Existing Churches Helping Church Starts

I've been doing a lot of thinking over the past couple weeks that there are a number of existing churches out there that would love to help new church starts but feel they have limited resources to offer. This blog is designed to initiate ideas and possibly conversations on how existing churches, large or small can provide resources for new churches. This does a number of things 1) it maximizes kingdom resources 2) it provides a creative option for churches to consider 3) it answers some big challenges for church planters without forcing them to beg :) and 4) it fosters a relationship between existing churches and new church starts.

Here are some practical ideas for how existing churches can support new churches:

1. Equipment. I've worked at a few different churches and I have seen the amount of equipment that goes unused in a church setting. I'm not saying that church plants are a place to dump the old junk, but it would be a generous use of your time to do a legitimate inventory of the equipment that you own as a church, evaluating what gets used and what doesn't. By doing this you may find that you have 17 SM-58's when you use a max of 9 on any given weekend. Maybe you keep 4 as backups for when yours break down, you've still got 4 to give to a new church. The same is true with cables, speakers, lights, soundboards, computers, kitchen equipment, rolling carts, kids ministry equipment, tables, chairs, trailers, etc. If you are interested in church planting, but there isn't enough room in the budget to support a church plant, this is a practical way to assist. Odds are, church planters aren't going to come to you and ask for your equipment. It's not the way we operate because we don't have those expectations of you as an existing church. So, if this strikes you as interesting, find a church planter in your area, invite him over to your church for an afternoon and show him what equipment you have that he could have. Loans are useful, but you should assume that you will not be getting your equipment back in the condition it was when you loaned it. Portable church is very hard on equipment so if you're thinking about this, you may as well give away the equipment.

2. Books. There are so many helpful books out there on leadership, elder boards, theology, etc. Most pastors of existing churches buy many of these books, I know because I was one of them for 10 years. So, when you buy a book please consider doing one of two things 1) read it, then give it to your local church planter to read or 2) buy a second copy for your local church planter.

3. Facilities. Many existing churches have them, nearly all church planters do not. I understand that it's your building and you need to use it for your ministry. But just like equipment, it would be worth doing an inventory of when your building is used and when it is available. Meet with your local church planter and let him know the times that your building is available. Maybe it helps him out, maybe it doesn't... but either way the conversation is a huge blessing and it opens up some great opportunities. We had a local large church open up their facility for us to use for our launch team meetings, the fact that they knew we existed and wanted to help us get started was such a huge encouragement.

4. Expanded networks. Perhaps you don't have room in the budget to support a church planter, but if his mission is something you believe in and you want to get behind it, take him with you to your local denominational gatherings, leadership conferences, etc. Introduce him to people that may be able to help him financially. Networks are like capital, maybe you can't donate cash, but you might be able to donate your network.

5. Honorariums. You may not have money in the budget to support a church planter, but there is usually money in the budget for leadership development and guest teachers on Sunday mornings. Invite your local church planter in to talk to your leadership about evangelism, entrepreneurial adventures, new models of ministry, etc. It would be a great conversation starter and a chance for you to throw $200-$500 his direction from within the budget. Invite him to teach on a Sunday morning and provide an honorarium for his services.

6. Technology. I've spoken with a guy that works as a graphic designer for a church. He creates series graphics, videos and worship backgrounds for his church. He offered to bring an external hard drive up with everything that he has created to give to us at Anthem Church. If you have someone at your church that does this stuff... Give it away!!! What a blessing to a new church that doesn't have the time, resources or manpower to create content like this.

So, here's the proposal. I don't get a ton of traffic at this blog, but I am banking on some serious ReTweeting from church planters and existing church leaders to get this out. If it works out, the comment section of this particular blog could become a Craigslist of sorts for churches and church planters.

If you're interested, here's the next step:

Comment with:

Your Name

Your City

Your Church's Name

Your Needs/What you have to offer

Your Email Address

Let's see if we can get some real collaboration going on. If nothing else, send out the link on Twitter and Facebook to see if there are more guys out there that can help.

Also, let me know if you have suggestions of things to add, I'll keep adding to the list as people reply. Thanks!

Why I'm going to Tulare

This morning I'll be driving north to Tulare, Ca. For the last month I've been working on a campaign to get 100 churches to support Anthem Church at a one time gift of $1000 each. That would give us $100,000 to get help get Anthem off the ground. It's been an interesting experience making phone calls to pastors and churches all over the western part of the US. Some of the pastors I know, some of them are straight up cold calls. There are two consistencies that I've seen in this process. The first is that money is a struggle for EVERYONE right now. There just isn't a lot of money out there. The second is that pastors are genuinely excited about seeing new churches get started. I've had some pastors stop what they were doing and pray for me on the spot. I've had other pastors talk to me for over an hour about what we're doing, how we're doing it, and what I've learned from spending time with the NewThing crew. I even had one pastor tell me that he was in on the spot for $500 and he would talk to his leadership team about the other $500. Those were the encouraging stories. On the other side of the coin is the struggle. Tons of pastors at the end of everything they can think of to keep churches alive, afloat, etc. There is a lot of struggle out there.

Anyhow, I'm going to Tulare because one of the pastors I talked to, Rich Davis, is the lead pastor of Tulare Evangelical Free Church. He invited me to come up and share with their cluster (Tulare/Fresno area EvFree churches) about what we're doing and cast the vision for them to get involved. I'm pretty excited, I get to share for about 15 minutes about what we're doing and invite these churches to be a part of Anthem Church in Thousand Oaks!

So, if you think about it, pray for me. If you think about it, pray for the pastors of these churches. And if you're a church leader and I haven't called you yet... my cell number is 805.551.9965, maybe you should give me a call :) We are looking for partners to help share the load of getting this new church started.

Check out all of our info at:

www.jointheanthem.com

Anthem Prospectus

www.efca.org

www.efcawest.org

www.newthing.org

Thanks for reading!

Dinner with Al and Deb

Wednesday night was a pretty unique experience. My wife and I along with Kevin and Keely got a chance to go have dinner with Alan and Deb Hirsch. Alan is a missiologist from Australia who has moved to the US to see discipleship training and church planting accelerate here in the West. It was a wonderful meal shared with Katz, Ed and Dana Rouse (hosts), Brian and Carmell Field and Kirk DeWitt. After dinner we sat and shared about our journey to this point. Mike Katz shared about the birth of Emmaus and how Alan and Deb have been influential in his understanding of church and discipleship. Kristen and I got to share our heart for the reproducing church and how NewThing has influenced us (Alan has spent some time getting to know NewThing as he prepares to launch Forge America). Brian and Kirk shared about their histories and how they ended up at Calvary Community Church. Then Al and Deb shared about their time in the US and what they've seen particularly in Thousand Oaks. It was a great time for us to discuss the limitations and challenges of reaching a place like Thousand Oaks. There are extreme challenges with the average person in TO. Needs exist, but they are hidden skillfully. People will work to project wealth and live unsatisfied lives. We talked about the potential of Thousand Oaks. If we are able to cast a vision of generosity, TO could become the economic engine that drives God's work all over the world. There was an amazing anticipation in the room as we all got a vision of the future. We talked about sharing resources, meeting together for prayer and encouragement and intentionally pushing each other to be dissatisfied with mediocrity. We agreed to read ReJesus (not Alan's suggestion :) over the summer and to meet again at the end of the summer to discuss it.

In the end we left throughly challenged and encouraged about the future of what God has for Calvary, Emmaus, Anthem and the Hirsch's.

Unbelievable Generosity

So excited about Calvary Community Church's generosity as they have extended their facility to Anthem Church to use for our Launch Team Meetings. Blown away by their willingness to help us get going!

Anthem Prayer Update

Hey prayer people,

Thank you again for praying for us! I'll keep this short cause I know you've got a lot to be doing/thinking about. 

Our big prayer request for the week:

Tomorrow, Sunday, June 7th is an Anthem Launch Team Meeting. This is really our first one since Kristen and I have moved home and it is a major opportunity for us to build momentum as church. Please pray that God would move the hearts of people who are far from Him to consider being at this meeting. We are going to be talking about the Gospel and how vital it is that every one of us gives our lives to Christ. In addition to the excitement of starting a new church, there will be a clear picture of the sacrifice that has been made for us. Please pray that God brings people, opens hearts and organizes our church out of a passion for helping people find their way back to God.

Thank you for your prayers. If you think about it and you want to be praying during the meeting, we are meeting at my house from 3:00-4:30 on Sunday afternoon. Thank you again. You have no idea how significant your ministry is!

Matt Larson
Anthem Church 10.11.09
www.twitter.com/Matt_Larson
www.jointheanthem.com