Second Career Church Planters

Second Career Church Planters:

Why Your First Career in Business is Great Preparation for Starting a Church

By Nelson Searcy

 

Over the last several years, I’ve noticed a shift in the church planters who attend my training seminars on how to successfully launch a new church. The crowd used to be made up primarily of twenty-somethings in skinny jeans. Lately however, there have been many more forty and fifty-something professionals in attendance, most of whom have already had a measure of success in the business world. Second career church planting has become a positive trend with good reason. Many careers – whether corporate, nonprofit or military – are invaluable training ground for potential church planters.

Are you considering stepping out of your current profession to start a church? If so, the skills you’ve developed and honed throughout your career are sure to help you excel. Still, they are not enough on their own. No matter what your previous experience has been or why you think it may make you a good church planter, you shouldn’t move ahead until you are sure of one thing – that God is the one calling you to this new endeavor.

The majority of church starts fail within the first year because the majority of church planters start churches without a clear calling from God. In order to plant a successful church, you have to know that you know that God is calling you to do it. Thriving churches have always been, and will always be, built on a base of personal calling, not personal choice. Do you know for certain that God has called you to step out of your current career and start a church? If he is not the one leading you, don’t move forward.

When I counsel engaged couples, I often try to talk them out of getting married. Why? I want to make sure God is the one behind the impending union. Otherwise, disaster will follow. While calling off an engagement is painful, it’s much easier than calling off a marriage. Stopping before the mistake is made will prevent a lot of future heartache. So it is with the calling to start a church. If I can talk you out of starting a church, it’s going to hurt a little now, but it’s going to save you, your family and the people around you a lot of hurt in the future. And if you truly are called by God to start a church, I won’t be able to talk you out of it.

Back to the question: Do you know for certain that God has called you to start a new church? Understanding some sources of improper calling may be helpful as you reflect on your answer. There are, of course, dozens of sources of improper calling, but these are the ones that I see pop up most frequently:

•   Unemployment

•   Anger or resentment toward another pastor

•   Unhappy with current career track

•   Parent or grandparent started a church

•   Ego

•   It’s the “in” thing

In addition to these improper sources of calling, also keep in mind that the call to ministry is not necessarily the call to start a church. You may be called to serve in an existing church or to work in a ministry-related organization. You may be called to preach. In fact, you may have discovered that you have the potential to be the greatest preacher since Billy Graham, but still not be called to start a new church. The call to church planting is incredibly specific. Be careful not to confuse it with other opportunities God may be bringing your way.

If you think you may have allowed a misguided emotion or a confused line of reasoning lead you to the idea of starting a new church, turn back now. Spend some time with God. Seek the advice of a mentor who knows you and can help you gain some perspective. Don’t act on a hunch or because you feel “pretty sure” you should be planting a church. You have to be completely sure. The Lord clearly admonishes those who forge ahead without a calling:

‘Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,’ says the Lord, ‘and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all,’ says the Lord(Jer. 23:32, NKJV).

The first year of a new church is not easy. While there will undoubtedly be times of uncertainty, knowing for sure that you are called to the task at hand is what will keep you moving forward. Often, that assurance is the only thing you have to stand on, so clarifying it is essential. Here are some of the ways you can recognize a proper calling.

•   Prayer and Bible Study. God calls, and confirms his call, through prayer and Bible study. People who are called often feel God confirming his calling every time they pray or read the Bible.

•   Surprise. A surprise calling happens more often than you may think. Ministry may have never factored into your own plans for your life, when (surprise!) God intercepts your plans and puts you on a new path. This surprise calling leads to a 180-degree turn in career and life focus.

•   Holy Discontent. While resentment toward an existing church or pastor can be a source of improper calling, a proper calling will often carry with it a sense of holy discontent. Holy discontent is not focused on problems within a specific ministry but rather has a heart to improve the overall level of ministry in a particular community. It can also show up as the nagging realization that you have been ignoring God’s plan for your life and that you won’t find fulfillment until you surrender to his will to start a church.

•   Burden for the Unchurched. A proper call is always accompanied by the desire to reach the unchurched. If your goal is to change the Christians you know, you are most assuredly not called to start a new church. However, if you have a passion to reach people who don’t know God, you may be hearing a true call.

•   Godly Counsel. A proper call will be accompanied by confirmation from those around you. Seek out other ministry leaders. Tell them what God is doing in your life and prayerfully assess their response to your call.

To help you discern your call, let’s break down the four calls of a church planter:

The Four Calls of a Church Planter

1. The Call to Start a Church

If you have been called to step out of your current career and start a church, I can assure you of two things. One, the calling will be undeniable. Two, God will equip you to do the new work he is placing before you. When he chooses you, he also empowers you. The feelings of inadequacy you may struggle with, while normal, have no place in the heart of a man or woman called to God’s purposes. Don’t allow fear to derail all that God wants to do in this new chapter of your life. You can have full confidence that he will give you everything you need to succeed.

2. The Call to Understand Your Spouse’s Call

If you are married, God will not call you without confirming the call in your spouse. Be intentional about sharing what God is doing in your heart with the partner he has given you. Listen earnestly to what he is doing in your spouse’s heart. Starting a church can be difficult on a marriage. Open, honest communication throughout the process is crucial. Keep these points in mind:

•   The timing of your call may not match the timing of your spouse’s call.If your call comes first, be patient and allow God to speak to your spouse in his own timing. Do not push. Just as God called you together in marriage, he’ll call you together to start a church. If you forge ahead without your spouse, you are not only acting outside of God’s will for your marriage but you are also putting your future church in jeopardy. On the other hand, if your spouse’s call comes before yours, realize that God may be using your spouse to gently (or not so gently) move you forward into God’s plan.

•   The intensity of your call may not match the intensity of your spouse’s call.While sometimes both spouses receive an intense call to start a church together, it’s not uncommon for one to be led to take on a more supportive role. Don’t assume that your spouse is not in sync with you because your levels of passion are not equal. The goal is to confirm mutual calling, not mutual intensity.

•   Make sure your spouse is fully involved and committed.If your spouse is not fully involved and committed, slow down. Don’t make any decisions without listening to his or her point of view. Before acting on the new thing God is calling you to, check, recheck and ask your spouse’s friend to check that he or she is on board. Your call to your marriage always takes precedence over your call to start a church.

3. Your Call to a Place

If you already know where you are called to start a church, think about how God has formed you for that place. What life experiences have you had that will help you relate to the community? How has God already been working in you to get you ready? If you’re not yet sure where you should start your new church, these questions may help you clarify this part of your calling: 

•   Has God called you to leave your current home? You may already be in the place to which you are called.

•   Are you passionate about a particular area of the country/world? If God has put a passion in you for a specific place, carefully examine the possibility that he could be calling you there. But be careful not to confuse passion with personal preference.

 

If you aren’t yet sure where God wants you to start your new church, hit the pause button while you try to figure it out. Do some research, talk with other church leaders, pray with your spouse and study some examples from Scripture. When you land on the place you’re called to, God will confirm it in your heart.

4. Your Call to a People

You will likely be called to reach those who are most like you. Everything from your age to your race to your previous life and career experience will help determine who God is calling you to influence. By calling you to church planting as a second career, he is already positioning you to connect in a unique way. If you have lived your faith during your first career, you have a track record to challenge others like you to do the same. If you have already raised a Christian family, you can attract and speak into the lives of younger families.

As a rule, you will be best able to reach people who are about ten years younger than you to those who are just a few years older. You will relate best to others who come from a similar cultural background. While some rare church planters are called to minister to people very different from them, God will likely place you in the midst of a people group who can relate to you on many conscious and subconscious levels.

When I was called to start The Journey Church in New York City, I wrestled with the fact that the city is so ethnically and economically diverse. As I prayed about the specific people God was calling me to, he gave me something of a revelation. While there was no shortage of New York churches focused on the poor and the disadvantaged, there were virtually no churches equipped to reach the city’s young professionals. Not only did God place a burning passion in my heart for the young professionals of Manhattan, he also showed me that they were the people he had designed me to be able to relate to most effectively.

God gave me a desire to reach the very people I was most equipped to reach, based on the gifts and experiences he had blessed me with. As you seek clarity about who you are called to minister to, he will give you the same kind of desire. He will cause your heart to break for the people he wants you to impact.  

 

 

Characteristics of a Call

 

As a final step of clarification, evaluate your calling in light of the biblical characteristics of a godly calling.

•   Is your calling clear? As Paul taught, God is not the author of confusion but of peace. (1 Cor. 14:33, NKJV)

•   Has your calling been confirmed by others? When you are called to start a church, you will see confirmation from those around you.

•   Are you humbled by the call? Humility is the proper response to a true calling. If the call is not bigger than you, it may be from you and not from God.

•   Have you acted on your call? When God truly calls you, you will be incapable of ignoring his voice. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.’ At once they left their nets and followed him.(Matthew 4:19-20, NIV, emphasis added).

 

Now, ask yourself again: Do I know for certain that God has called me to start a church? Nail it down. When were you called? What were the circumstances surrounding your call? How did it match up with the sources of proper calling? Do you recognize the four specific calls in your calling? How? How does your call measure up to the biblical characteristics of a call? What is the emerging vision God is giving you with this call?

As you think about your answers to these questions, let me encourage you to start keeping a church-planting journal. Write it in ink. Once you start moving forward, you’ll want to look back on your confirmed calling over and over again.

 

 

Answering the Call

 

The call to ministry is the call to prepare. Here are some ways you can begin preparing for your new path:

 

Prepare to Lead– No matter what kind of leadership abilities you are bringing with you from your previous career, starting a church will stretch you in ways you’ve never imagined. If you already have leadership experience, it will prove invaluable. As a second career church planter, you have the benefit of using this previous experience to your advantage in many ways. Not only will it help you attract funders for your new church, it will also lend an element of credibility to the overall endeavor.

If your previous career didn’t leave you with much leadership experience, this is your opportunity to train yourself as a leader. God will graciously supply what you need, as you do your part to learn and grow. Study everything you can get your hands on in the areas of entrepreneurship, innovation, staff management, delegation, marketing and accounting. Your continual prayer should be, “God, make me into the leader I need to be to lead this church into the future.”

 

Prepare to Teach – The ability to teach well and the ability to start a successful church go hand in hand. Even if you are naturally gifted in the area of teaching or have previous teaching experience, you must continue to strengthen this skill.Get yourself ready to teach in a way that will directly benefit the people you are called to reach. This may mean a departure from the teaching style you’ve used in the past or have become accustomed to in other churches.

As a church starter, you’ll be teaching constantly. Beyond teaching in worship services, you will teach your vision to your early core group. You will teach your plan to potential funding partners. You will teach your strategy to the community. You will teach your systems to laity. You will teach yourself what it means to pastor a growing church. The day may even come when you will be called on to teach other second career church planters how to do what you’ve done. Take care to hone your teaching skills. Strong teachers build strong churches.

 

Prepare to Depend on God– Just as your leadership and teaching ability will be stretched, so will your faith. Starting a church from scratch is definitely a faith venture. At every turn, God will be teaching you new things and taking you into deeper dependence on him. As your dependence on God grows, so will your church.

Responding to God’s voice in your life often means being led to step beyond your comfort zone into the great unknown. The call to leave the profession you’ve spent years mastering and start a church is nothing if not the call to an all-out, faith-intensive adventure. Are you certain God has called you to start a new church? If you can answer, “Absolutely yes!” then let the adventure begin!

For more detailed insight and training on how to start a healthy, new church, pick up my best-selling guide, Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch online or at a bookstore near you. Also be sure to visit my equipping website www.ChurchLeaderInsights.com/freecp for a collection of free resources to help you get started on this incredible journey of partnering with God to launch a church that will reach people for his glory.

NELSON SEARCY is founding Pastor of The Journey Church in New York City.  He has helped thousands of first and second career church planters launch healthy churches.   Along with 12 other books, he is the author of Launch: Starting a New Church from Scatch (Baker Books). He is also founder of www.ChurchLeaderInsights.com.