put together should be quality. Some churches insist on a big band with a big sound. Maybe. But don’t follow the crowd. What kind of culture do you want to promote? Quality is more important, not only in talent but in the leader’s approach to God.

A good leader will help put people at ease helping them relax and focus on God. You don’t want the leader or team members to be a distraction.

Pray for the person leading your worship. They spend almost as much time in front of people as you (the pastor) so you want to make sure they represent you and the vision well. You don't want people checking out before they hear the message.

#2 - launch the church when you have a plan for kids.

If you want families to come...and you probably do...you need to address the needs of your children. Think like a parent...parents want their kids to be SAFE more than anything. If you skimp on children, you will lose families.

I speak from experience. We had a bad space in a theater when we launched and we ended up moving just to recapture families.

#3 - Launch the church when you have a significant core team.

Critical mass is...critical. The size you start with really depends on your vision. When we launched our church we opened with 200. It was nice to open with that many because we broke the 200 barrier on the first day. A lot of churches have trouble breaking 200. 

I wouldn't start with less than 50...if the second week drops to 25 it will feel awful. I'd set 100 as a minimum number to launch with. We had up to 100 people coming to our pre-launch services. 125-200 came to our preview services (three of them in three months). Then we launched with 200. To get a core team you need to really work hard (see my earlier post on building a launch team). It’s crucial to have a group of people that are rock-solid committed to you and the vision of the church.

But of course, many churches have started in a living room with only a handful of people. Let the Lord lead you on this.

#4 - launch the church when you have an advertising plan.

In  the business world they say you have to spend money to make money. The point is: don't be cheap. You need to let people know you exist. But most church planters have no marketing experience. I was fortunate: I had a sales/marketing background.

Be strategic. Don't just buy any kind of advertising. Social media is inexpensive and good to gain awareness, but the best advertising is people handing out postcards with a personal invitation to fun events or services with compelling topics.

#5 - launch the church when you have strong preview services.

Preview services help people know what you are all about. Everything should be in place (prayer, children's ministry, band, etc.).

Previews are the dress rehearsal...not practice for the real thing. You want previews to be as good as opening day, otherwise no one will come opening day!  You want your messages to be the best thing you've got. Work on these. You only get one chance for a first impression.

But probably the most important thing is to be relational. Not phony relational. REAL relational. Authentic chats before and after the service with as many people as possible. And don’t be afraid to set up coffee dates with people who’d like to know more.

If you offer food after the service people are more likely to hang around and chat.

Overall, you want to launch at a time of peak momentum. If you don't sense you have momentum, delay the launch until you do. You don't want to start with a dud. You may never recover from it.

I hope this helps. Let me know your questions. I offer free monthly coaching to church planters through their first year. Go to the home page and click on “SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT.”