I'm glad I'm following these articles about church planting. This is the fourth or penultimate step for the stages of a church. The first step was vision, 7 steps to discern it. The second step was team building, why it matters and who are the right people in your team. The third step was the beginning of the church, the grand opening, what to do before the grand opening and how the grand opening should be.
Today we come to the fourth step, which is: Growth of the Church! The new church started, they passed, we did all the steps. God has favored you and it started now. It is no longer an idea, it has happened and from this Sunday are the weekly celebrations/services.
Here are some suggestions: Start with ministries that you can do well. Do not start with many services directly, there are churches that start directly with prayer meeting, meeting for young people, for children, for women, for men, for... The desire is good, I wish the church to come to this point to have a service for each age group. But it depends on how many teams you have. If the team is small, every new thing that opens is expected to be led by you as the minister/pastor of the new church. Which is fun at first for a few weeks, but you'll get tired quickly and start closing them as quickly as you opened them.
Therefore, start with as much as you can. Maybe in the first months only two meetings a week, Sunday and Wednesday (bible study/prayer). And as the team grows, add a new service/celebration as needed. Seeing where the church is growing the most. If more teenagers are coming it could be a sign that this age group wants a celebration/service dedicated to them.
Usually people from the church will come to you and give ideas: "Pastor we need a meeting about this, about that, we need to do this and that..." which in most cases are great ideas. But don't fall prey to every good idea. To make sure you're not turning off every good idea and following what God is telling you, my first advice to this person who comes up with an idea would be, "You have the idea, I feel like you have the anointing, you have the gifts to this thing, why didn't I or someone else think of it, why did you think of it, isn't it about how God shaped you? Will you pray and start this ministry with the support and help of the whole church?"
If the person says no, kindly answer that you are full of ministry right now, let's pray that God will raise up leaders for this age group, idea, nice thing, but I can't start it. If the person says yes, sit down with the team and the person and make an "outline" of this new ministry and answer 3 questions:
-Does this new ministry advance the kingdom of God? Will it have an impact, will it affect someone or just something beautiful that can affect? Does it go with what we're aiming for?
-Can we start it right? As nice and good as we started the new church?
- Is it affordable with volunteers and financially?
Going through such a process shows seriousness for the team and for the new manager. Which is a beautiful thing but also serious, you can't start this week and leave it to next week because that's how a job turned out.
Another thing I want to share is social service. Many churches in Albania have a social service plus age group services that they do in the church, I am listing some: - service with the Roma community, widows, orphans, street children, special needs, pensioners, blood feuds, sports, families in need (food packages) etc etc... sure there is more. And most churches are doing a great job in the community. For an idea of what a fixed social ministry might be for your church, see what you've been through or are going through. As the
Scripture says "comfort others with the comfort you received from God". Someone went through some kind of challenge, the church found them close or God provided in different ways, that person was healed, blessed, overcame a difficult situation... This could be one of the social ministries for you.
For us as a special needs community church. Because my sister gave birth to a son with Down Syndrome who is 20 years old today and his name is Johnny, Jonathan. Ada, my wife was the person who helped my sister at that time because we didn't know what exactly--right Down Syndrome? And when we started the church we intended to do a social service, maybe with the street children (this was a wish of mine, it hurt my heart when I saw them on the street and it still hurts and we do things from time to time for them but it is not a ministry well—organized) or orphaned children; we had a girl in the church who was very fond of him because she herself had gone through an embarrassing situation in her life. As we were praying we believed God spoke to Ada, keep doing what you are doing, increase what you are doing. And so the Jonathan Center was born, the center for children and youth with special needs that today offers its services to many families who have a person with special needs. And at that time there was a great need, there was no therapy center for young children, there were only day care centers for ages 15+.
This is the model I want to suggest when it comes to social services, which are beautiful but also delicate because they have their own responsibilities and require special preparation, not just passion, we gather and eat two cookies and drink coke, sing two song and a sermon, prayer. After the vision, it takes people who are in the field to provide the service exactly according to the needs of that age group.
As the church grows and the team grows, it would be ideal to one day come to the point of having a chain ministry. Because there are churches that only have children's ministries, but what happens when they are no longer children? Well, they can hardly stay at the meeting for the big ones. Chain service as: starts with children, teenagers, students, singles, couples. And every person who comes to church has an age group like themselves who can hang out and grow in God with them, pray with them, spend time together.
Look, this work is never ending because you will see that many things will come out, ideas that you can see at another church: Summer camps, winter camps for age groups, couples night, volunteer night, Christmas, Easter, holidays of mothers, children, conferences, workshops, mission teams...
One last tip. As you grow in the Lord, the evil one will no longer tempt you to choose between good and evil because you easily recognize what sin is and stay away from it. What is not easy to distinguish at this stage is to distinguish between a Good thing and a Very Good thing.
Anything you see other churches doing is good, any idea someone gives you is good, any idea you see on 'reels' or social media or anywhere is good. BUT go after things that are very good for you and your church. Things that go with the vision of your church, things that you have people who will follow and do right.
Wait, I have one last thing: The leadership structure of the church. Decide how you will run the church because it becomes easier and the church moves faster when you share the burden of running it.
Will you run it with elders, with leaders who serve, with the foundation board? How will decisions be made? How will decisions be followed up? When is it time to hire someone, fire someone, start something, stop something? The fact that the pastor finds the majority of the funds is he automatically the decision maker? If so, is it clear to the rest? I mentioned this because this is what happens in 90% of the cases that I know of.
Ideally, these leaders/elders would meet once a week or every two weeks, but no more than once a month. Because it is necessary to evaluate where we are, what we are doing well, what we need to improve, what challenges we are facing, how will they be solved?
And many other things. So I want to encourage, feel free to contact me by text, call or coffee, so that I can share with you details related to this phase of the church or even other phases.
We are in the same field, God's field. The unity and help we can give to each other brings pleasure to God. Jesus prayed for this before leaving: "I pray that they will be one."
May God bless you in this beautiful ministry that He has entrusted to you. You are doing the most important job in that city. It is bringing people from the kingdom of darkness to that of light. Municipal or government projects help a person for a while. And the service you do helps someone choose eternity, and this is the most beautiful service, the most beautiful job in the world.
Enjoy it, thank God for choosing you and stay firmly connected to Him.