Top 10 Things I Learned About Church Planting in 2009

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading everyone else’s top 10 lists from 2009, I suppose you could call it a guilty pleasure… Anyhow, I thought I would contribute in the area that’s been the most significant for me over the last year. So here it is:

The Top 10 Things I learned About Church Planting In 2009

1. Networking and Networks

In the process of getting ready to do a church plant, I spent a ton of time meeting people who were in the church-planting world. The more networking I did the more I saw just how networked the church planting world is. NewThing, Acts 29, The Exponential Network, Stadia, ARC, etc. are some of the networks that I got a chance to connect with and since planting the church I have even heard of a few more. A word on Networks and Networking: the key component and the thing that I have found most helpful in this process is relationships. The relationships that I have built as a part of NewThing and the friends that I have in other networks are critical for ideas, resources, decision-making, growing as a pastor and making new contacts. I can’t imagine what this journey would have been like without the extensive web of people in church planting that I’ve been able to meet and learn from over the last year.

2. There is an “I” in TEAM

“I” would not be here without the team that made the leap and came on board with Kristen and I to do this plant. I recognize that we are only a few months into this thing, but I can already see how crazy the pace, schedule and emotional demands are on a church planter and without the team around me I don’t think I would be in the place that I am now. We made the decision to start with a large team (4 staff, 1 intern) and in the first 3 months that has already grown to 5 staff, 2 interns and a possible leadership resident (more about that later). I am sure that the value of our team goes beyond saving my tail, but the thing that I learned this year is that there is NO WAY that I would be where I am without the team that God has put together for this church.

3. The Exponential Conference is food for a starving church planter

I’ve been two years running, so technically this is a lesson from the 08 and 09. If you are a planter, are a sender, are a leader, are a potential planter or anywhere in between it is a must that you check out the Exponential Conference that happens in Orlando April 20-22. I’m not sure what it is about the conference, the speakers are amazing, the sessions are practical and the worship is refreshing… But it seems like the most valuable aspect is the fact that you get to see/network with 3000 other people who all live the same struggles, the same joys and are generally constructed in a similar way to me. I love it. I know that as long as we are a reproducing church (aka as long as I am the leader), I plan on being a part of Exponential.

4. Vision needs to be scalable

One of the CP lessons from 09 was the idea of scalable vision. We were going into our preview services not knowing if 6 people, 60 people or 600 people were going to show up. It was a pretty interesting experience trying to plan and cast vision in such a way that what we were doing made sense regardless of the size of the crowd. What it came down to for us is that we needed to focus on just a couple things, do those things as well as we could and emphasize reproduction so that as our body grows, they grow with the understanding that healthy things grow and healthy things reproduce and our goal is to be healthy. It would have been silly for us to put on adult size clothes as an infant and it would be silly for us to buy an entire wardrobe of clothes for infants knowing that we weren’t going to be infants forever… so we ended up naked… we figure that always fits. (***I have no idea what that analogy means, but it sounds all right so I’m leaving it in***)

5. Spot your seasons

The next thing I learned from CP09 is that there are seasons. There needs to be seasons. We heard Tim Keller share at Exponential that he and his wife talked about the hours that it was going to take to get Redeemer off the ground. They predetermined to go crazy for a season and then they were going to pull back. As Kristen and I got into the thick of getting Anthem started we saw that a similar decision was needed. Pre-launch was nuts. We were going at a ridiculous pace that we would not have been able to maintain. Post-launch we made the conscious decision to throttle back and even to let things fall through the cracks if they had to, but for the sake of our family we had to spot the new season that we were in.

6. Ask a lot of questions

Didn’t realize how much I didn’t know until I dove in head first. I think its important for any church planter to adopt a position of humility and learning and ask as many people as many questions as possible. I learned a lot this year and I plan on continuing that trend.

7. Humility and obedience

We spent a lot of time this year talking about success as a team. We looked at what we could dictate and what was God’s to dictate. The conclusion that we ultimately came to is that if we pursue humility and obedience and let our growth in those areas determine our success, then God would take care of the rest. The amount of people, the amount of money, the rate of reproduction, those are in God’s hands and if we pursue God and his mission in humility and obedience we will see whatever God defines as our success. Does that make sense? It does to me.

8. Helping people find their way back to God—mission matters

I know this has been said by leaders for the last 30-100 years, so it isn’t new, but this is the first time that I’ve gotten to see it first hand. Having a purpose for existence that aligns us with the mission of Jesus has driven us to serve God in ways that we never would have expected. I can also see how this mission will continually challenge us to pursue God and the direction that he wants us to be going.

9. There is always money in the banana stand

If this is what God wants us to be doing, money will not be our downfall. God has unlimited resources and at the right moments he releases those resources to do his work. We have seen this consistently over the last 2 years. God uses his people, their generosity, their growth and their faith to fund and grow his church. I am learning to trust that if God wants something done, money will not be the reason it doesn’t happen.

10. Big brothers keep your head on straight

I have churches that have been around a little longer than me that I look up to with great admiration and respect. To me, they are my big brothers, whether they know it or not. I watch them, their heart, their decisions, their mistakes and I learn and grow because they are out in front of me paving the way. Some of these churches know their role in my life, some do not, but regardless I love and respect them the same. Reality (Carpinteria), Rock Harbor, Community Christian Church, EvFree Conejo, Cornerstone Simi, Restore Community Church and Reunion Boston are a few of these churches. There are so many more that I have learned from, but seeing the heart and passion for Jesus Christ coming out of these churches is something that I look up to.

Bonus*** There is a too soon, do a residency!

Kristen and I took the time out of our “launch” to spend 9 months in Naperville, Il doing a leadership residency with NewThing. I cannot recommend this highly enough. If you’re thinking about planting a church, no matter how much schooling, how much experience, I highly recommend the residency concept. It gives you a chance to dream, plan, learn, network, fundraise and grow personally in preparation for a season that forces you to focus on other things. Consider the residency before planting, I have a hunch it will change everything!

In case you’re wondering… I’m Matt Larson. I was the leader of a team that started Anthem Church in Thousand Oaks, Ca in October of this year. I continue to serve as the Lead Pastor at Anthem with dreams of seeing our church reproduce rapidly throughout southern California. I have partnered with the Evangelical Free Church of America and the NewThing Network to make this thing happen. It’s been a great experience so far and I look forward to what God is going to do in 2010!

Big Time Anthem Update

Anthem Church has been up and running for 2 months now, so I thought this was as good a time as any to put out an update to everyone that has been following our progress, praying for us and supporting us financially.

We launched on October 11th with a little over 300 people celebrating the day with us in two services on the campus of California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. It was an amazing day, so much fun to see who was there and to hear stories about how they heard abo

ut Anthem and what their hopes were for finding their way back to God. We had been coached to expect about 8 weeks of attendance decline before things really started to level out. We got a chance to see that first hand with each of the first four weeks being smaller than the previous. That was an interesting experience. We were still seeing a lot of new people coming through the doors, but many of those people weren't coming back consistently. As a staff we looked at our launch and realized that we really weren't equipped to connect the 300+ people that came on our launch Sunday. We decided to take 8 weeks and find out the answer to our first big question "who is Anthem?" That brought us into our current season of ministry that will stretch from the beginning of November through the end of the year. I am spending time with families and individuals that have come to Anthem on multiple occasions finding out who is going to be on board with us. It was been a great experience so far getting to hear people's hearts, stories and desires to be involved in what is going on at Anthem. I don't k

now that I could be more pleased with the initial response to the presence of Anthem in the community. The most consistent reaction to the first two months has been the phrase "God is here". I LOVE hearing that. We knew going into this that we could put on some pretty good music and teach the Bible pretty well, but if God didn't show up then it wasn't going to fly.

Ah, back to the story of the first two months: After 4 weeks of decline in attendance we have now seen steady growth for 4 weeks. We started our series on the book of Romans called "Manifesto of Freedom". So far we've studied Paul as a servant (1:1-15), the Gospel (1:16-17), God's Wrath (1:18-3:20), Hope in Christ (3:21-3:31). The response to the Romans series has been unreal! In fact, we stopped Romans to do a 4 week series based on Advent Conspiracy and it was met with some disappointment :) I love that people love God's Word and want to study it! What a cool start to the church! By the way, if you're interested in listening to any of the first few messages, check out our media section on www.jointheanthem.com That will link you to iTunes or you can stream live from our podcast site.

One of the most exciting aspects of the church so far is getting a chance to see a reproducing culture developing so early on. In the first 8 weeks of Anthem we have had 6 different bands lead us into worship at Anthem. 5 of those bands are part of our church and only 1 of them was a band that came from another church to lead us into worship! Ryan Hinkle, our arts director, has seen his role as raising up teams and leaders of those teams and as a result we have had Ryan, Dewey Coleman, Sean Ameche, Forrest Terry and Kevin Bailey all stepping up as worship leaders in the early weeks of Anthem. We also got a chance a few weeks ago to hear

from God's Word through the gifted teaching of Kevin Bailey. I have been so excited to see Kevin's development as a pastor and leader over the last 4 months. Kevin taught on guilt and shame and how we get from hiding from God in Genesis 3 to approaching the throne with confidence in Hebrews 4. The answer is found in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that in Jesus we might become the righteousness of God. Great stuff. We are also seeing our Community Groups reproducing. We currently have 6 community groups up and running, that number is going up to 10 in the first week of January. Brandon and Ariel Nunez have been apprenticing as CG leaders in Matt and Kristen's group, Chris and Heather Wallock and Sean and Rachel Ameche have both been apprenticing in Kevin and Keely's group. We are so excited to see these new leaders stepping out and taking on new roles in mission of Jesus!

The most exciting aspect of Anthem Church is the opportunity to see our mission affecting people's lives. We started this church to help people find their way back to God. That is happening in some pretty amazing ways! We have seen 9 people give their lives to Christ in the early weeks of Anthem Church. We've had 1 baptism with another bunch ready to go. It has been so incredible to see the reason that we came to Thousand Oaks becoming a reality. I am so proud of our team of leaders who are key participants in helping these people find their way back to God!

If you have been to Anthem, you've probably noticed that Kids City has been working hard to figure out the best combination of location, effectiveness, rotations and volunteers. Jenny Haseth and Kristen Larson along with Keely Bailey, Alex Casey, Kathleen Davidson and a number of key leaders are doing an amazing job making Kids City a place where kids are finding their way back to God and participating in the mission of Jesus. I am so proud of our team! We are hearing some of the most amazing reports what God is doing in Kids city! We get to have our first child dedication on December 13th and I have been so excited to see the response with a number of families deciding to dedicate themselves to raising their kids in the way of God.

Our setup and tear down teams have been sharpening every week, to the point where we can unload and reload the trailer in fewer minutes every time. The teams are growing and learning better and faster ways to get us ready each weekend. Kelly Roach, Kristin Macejz, Ariel Nunez and Christina Walker have dominated the hospitality area, making it super welcoming each week with hot coffee and great food.

I know this has gotten long, but I cannot stop talking about how excited and proud I am of the team of people that God has gathered to live out his mission here in Thousand Oaks.

*Extra info on Matt and Kristen if you want to keep reading*

This has been an incredible season for us as leaders and first time church planters. God is teaching us so much about life, family, balance and sacrifice as we are adjusting to this new pace. Our kids have been unreal, truly seeing Anthem as their church and their mission. The boys are helping out with tear down each week as well as inviting kids to Kids City almost every week. God is truly blessing my relationship with my wife. We are enjoying our time together and growing in our love, knowledge and respect for each other.

One of the most valuable things that I learned in my leadership residency through NewThing is that there is a bunch that I don't know and I need to grow and learn from everyone that I can! So Kristen and I made the decision to continue my learning path. There is a group of pastors from around the country that are meeting once a month in Minneapolis to be coached in leadership by a pastor named Ron Sylvia and my EFCA coach Dave Page. These meetings are hosted by EFCA. I missed the first one (it was two days before we launched :), but the second one was so valuable and a great time to be challenged by other leaders. I'll be flying to Minnesota once a month until May for this coaching network. In addition to that I am currently on my way (actually on the plane as I write this) to the NewThing Network Gathering in Knoxville, TN. This group of guys are super influential in my early development as a leader and I am so excited to get together with them. We will be talking about all kinds of leadership issues especially as it pertains to reproducing the church.

I have been spending time with a few different pastors, gleaning and learning as much as I can. I am so grateful to my dad (Steve Larson), John Erwin, Troy McMahon, Chris Hornbrook, Chris Hall, Shawn Thornton, Caleb Kaltenbach, Leaf Zwerling, Kirk DeWitt, Mike Katzenberger, Brian Zehr, Dave Ferguson and Chuckk Gerwig for giving me the opportunity to learn from their experience. I have found that I LOVE networking, I feel that there is something I can learn from EVERYONE that I talk to.

Again, sorry this is long, but there's still more... I think I'll save it for another update. If you're a prayer (which I hope for all of us), here's where we need prayer as a church:

Obedience--I want our first commitment as a church to be a ridiculous pursuit of the Holy Spirit wherever He leads us. Pray that we would have the ears to hear what God is calling us to do as a church.

Humility--I know that there is no way that we can do this on our own. My prayer is that as leaders and participants in the Gospel we would be on our faces before a good and loving God. Please pray for a consistent hunger for humility for me, Kevin, Ryan, Jenny, John and all of our leaders!

Thanks for hanging in for this long! Thank you for your prayers, I know that God is hearing them and responding!

If you're interested in tracking with me/us here are the best ways:

www.jointheanthem.com

www.facebook.com/matt.j.larson

www.twitter.com/Matt_larson

www.twitter.com/ryanrhinkle

www.twitter.com/kevinbailey

www.twitter.com/anthem_church

Launch

Well, its official, Anthem launches on Sunday!

About a year ago, Kristen and I were looking at the calendar trying to figure out a good time to start a church. We picked October 11th. I don't have any real good reason. We thought it was enough time after school that things had settled down a little bit. There was enough time after we moved home from Chicago to be able to get things in order. Other than that... nothing special, we just wanted to start a church. Well, from that point on our life has been a veritable hurricane of activity. That's right, veritable. God has been teaching us patience, humility, gratitude and obedience in ways that we never expected. I've had to learn how to start a non-profit organization in the state of California (not super easy). I'm a boss to 3 employees for the first time in my life. But mostly this hurricane has been the building excitement and momentum toward October 11th. I'm writing this on Wednesday, October 7th and to be honest, I have no idea what's going to happen on Sunday.

As much as I want to make Sunday amazing, I know that the only thing God has asked me to do is to be obedient to Him. To live my life on His mission, for His purpose with His heart. The results of that life aren't for me to decide. They are completely and totally up to God. As a leader I want to see the thing that we are starting do well. I want to see people captivated by the God who I love. I want to see people finding their way back to God. But that's not the call. God has asked us to humbly obey Him and let Him do His work so that He gets all the glory.

I can't wait to see everyone on Sunday. I think its gonna be a lot of fun. But just like getting married, it would be foolish to be so focused on the wedding that you forget about the marriage. We're here for God's purpose. God wants to put His broken family back together. Anthem Church exists to help people find their way back to God and we are going to do everything that we can and everything that God has given us to live on that mission.

Not sure exactly how to wrap this up except to say this, if you're ready to be a part of something bigger than yourself, simply live "not my will, but yours be done". It's not about what we want, it's about serving God and pursuing Him wherever He takes you. So make it hap'n cap'n :)

Preview Service/Poker Tourney/All around Good Times!

This is so one of those weeks that simply wouldn't be possible without the strength and goodness of God!

Anthem's first preview service is this Sunday (the 16th). Our whole world has been pointed towards getting things ready for this all week. It's been great, so much fun to see people getting excited along with us. In the midst of all of our prep for that we are also getting ready for our fundraiser poker tournament that's happening on Saturday (the 15th). Again, amazing stuff is happening there. Local businesses and friends are coming through with amazing donations for both prizes and catering!

In the middle of all that action, Andrew and I both got racked with a wicked 24 hour flu on Wednesday/Thursday. It wailed on us for a very short period of time and has since left us a little on the wiped out side.

If only I were on a boat (I never thought I'd be on a boat) I might be able to get shipwrecked like Paul... Maybe next week.

Join us at the preview service this Sunday at 10 am at CLU (California Lutheran University). Check out www.jointheanthem.com for more info and a map!

Dewey's latest song

Go Generosity! Go Anthem!!!

This last week Anthem Church was able to donate over 80 backpacks to Ventura County's Foster Care system because of the generosity of the people of Anthem and the people of Thousand Oaks and Camarillo!

These kids face one of the more challenging upbringings that exists. Parents who have struggled or left and ultimately the kids are without a true family... until one of these foster families steps in and cares for them. If you have a heart for kids and you want to affect real change in real brokenness, please consider being a foster parent. Here's a link to the informational meetings about how to become a foster parent in Ventura County.

My big ask

Heyo friendly people :)

As most of you know at this point, I'm getting a new church started in Thousand Oaks, Ca. On the one hand (spiritually) it is an amazing time to start a church. People are hungry for something bigger than themselves. We are seeing it already here in TO and that is so much fun. On the other hand (financially) it is a ridiculously rotten time to start a church... as many of you know.

So, here's my ask:

Anthem Church needs some startup money to pay for equipment, salaries and facility rental among other things in our launch phase. We realize that there isn't a lot of money out there. So we have put together a campaign that we believe will help solve that issue... We are looking for 1000 people who will give $100 each giving Anthem a substantial startup opportunity of $100,000.

Will you help me start a new church by giving $100?

You may think I'm writing this to someone else, but I'm not, I'm writing it to you.

Still you.

I know that many of you aren't accustomed to giving money to anything, let alone a church. If I may, this is one of those unique opportunities to invest in something that goes well beyond your normal $100 investment. This is something that is and will continue to transform lives, give people hope, turn a generation from takers to givers and to bring isolated, hurting people together to join the mission that we have all been called to.

$100 gets us started.

Yes you can give more.

Yes its a tax deductible donation to a non-profit organization...

Yes you can give and then ask your friends to give too

Yes every $100 helps

Yes you can call me and ask questions about the campaign

Yes I need your help

Yes you can give online

Yes you can give

Yes you can

Yes you

Yes

Click on ANY of the HIGHLIGHTED text to go to www.jointheanthem.com where a PayPal button awaits your most precious click. The giving is automatically in increments of $100 so if you want to give more, just click the button a few times. We will update the site with the progress.

Thank you so much for your generosity. Your investment will pay off forever!