Patience in Church Planting

What is church planting? I get asked this question from time to time.  “Church planting” is a phrase sometimes used to describe starting a brand new church.  There are many different ways to go about this, but this is a brief overview of our own church plant here at Lake Hills.

Given our specific location, financing, and some other considerations, we have chosen the “planting” mode for starting a church.  Much like planting anything else this begins very small, invisible and underground, eventually becoming visible and growing over time.

My wife, Cathy, and I moved to the area less than one year ago.  When we filed the non-profit corporation papers with the state of Missouri there was just the two of us.  Now there are about a dozen of us involved with the new church, not unlike a small flower poking up through the ground in early spring.

Admittedly, this takes a fair amount of patience.  I’m can sometimes be like a little kid who plants a tree and goes back to look at it every few hours, wondering why it isn’t growing faster!  Let me just say that the old saying appears to be quite true: “A watched pot never boils.”  God in His wisdom sometimes gives us things to do things where we don’t see quick results or receive immediate gratification.  Here is one sharp little insight I’ve received in this process.  In God’s heart every single person counts; every individual is valuable; each person is appreciated. Having pastored in some larger churches, this insight alone is worth the experience.  It has intensified my appreciation of every person in our church.  May God help us who are pastors and church planters to value and appreciate every person in our life and ministry the way that He does.

1Corinthians 3:4-9: (4) For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men? (5) What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. (6) I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. (7) So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. (8) The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. (9) For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

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