Yesterday, I said that there are two abilities that predetermine the success of a church planter. The first one is:

The ability to recruit a worship leader.

I honestly don’t know why this is true, but I’ve seen it play out hundreds of times. (I’ve personally trained over 3000 church planters and we have coached over 100 church planters in our six to eight month coaching networks.) If a church planter does not recruit a worship leader to join his team by the time he launches weekly services, the church rarely grows beyond 150.

Here are my suspicions as to why this is true:

– The skills needed to convince a worship leader to join your staff (when you have nothing to offer except the vision of a future church) are the same skills you need to convince the unchurched to attend your church.

– Having a worship leader who has committed to the team contributes to the stability of the new church.

– There is a biblical blessing that comes through a pastor and worship leader working together.

– Early attenders are more likely to commit if they’ve seen at least one other person commit who isn’t the pastor.

– The pastor and worship leader working together brings an early synergy.

– The services are better because there is a consistent worship leader.

– The pastor has someone he can count on for help.

– The worship leader can do more than just lead worship – and thus help the church grow faster.

– The worship leader can build additional relationships in the community.

– The worship leader sacrifices to be a part of the church and God honors that sacrifice.

A church planter who cannot recruit a worship leader before his first service is less likely to succeed than one who can. Our church has decided not to fund a new church planter if there isn’t a commitment by a worship leader already in place.

There’s a second ability that also predetermines the success of a church planter… and I’ll deal with that tomorrow.

Nelson

P.S. One of the free resources I offer to any church planter who requests it, is a resource by The Journey’s first worship leader that I recruited (he’s now our Pastor of Worship Arts). It’s called “Starting A Worship Arts Team from Scratch.”  You can request it and over $50 in additional free resources by clicking here.

© Nelson Searcy. All Rights Reserved.

About Nelson Searcy

Nelson Searcy is an experienced church growth strategist, pastor, church planter and coach, consulting with churches around the world. As founder of Church Leader Insights and the Renegade Pastors Network, he has personally trained more than 3,500 church leaders in over 45 denominations through live events, seminars and monthly coaching. Nelson is also the Founding and Lead Pastor of The Journey Church, with locations across New York City and in Boca Raton, FL. Nelson and his church routinely appear on lists such as “The 50 Most Influential Churches” and “The 25 Most Innovative Leaders.” He is the author of over 100 church growth resources and 18+ books, including The Renegade Pastor: Abandoning Average in Your Life, Ministry and The Difference Maker: Using Your Everyday Life for Eternal Impact, and At the Cross with the People Who Were There. He and his wife, Kelley, have one son, Alexander.