Converge church planting leaders Lee Stephenson and Danny Parmelee want to help you avoid the common mistakes church planters make.
1:02 Lee says the first mistake is overspending.
1:13 Two things church planters overspend on are marketing and sound system/audiovisual.
2:02 Danny says the drive to overspend comes from the comparison culture.
2:34 Danny and Lee recommend having a coach to help you guard against overspending.
3:14 Lee says you need to create a budget and stick to it.
3:42 Another way Lee sees planters overspending is staffing or setting up their own salary.
4:21 Danny says the second mistake is making people feel guilty for leaving the church, which he struggled with at his church plant.
6:05 Danny eventually learned, “When people come and go, it’s just part of it. Have a kingdom mindset, send them out with a blessing.”
6:35 Lee says when someone is leaving, look at that as an opportunity to ask some questions and learn from them. “Hey, I know you’re going to be heading out, are there things that we could pay attention to that we could grow from, that I could grow from as a leader that would help us move forward as a church?”
7:24 Lee talks about the third mistake: choosing the wrong meeting space.
9:01 Danny says if you’re planning on attracting families, you need to think about children’s space.
9:31 Lee says you need to pay attention to the cultural aspect of the facility. If it has a negative connotation culturally and historically in that community, people aren’t going to come.
10:16 Danny discusses the fourth mistake: giving titles like pastor and director too early. Give responsibility, not title. It’s easier to remove responsibility from someone than it is to remove a title.
11:25 Lee says leadership has to be something you recognize, not something you appoint.
11:57 Danny says he set his interns up for failure by giving them the title pastor.
12:23 The fifth mistake: overprogramming.
13:03 Danny and Lee talk about responding to people who want to start a new ministry in your church.
