The Goings on and Work of Sam Mahlstadt

Geoff Surratt (three sets of double letters makes for a great name) just came out with the book, Ten Stupid Things That Keep Churches From Growing: How Leaders Can Overcome Costly Mistakes, which you need to read if you are part of making church happen. As part of a church plant, I would very much like to avoid being a part of any of the stupid things Geoff identifies. (You will see that we have already avoided one by partnering with ARC). Specifically, I would like to avoid the dumb mistakes new churches make as they initially build their community. As a leader of a church planting organization, I figured we may have a thing or two to share. So, here is what I asked him, and what he had to say:

Me: What is the number one thing new churches do that stifles growth coming out of the gates?

Geoff: I think the number one thing that slows the growth of new church plants is to underestimate the importance of three things (clever, huh?):

1. The cost of getting started. Once the church launches you will never have enough time, enough people or enough money. I have yet to hear a church planter say, “I raised way too much money before we started. We had to stash the extra cash in bags under our bed because we just couldn’t spend it fast enough.” As painful as it is the more money you can raise before launch, the better chance you’ll have for success early on. Everything will wind up costing 20% more than you thought it would and offerings will be at least 20% less than you could ask or imagine.Another seldom heard church planter phrase is “Keep your core team as small as possible.”  More is definitely better when attracting leaders to your cause. As a side note, if you can’t build a large core team, it is very unlikely that you will build a large church.
2. The value of relationship. Church planters are entrepreneurs at heart. The first phrase most of them uttered as babies was, “I can do it myself.” The reality is, however, we all need somebody to lean on. (Cue the music) There are several great church planting organizations looking for sharp church planters; you’d be crazy not to connect with one of them. My favorite is the Association of Related Churches because Seacoast was a founding member.
3. The importance of delegation. In the book 10 Stupid Things that Keep Churches from Growing I identify trying to do it all as the #1 stupid mistake that pastors commit. In meeting with hundreds of pastors of churches of every size the thing I see again and again is that they are doing the work of the ministry rather than training others to do the work of the ministry. From setting up chairs to aiming projectors to picking songs to cleaning bathrooms church planters can spend so much time elbow deep in working that they cannot lead. Every pastor needs to be willing to do whatever it takes to reach people for Christ, but the most important thing he can do is give a part of the ministry away every day. I think there are really four steps to giving away ministry:

Connect the dots. No one wants to clean bathrooms but most people would like to change the world. The pastors job is to connect the dots through vision from clean bathrooms to changed lives.

The Big Ask. The most effective volunteers are already too busy doing other stuff to help you in the church. The people with plenty of time have plenty of time for a reason (Often it begins with an “L” and ends with “oser”) That’s why the pastor has to learn to make The Big Ask of the busiest people. We call those people high capacity volunteers.

Show them the ropes. Once a pastor talks an unsuspecting soul into working in the nursery he often then hands her the teachers guide and says to call if she has any trouble. That is a volunteer who will soon be handing the teachers guide back because, “I realized that this job is just too big for me.” To truly engage leaders church planters have to be willing to invest the time to actually mentor others.

Quit. It is too early to quit the church. What a church planter needs to do, however, on a regular basis is evaluate everything you do. Make a list of every activity you do related to ministry for a week. Then sort the list into three piles: What can only you do? What could someone else do? What should no one do? And then get busy training others to do the work of the ministry.

Many thanks to Geoff for stopping by Creating Culture. If you are in church leadership, or are an active member of a church, go buy the book, you will benefit from his insights.