Church Planter Assessment
About four years after I had planted Frontline Community Church in Ramstein, Germany, a friend who was the national director of church planting for his denomination, gave me an on-the-spot quick church planter self-assessment and we determined it was far too risky for me to plant a church there. Oops. Too late! By the grace of God, the church flourished.
The moral of the story is not that church planter assessment isn’t important. The more I became familiar with assessing church planters, the more I realized just how much I could have benefited (and the new church) from assessment prior to starting the church. The challenges and struggles I could have been prepared for or completely avoided are far too many to list here.
The reality is that far too many church plants don’t survive. Far too many church planters’ marriages and families suffer. And far too many other problems are experienced in church planting largely due to a lack of thorough church planter assessment prior to starting a church.
In preparation for starting a new church, assessing one’s calling, character, and competency is crucial. This cannot only come by one’s own self-assessment, though there must be a strong conviction and confirmation internally in a church planter that God is leading in this direction. Just as important as internal conviction is, there must be external confirmation in which a church planter receives counsel and places himself under the honest and sometimes uncomfortable assessment by his family, peers, elders, and/or trained assessors.
A thorough evaluation and assessment of a church planter is essential in affirming strengths, identifying areas of growth, and giving feedback on practical steps in planting a healthy, multiplying church.
Our hope is that church planters see being assessed by their parent/sponsoring church as an investment in them, their families, and their future church. Our aim is to set them up to the best of our ability and to come alongside Jesus in His work of building His church and seeing the lost saved for His glory.
Church Multiplication Network:
Please join us for our next Church Multiplication Network online gathering as we consider the what, why, and how of assessing church planters. How many potential church planters are in your church? Do you want to come alongside them and help them discern their calling and potential? We can help you!
Please join us at 3pm (Frankfurt) 8am (Panama), Tuesday the 11th of April.
Your Church Multiplication Leadership Team looks forward to seeing you!
Without consultation and wise advice, plans are frustrated,
But with many counselors they are established and succeed.
(Proverbs 15:22 Amplified Bible)
