Church Planting is Numbers

I’m torn by alot of what I read about church planting. On one hand I see guys saying “don’t worry about the numbers, just stay focused on the task at hand.” and “In ministry we focus too much on nickels and noses.” (That saying sounds like it started in the south). But in the Bible we see God counting often. Jesus fed 5,000, then 4,000. There were the multitudes, then the 120 then the 12 then the 3. 3,000 were added to the church that day….etc. etc.

There has to be balance in counting for a church planter. On one hand, you need some way of gauging what’s happening, what’s working and what isn’t.

So you count.

You count adults, children, the band and you count pregnant women (and a few fat guys.) ;) twice.

You count the money. Like it or not, money will push this thing or cause it to snag and slow down. Without the resources to buy what you need and provide your team with the tools they need to get their job done, you’ll stall out in the water. This is one area I wish I would have given more attention and thought to. We just started with my own personal money and then began funding Mosaic with the first offering taken at our first service. Not the ideal way to go. If I could do it all again, I would have tried harder to find a church to mother us (although I approached a few and got the old “thanks but no thanks….but we’ll pray for you brother!”

But on the other hand…..

You can’t base how you feel about what God is doing in your plant by how many show up. It’s tough to not tie how you feel to the number you had in service. I had breakfast with a pastor that has a church of 3,000 plus and he told me he still gets bummed when attendance is low. I guess it never goes away but staying focused on your mission helps. Keeping your eye on your goal and giving all you have to those who show up helps too.

last week we had 132 (yay!)

This week: 82 (bummer.)

Oh well, I guess I still have some growing to do.

Thanks for reading, talk to you soon.