Launching large: the new paradigm in church planting

The following is an excerpt from Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch , the new, comprehensive guide to church planting by Nelson Searcy and Kerrick Thomas. Launch is now available from Regal Books, on Amazon.com.

Launching Large: The New Paradigm in Church Planting

In 2001, when we first began to think seriously about starting The Journey, there were a number of church planting books and resources on the market.  We set out to read them all.  We were going to be nothing if not informed.  Many of the books were helpful on specific points.  Others painted in broad stokes, giving us clear boundaries as to what we should avoid or what key questions we should consider.  Several taught church planting systems that had worked at one time, perhaps in the 1960s or 1970s, but now seemed outdated and ineffective.  A few gave us a solid picture of what a mature church would look like, but still didn’t provide us a clear roadmap for getting a new church off the ground with no money, no meeting location and no members (which is exactly the situation we were in).  We realize now that we were looking for a ‘”How To” guide on church planting – an instruction manual of sorts that not only made sense theoretically, but was also visibly working in a number of growing churches.  It didn’t exist.

Our desire to learn all we could about starting a new church led us to conversations with successful church planters across the country.  What we found was not surprising.  Many of the planters we interviewed had gone “off road” and were growing their churches with little guidance from current methods or resources.  Because their processes and principles were being discovered through trial and error, most were excited to share their insights, in an attempt to save future church planters time and energy. 

Through innumerable conversations with these diverse church planters, and through our own study of the New Testament church, we began to assemble the collection of contrarian church planting wisdom on which the Launch process is built. We are not theorists, but practitioners of this process. We’ve seen God use the tools you are about to discover in growing our own church and other new churches across the country. Now presented to you, Launch is the how-to manual we wish we’d had when we started The Journey.  

LAUNCHING vs. PLANTING

Our goal is to help you start a church from scratch that will reach as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, in the power of the Holy Spirit.  In other words, we want to provide you with everything you need to Launch Large.   This underlying premise of launching large is what most differentiates us from traditional church planting thinking. In today’s culture, a new church is not something you put in the ground and tend to, in hopes that it will eventually grow. Rather, a new church should be a vibrant, life-giving mechanism positioned to bring truth to a desperate, fast-moving world. God’s vision and plans for churches today are limitless. We believe that He is calling church planters in the 21st Century to stop planting and start launching.

To understand Launching Large, you must also understand its two essential complementary components – Launching Quickly and Launching From The Outside In.  Let’s examine these three precepts in more detail, as they will guide all of our ensuing discussion:

Launching Large – Launching large is the ability of a new church to reach as many people as possible within the first six to eight months of existence.  It’s an issue of discovering and fulfilling potential.  Of course, large is a relative term. Launching large will look different for different church planters in different environments.  Church is local, and launching large is as unique as the area to which God has called you.  Areas that are warm to the gospel may lend to a larger launch than completely unchurched areas.  We have also seen the reverse hold true.  Don’t get too caught up in the numbers.  Instead focus on the potential of your area. 

God’s dream for your church is bigger than your dream. Launching large is about cooperating with God to see his vision accomplished in an area.  Don’t underestimate that vision, or your ability to tap into it.  If God is calling you to this task, He’s not trying to play hide and seek with His vision and goals.  Take a moment and use your sanctified imagination to envision what launching large would look like for your new church.

Launching Quickly – Contrary to some schools of through, healthy churches can also be launched quickly.  We fully believe that a church can begin monthly services within two to three months of a lead pastor arriving in the field – we’ve seen it time and time again.  From there, we recommend only three to six months of monthly services until the church launches weekly services.  We have found that this combination of speed and momentum building has worked well in new churches around the country.

Some have argued that you can start a new church even faster than we’ve outlined – in a week, or a day, even.  We have found that a slightly longer “build to launch” time brings greater health over the long haul.  Launching a church is a bit like birthing a baby – the gestation period matters.  While a baby can survive a premature birth, he may face long-term consequences.  Resist the temptation to launch too soon.

Conversely, many propose a long gestation period for a new church, with small gatherings, core groups and high initial commitment for the early attendees.  Some churches stay in this pre-launch stage for a year to eighteen months.  The sad reality is that many of these churches never get off the launching pad.  There is always going to be a reason to postpone launching your church.  Conditions will never be perfect.  This slow approach to launching is detrimental to the overall church health and to everyone involved.  Take the time needed to ensure that you are on a healthy track, but resist the temptation to wait to long to launch. 

Launching From The Outside In – Launching large includes launching from the outside in – which is perhaps the most radical of our launching large precepts.  It is completely possible to launch a church where the only Christians on the initial team are the staff (pastor, worship leader and spouses).   In starting a church from scratch, you don’t have to wait until you can attract a set number of Christians from the area, or convince Christians from other areas to embrace your vision and relocate.  God may bring those people your way, or He may not.  They are not required.  Throughout history, God has used believers and unbelievers alike.  What makes you think your church start would be any different?

Keeping the goal of launching large in front of you causes a shift in the early DNA of your church – you will have an outwardly focused mentality from the onset. Churches that launch large tend to stay focused on the unchurched, while churches that wait to launch often get distracted with insider concerns and “taking care of the core.”  Keeping a new church outwardly focused from the beginning is much easier than trying to refocus an inwardly-concerned church.

FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS

Churches are now launching large across the United States.  In our work with church planters, we have seen many churches grow from zero to over four hundred in six to twelve months, using the strategy of launching large.  In a southern town with a population of one hundred and sixty thousand people, we worked with a church that grew from zero to over two hundred and fifty in monthly services, and then launched with over three hundred.  A church in Florida, in an established major city where many other church plants had failed, accepted the idea of launching large, launched with over three hundred people, and grew to over four hundred people in under eight months.  God is blessing the willingness of these church planters to let Him work, without preconceived limitations.  From conferences, coaching networks and personal consultations we could tell you the stories of many others who have seen God move in similar ways.  Often, churches that launch large are able to grow to several hundred or to over a thousand people, in a matter of just a few years.  Then, they have the stability to start other churches with greater frequency.

Launching a church from scratch that impacts the community, reaches the lost, grows rapidly, helps people mature in their faith, and then starts more new churches nearby and around the world is entirely possible – with God!  When He calls you to start a new church, give all of the potential and possibilities over to Him and let Him lead your work.  Then, and only then, will your church from scratch become a church of greater success and significance than you’ve ever imagined.

©2006 Nelson Searcy.  Reprinted with permission.  Adapted from Launch: Starting A new Church from Scratch by Nelson Searcy and Kerrick Thomas.  To purchase the Launch book, click here.  For information on bulk copies, speakers, interviews or adapted articles for your magazine or website call 1-800-264-5129.