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God's given you a vision to plant a church. You're gifted and maybe have the team ready to go. However, there are thousands of details and hundreds of questions that you have. In this podcast we will answer some of the common questions and answer listener submitted questions to help you fulfill the call the Lord's given you.
Hi. Welcome to Church Planters Ask. My name is Chris Ifield. And I'm Danny Parmalee. In this podcast, we're gonna be answering the question, what has to happen for the church to get started?
Chris Highfill:A brand new church, how do we get this brand new church up off the ground? You know, there's a million ways to start a church. But we're gonna talk about the foundational things, that are all transferable truths that will help you launch a church that will impact the community for Christ. You know Danny and I for years have debated about what makes a church actually take off. You know is it a pivotal leader that just has great abilities and charisma and skill, empowered by the Holy Spirit?
Chris Highfill:Is it their team? Is it their finances? Like what is it that really makes a church plant take off? Right Danny?
Danny Parmelee:Yep. And, of course, we've got it all figured out, and we're gonna tell you that secret today. Okay. Maybe not that easy. But you did spend some time, and you've got it outlined for us, so this is gonna be perfect.
Danny Parmelee:We're gonna give you at least some of the things that we've discovered over the years. Yeah. And little background on
Chris Highfill:Danny and I, we assess church planters. And so we deal with a lot of different church planters from a lot of different places with a lot of different models. And the mystery for me over the years has always been what makes a church plant go and what makes one not go. And really, for alliteration purposes, I got 5 m's on what makes a church plant work and what doesn't. And so the first one is this, is that it obviously has to be a move of God.
Chris Highfill:This is super essential, super important. You can't buy a church plant. It's not just about gathering people. It is a move of God. And so, it's super essential that we understand that we can't manufacture this.
Chris Highfill:It has to be a direct work of the hand of God in a church planter's life in in a group of people's lives for a church to really take off.
Danny Parmelee:Yeah. And, Chris, always you always talk about the importance of prayer, in that, you know, understanding it's gotta be a move of God. You can't manufacture it. Why do you think that prayer is so often, like, overlooked in the startup phase especially, or even pre startup phase, pre launch of of a church plan?
Chris Highfill:Well, usually the people that have the skill set to start something new, especially a church, we want to jump right into the application. How do I actually get it done? And when you sit in pastor meetings or you sit in trainings and coaching sessions and you hear people talk about prayer, you you automatically because more than likely you're a spiritual person if you're starting a church. More than likely you've got a pretty solid relationship with God. You think, I have this prayer thing handled and taken care of and the reality is is you need, prayer more than anything else.
Chris Highfill:More than money. More than people on a team. It needs to be the number one spiritual attribute of the origins of this church, because the only thing that's gonna make this happen is a move from God. So how do we usher in a move from God? We spend time with him.
Chris Highfill:We we pray. We prayer walk. It's also in your devotion life. Prayer is so important not to be overlooked and I really believe that you need to even develop a prayer team. A team of people that can be praying on your behalf.
Chris Highfill:People that you can be texting prayer requests to. People that you can be emailing prayer requests to. The number one need of every single planter is a prayer team.
Danny Parmelee:Yeah. And we we talk about that that's not the group of people who don't join your financial support team. In other words, like Yep. Hey, would you like to give me money or pray for me? Okay.
Danny Parmelee:You didn't give me money. I'll write your name on the list. But to have that outside group of people and I remember this even personally, there were people on the prayer team just I I mean, that prayed for us not just during the launch, but even 10, 12 years down the road. They would send text, send emails, letters, handwritten cards from some of the old ladies that were on my prayer team of saying, hey, just, you know, so thankful for what God is doing. So so definitely to do that.
Danny Parmelee:The the one thing I wanna say, Chris, because this is hilarious, is that we probably ticked off some listeners, for the exact reason that you said. Most people that are listening to a church planning podcast are like, alright. Give me the give me the 5 strategies, you know, whatever. And it's like prayer, prayer, prayer. Yeah.
Danny Parmelee:Yeah. Yeah. I got got that, type of thing. And that's why it's important. And I put myself in that category as well, and I know it put you would put yourself, in there.
Danny Parmelee:But for us to just say, it it needs to be founded and and grounded in our relationship with God and and through prayer. Yeah.
Chris Highfill:Yeah. And things that you could be you can be praying with your team. You can be praying I think every time you get together as a launch team, there should be carved out amounts of time in prayer. And you're praying for broken people. You're praying for people that don't know Jesus yet.
Chris Highfill:You're praying for the development of all of these teams. You're praying for a location. You're praying for finances. I mean, everything needs to be prayed over. And you know what's amazing about this prayer piece?
Chris Highfill:And I'm gonna wrap this point up with this. What's amazing about the prayer piece is when you meet people that join your launch team, you can say, I prayed for you before you even showed up to one of our meetings. When you meet a person that's going through a divorce or are struggling with drug addiction, whatever it may be, you can tell that person with integrity, I prayed for you before you showed up. And, man, I think that makes a gigantic difference in someone's life. They're shocked that someone would pray for them.
Chris Highfill:And so this is not a point to be overlooked and go, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. In fact, if you fast forwarded through this or listened to this at twice the speed, you should actually go back and listen to it again. I'm telling you.
Chris Highfill:You need prayer to launch a church. Good. Awesome. The second thing that I think every single church needs to be to for for the second thing that every church has to have for a successful launch is the for the mission to be up front and center. I think sometimes we want to start a church because we think that we can do it better.
Chris Highfill:And inside of every church planter kind of is that grittiness or is that entrepreneurial, I can do this better than I've ever seen it done before, and that's great. Yeah. But the number one mission has to be people that don't know Jesus yet. You don't just want or need to be the coolest church in town or the church that has Hays or the most relevant thing. What you need and what the people in your community need is the mission to be front and center.
Chris Highfill:And the mission, is to help point people that don't have a relationship with God to God. And this is so essential. I think it's oftentimes just like prayer. It's oftentimes overlooked, but the mission has to be paramount. So, yeah, this is really critical.
Danny Parmelee:Yeah. And I think that one of the things is that, like you said, there's multiple things that usually motivate us to plant a church, but sometimes in that early phase, you can have the the dark side of those motivating factors. Maybe you were fired from a job. Maybe no one ever gave you a chance to be the preacher or leader. Again, God can use some of those things to kind of push you out of the nest to plant a church.
Danny Parmelee:But as you said, you know, you know, 1st and foremost, the mission of reaching the lost. Now here's the thing is that we do a exercise with church planners, like what's your mission, and some of them struggle a little bit with that. You never need to struggle with the mission because the mission's already been given to you. K? That's the that's the great commission.
Danny Parmelee:Now vision, that's something different because that can be different amongst church, but the mission has already been given to you. I want you to speak though a little bit, Chris, of why if you don't have a crystal clear mission, why is that such a dangerous thing, especially in the the the early stages of the formation of the of the church if you are just not so clear yourself about the mission?
Chris Highfill:Yeah. If you're not clear about the mission, people aren't gonna wanna join the team, and the people that do wanna join the team are the wrong kind of people. They're the kind of people that that say, well, I'll I'll help you carve out the mission and create the mission. And the next thing you know, you're not a church. You're a holy huddle of people, that meet together and that your your again, your mission becomes whatever their past collections are.
Chris Highfill:It's a collection. It's a mosaic, they may call it. Right? And it's really important, that you make a decision to say the mission just like Danny just mentioned, the mission has to be the Great Commission. Jesus already told us what it is.
Chris Highfill:Just follow it, which is go and make disciples of all nations. Right? And and here's the thing, a lot of people we meet church planters often, that there there's nobody on their team or nobody attending their church that what that was unchurched or de churched before the launch. And this is a key indicator that the mission is not upfront and centered. I mean, just look at the mission.
Chris Highfill:Luke 15 is another great example. You want to know the heart of God? What's the heart of God? Luke 15 helps you understand the mission. It's people that are far from him.
Chris Highfill:And you're you're listening to this podcast, little homework to do. Go look at the 3 stories in Luke chapter 15.
Danny Parmelee:Yep.
Chris Highfill:And it's super super crystal clear.
Danny Parmelee:Just a fun little thing. I preached Luke 15 last week, so way to butter me up. That's awesome. Yeah. Thanks.
Danny Parmelee:Way to go.
Chris Highfill:I mean and I think, honestly, I think Luke 15 is something that you ought to be talking to your launch team about. Like, spend a month in Luke 15. Like, remind them over and over and over again. Here's the thing. You think the mission is clear.
Chris Highfill:And I used to think that our mission was super clear. And then I realized that it wasn't. In fact, one of our counterparts went and did a training at our church. His name is Brian. Brian came and did this training at our church in the early days.
Chris Highfill:We were at, like, year 2. And he was doing a training on mission and vision. And he just asked a group of 30 people that were attending our church, what's the mission of Grace River? And listen, it was crickets. And I was like, oh, my gosh.
Chris Highfill:I thought that everyone knew the mission of our church. And the reality was they didn't. And so I just decided, I'm gonna start mentioning it every single weekend. Like, somehow Yep. In the host moment, in the prayer moment, in the offering moment, in the sermon, in the worship's time, like, whatever it is, we're gonna mention the mission.
Chris Highfill:And today, it's repeatable. People know what the mission of our church is. And I think it's really important that you make it repeatable. That you make it one of those things where it's not just written on the wall, where it's not just on a piece of paper somewhere, but it's something that you're actually living out in the life of the church. Mission is super critical.
Chris Highfill:It's great. Super important. The third thing, the 3rd m that I think is really important to get the church off the ground is you need momentum. And so, momentum is more than just being a hype man, though. Momentum is more than just, you know, creating, this false energy.
Chris Highfill:Alright? What what momentum is is is it's tides that it's I'm sorry. What momentum really is is it's waves that lead the tides. And so you wanna create, the kind of environment where there is so much life change happening that people just desperately want to be a part of it. You want to set your church apart from any other church out there.
Chris Highfill:What is gonna make your church uniquely different is that it's got momentum. Is that your church is not dead. I mean, you think about, any sporting event that you watch. You know, a team can be down by 10 points or 20 points, and then you can watch just with one penalty or one momentum shift somewhere. You can see the momentum of that game changing, and all of a sudden, the fans, whether it's the home or the away team, everyone feels it.
Chris Highfill:Right? And they think, oh, man. When you're on the winning side of that momentum, there is nothing like it. And so the church ought to be like that. Where there where you're on the winning side of momentum, and you're creating opportunities.
Chris Highfill:You know, every year there are calendar opportunities like Christmas and Easter and Mother's Day. Right? But as a church, as a new church especially, you ought to be creating momentum moments to help get your church up and off the ground.
Danny Parmelee:Chris, you talk about this a lot during trainings, and I love this as you talk about momentum. One of the things that you said, and I want you to speak to it just a little bit more, is the difference between, like, hype and momentum. So in other words, like, what do you mean by that in the sense that, like, you can't just be a hype person, but explain just a little bit more what you mean by kind of, like, recognizing those waves when they come in and then to jump on those and and and to utilize them for further momentum. Yeah.
Chris Highfill:I mean, hype is disingenuous. Right? People can look and see right through it. Hype is you're stealing everybody else's statements, everybody else's sermons, everybody else's calendar. The the reality is is whenever you really get to know your community and you begin to reach people that are the furthest from God, you can develop momentum as a result of that.
Chris Highfill:And so part of it is looking at your calendar uniquely and going, okay. When does school start up here? Right? Mhmm. When is summer break?
Chris Highfill:When when does fall break? The these little opportunities throughout the year, and you look at it and and you create events, and you also create Sunday morning or weekend experiences around, what is actually happening in your community. And so cultural context is super important when it comes to momentum, and it's recognizing like, I'll give you a tangible example for a moment. Some churches decide to baptize on Easter Sunday. I think that's a mistake, and here's why.
Chris Highfill:Easter is already going to be big. So why don't you baptize 2 or 3 weekends after Easter? And then look at this. Then you have another momentum day. Or why do child dedication on Mother's Day?
Chris Highfill:Check it out. Mothers are going to show up. People are going to show up on mother dads are going to show up on Mother's Day because their wives are going to make them come. But what if you did child dedication 3 weekends after Mother's Day? Right?
Chris Highfill:Do you understand that? So what you're doing is is you're creating an opportunity for momentum. So the the calendar year gives us I mean, really, I I make this as a joke, but I'm also dead serious. There's only, like, 5 good Sundays every year to do church, to be honest, right, of the 52. So what if instead you created these calendar moments and you said, okay.
Chris Highfill:We're gonna ride the waves of momentum. And even in prelaunch, you can do this if you think about it. Calculate your prelaunch experience if that's where you're at and think, okay. We're gonna meet or do a worship night corporately once a month, 4 months out from launch. But creating momentum means that you're doing more than just that one thing.
Chris Highfill:Like, so you do the worship night or you do the preview service, and then 2 weeks later, do a service thing in the in the in the community. Like, find a way to serve people or do a barbecue that you can invite people back to. What you're doing is is you're creating momentum. And so there's nothing like this whenever you get on a wave. I'm not much of a surfer.
Chris Highfill:But when you watch surfers, they're waiting for the right wave. And I think when it comes
Danny Parmelee:to playing the charts I think that's huge, though. I think that's huge. Yeah. Is is that and because you this is what you say in the trainings as well too, is that, there is a time where it's waiving whereas hype is kind of like this.
Chris Highfill:Like, every week, the next week is better than the next and the next week
Danny Parmelee:is better than that. But with waves, yeah, there's times where it comes down, and and that's okay. You know, that's part of even understanding the rhythm is that, man, this is gonna be a real high Sunday. We take a little break. We don't need to try to make that outdo the week before or the story before or whatever God is doing.
Danny Parmelee:But sometimes you're just waiting, and then all of a sudden you see that wave. And like you said, I'm I'm not a surfer either. You get on that wave and you ride that one for a while until it kind of crescendos down and then
Chris Highfill:heads back up. And and not every single one of them is a winner. So I think part of it is trying new stuff. Like, hey, it's okay. Like, if you did an event and it didn't work out the way you thought it was going to.
Chris Highfill:Hey, welcome to the club. We've all been there. Don't quit. Right? I talked to a planter the other day that had one person show up to an interest meeting, like an interest party they had.
Chris Highfill:And he was super discouraged. And I was like, okay. Hey. Let's just try something new next time. Right?
Chris Highfill:So had a coaching call with him and helped him understand. Hey. Here's the new thing that I can try next time, that will help ensure that more than one family shows up to this preview event. And I've talked to so many planters that if if you're in that club, I want you to know something. God's still gonna use you.
Chris Highfill:Okay? In fact, that's not the indicator that you shouldn't plant this church, just so you know. It's just an indicator that you should try something new. And we can give you all the tips and tricks, but the reality is every context is a little bit different. So we're not starting McDonald's franchises here.
Chris Highfill:Every single church is a little bit different. So if it was a McDonald's or a Chick Fil A franchise, it would be way simpler and everybody would do it. And so you've gotta learn the cultural nuances, to be able to ride the wave of momentum.
Danny Parmelee:Great. Great.
Chris Highfill:The 4th m is money. And I think this is really important when it comes to funding. A lot of planters want to skip this step, similar to the prayer step. Right? But the mechanism that you will use or the systems that you will use for fundraising, whether the church is in prelaunch or postlaunch, you'll never stop raising funds for your church.
Chris Highfill:Never. And I was told that in the early days, and man, I fought it big time. I was like, oh, man, I can't wait for the church to get to a place where I don't have to fundraise. And I'm just telling you something. It never actually gets there.
Danny Parmelee:Right. And and it never should because, right, our dreams and visions depend on the resources that God provides, through through our people. But but I would say that because when you're a church plant and you start out kind of small, it's maybe a little bit more difficult because you're kind of inviting people into a a vision because there's not people yet. There's not a church service. There's not a physical building.
Danny Parmelee:But speak to a little bit, Chris, of what you've seen happen with church planters that say, you know what? I'm just gonna preach the gospel, and I'm not gonna worry about money at all. And so they kind of, either skip it or just they they just don't give the attention to fundraising, especially prelaunch and pre core team or launch team development?
Chris Highfill:Yeah. I think that the the ones that do that miss an opportunity is all. Like, and and opportunity, when I think about all these m's that we're talking about, I wish there was one that mentions opportunity to be honest. But, like, man, what a when you fail to ask people to give, you're missing an opportunity for them to join you on the mission. And if you can get people to give to the mission, then you can get people to show up.
Chris Highfill:I'm telling you. It's the same kind of system. And the planters that don't do well in fundraising typically don't do well in gathering people because it is literally the same system. And initially, I hated fundraising. I would gripe about it.
Chris Highfill:I would moan about it. And a mentor spoke into my life. His name is Sean. And he said, Chris, you have the wrong viewpoint on this. You're making this about you.
Chris Highfill:It needs to be about the people that don't believe yet. You're not listen to me, church planter. You are not asking for you. You're asking for the people that live in your community or the community that you're going to live in that don't know Jesus yet. And when you have that kind of vision, when you have that kind of mission, and you understand, like, this is this is who we're raising these funds for.
Chris Highfill:It's not just so I can feed my family. It has to be bigger than that. Like, eternity is on the line. And so, like, there is something about raising funds for a church. And when that when that mentor in my life spoke that into my life, it changed my viewpoint.
Chris Highfill:And then all of a sudden, I was like Forrest Gump, like, in that scene in the movie where his, like, leg braces fall off, and I was just, like, ready to go.
Danny Parmelee:You are like Forrest Gump a lot. I actually when I look at you a lot, I I think of Forrest Gump.
Chris Highfill:So Yeah. It's actually true. It's actually true. Yeah. And you're you're you're bubba.
Chris Highfill:I'm kidding. Anyways Thank you.
Danny Parmelee:Thank you.
Chris Highfill:Yeah. No. We got lots of shrimp to catch. But, but all that to say, man, I think don't do this dream alone. And when it comes to to financial support, when it comes to funding, it's going to take listen.
Chris Highfill:It's gonna take more money than you could ever imagine to help start this church. It really will. And it's the one area that I think sometimes planters overlook in especially prelaunch, to think, we're good. We're gonna be covered. But it's one of the biggest stress points.
Chris Highfill:I would say, if it's possible, before you even move, if you're gonna parachute into a new community, raise 80% of the funds before you even get there. And so I think it's really important to do that because you want your time to be focused once you get there on implementation of Launch Team. And so, you'll always be raising funds. I mean, our church is 10 years old, and we're raising funds right now. And so it never ends.
Chris Highfill:It never stops because the dream and the vision and the mission is too big to go, we're good.
Danny Parmelee:We don't need any more resources. Right? Yeah. Yeah.
Chris Highfill:The 5th thing that we all have to look at, in the life of the church to get it off the ground is you expecting God to do some miracles. I mean, when you get to the place where you've done these other four things, buckle up. Because every church has a unique story of what God did. And this is the thing that I can't explain to be honest. And Danny and I, as I mentioned in the introduction, Danny and I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out what makes a church work, and what makes a church fail.
Chris Highfill:And ultimately, it's following some of these things that we talked about and then just expecting God to do what only he will do.
Danny Parmelee:Yeah. And I I think here, one of the things with miracles, Chris, is being careful not to compare your story. I just remember as a church planner, you hear, oh, you know, that church got a building donated to them or, you know, this I I don't know. Whatever it happened, they got some large sum of money or they had some outreach and because of it, x, y, and z happened. Comparison will kill for sure.
Danny Parmelee:Yeah. But I think that you can, as you said, have this expectation that God's gonna do something unique Mhmm. And special within within your church that you that you can explain. And this is the fun part is years later, I still do this. And, you know, I I've, you know, even, stopped being lead pastor of of my church over 7 years ago, but I still look back at these different markers.
Danny Parmelee:I go, this was an absolute miracle. Like, you cannot explain how this person ended up or how this facility or how this service or whatever. Just there's just hundreds of, you know, a collection of miracles, if you will, to do that. So.
Chris Highfill:Yeah. And every church has their own. I think that that comparison piece is so important because I talked to a lot of planters and a lot of pastors. They're like, man, if God would just show up in my life like that. And here's the thing.
Chris Highfill:I used to think that too if God could just show up in my life like that, and then I started praying. Right? And then I started living by faith. And then I started fundraising. And and I I started doing these things that we just got done talking about in this podcast.
Chris Highfill:And then all of a sudden, the miracles actually started I would sit in missions conferences, and I would sit in church planting meetings. And I was a student pastor for 13 years. And I'm like, man, I don't God doesn't work like that in my life. And here here's what you need to understand. God works at the edge of that comfort zone where you're like, okay.
Chris Highfill:I know I've done it like this all of these years. But listen, would you be willing to live by faith to be able to see what God could do through you? And God does something unique in you when you push the chips all in and say, God, I'm going for this, and I'm gonna accomplish the mission of making disciples. And, man, when you do that, the sky is the limit, man. You will plant an amazing church whenever you're saying, God, I'm gonna submit to what you want me to do.
Chris Highfill:I'm gonna take the advice of people, that have gone before me. Teachability and coachability is so important. And so even the way you're reacting right now to some of these points that we're giving will help you understand whether or not, like, your heart to understand, like, I'm coachable, I'm teachable, and I'm carrying enough humility to learn from people that have been there, done that, and bought the t shirt.
Danny Parmelee:That's awesome. Well, great. Well, hey. Before we close here, just a quick shout out to our sponsor, outreach.com. I don't know if our listeners know this.
Danny Parmelee:We try to say it every time, but you get over $1,000 worth of free marketing stuff from them. If you wanna do that, you can just go to churchplantersask.com backslash free stuff. Fill out a form. Honestly, there's it's not a it's not a gimmick. No strings attached.
Danny Parmelee:You don't have to do anything. You don't have to buy anything in order to get all of that stuff. So we're super thankful for their, generous support, and thank you for listening. And if you've got questions or you're working through some challenges, you can drop us a drop us a a question or or a a line on a on the on the website, and we'd love to, you know, kind of work that into the podcast if we can and to answer that for you. And until next time, keep asking those questions.