#18 – I have the most amazing wife ever! You cannot start a church without your wife behind you 100%! I just think it’s impossible. Her prayers, support, love, and listening ear are the most important resources you have in beginning a new work for God. My wife has been the model of this in my life. She has supported me and prayed for me. She has encouraged me when I wanted to give up (and yes, that’s been more than once) and has believed even when I didn’t. Carey is the unsung hero of Calvary Fellowship, as most will … Read More

#17 – I was too judgmental on people on other churches I know no other church planter struggles with this, but I was really hard on Pastors and churches that didn’t see things the way I did. Yes, I was young and idealistic once, and now at the ripe old age of 31 I’m coming to grips with the fact that God is doing a different work with different people. My desire is to do what God has called me to do, but sometimes that zeal (especially in very Type “A” people like church planters) can come off as a … Read More

#17 – I got a Hobby Church planting is really only for the insane! But you can survive I’ve found, if you can engage something else as a hobby that can take your mind off of church world for a while. I have found that to be baseball. I have loved baseball since I was a kid and visited Fenway Park in Boston for the very first time. But for me, when I engage a game I can forget about everything else for a while. There’s so much junk that no one ever told us planting a church would entail, … Read More

#16 – I’ve tried to read everything I can on church planting I’ve shared before, that when we started CF I had never read 1 book on church planting, but once we started and I realized that the idealistic dream world I was living in (The one where you open the Bible and 1,000’s show up on the first weekend) didn’t happen, I decided to get educated. Believe it or not, I used to think these kinds of books were bad. What I’ve learned is that these books can offer great insight and suggestions into positioning your church to reach … Read More

#16 – I didn’t make the goal clear for each ministry area When we started, I was under the impression that having a ministry for every need under the sun was the goal in and of itself. What I ended up with after 3 years was a group of exhausted people. Without a clear bull’s eye for each ministry, everyone decided what was the bull’s eye for them, even if that meant competing for space, resources, and time with other ministries. When I took a step back, I realized that I needed to tie every ministry back into the overall … Read More

#15 – I communicated well with my staff One of things that have been very important to me is communication with the staff. As a Senior Pastor, I’m out of the loop of a lot of things that go on, but communication with staff helps me stay informed. Also, communication with them allows me to consistently recast the church’s vision to them and keeps us having the church turn into a “federation of sub-ministries” in which everyone develops their own vision. Instead, my role is to invest my time and energy into the staff and let them minister to the … Read More

#15 – I thought it would be easy Talk about someone under a delusion! I actually thought planting a church would be easy. I thought everyone was all for advancing the kingdom and seeing people reached with the Gospel. What I learned was that this is not the case. I learned that it’s not easy to plant a church. It’s hard work. When I first became a Christian, I was convinced that my Pastor only worked on Sunday and Wednesday and took the other 5 days off. I think that might be one of the reasons God placed me in … Read More

#14 – I thought every idea could work in my environment I would listen to a CD or mp3 and hear an idea that another Pastor, church planter, or leader would have and I’d think, “That’s a great idea, I should do that.” Only to find that it wouldn’t work here. What works at another church in a different city may or may not work in your town, but you have to figure that out. Frustration happens when you just adopt an idea or ministry paradigm without taking into consideration the uniqueness of the people in your area. There are … Read More

#14 – I got ahead in my studying The early days for me were waking up early on Saturday only to find a blank sheet of paper. Then I would spend the next 15 hours putting a message together for Sunday. That is not a smart decision. Then I heard Andy Stanley talk a couple of years ago about how he is 3 weeks ahead in his preparation. I thought, “That can’t be too hard to do.” Let me tell you, this has made all the difference. It will take a little extra work the first couple of weeks, but … Read More

#13 – I gave too much weight to what insiders would think While my heart in the beginning was to reach outsiders, I found that soon after we started I was giving in to insiders for all the wrong reasons. This hurt us, because there was a moment when I drew a line in the sand and said, “This is not going to be an insider church. It’s going to be a place where outsiders can learn and grow.” Had I laid that out from the beginning, these people would have left because there’s a million churches that are insider … Read More