Launch Starting a New Church from Scratch

Abstract

So, you want to start a new church, but you have no idea where to begin. You know that someone out there knows the logistics of how to start a growing church—because they exist all over the country—but you don’t know how to get your hands on the roadmap they used. Do the pastors of thriving church plants just know something you don’t? How do you get started with the vision God has put in your heart? Where do you go for practical answers to your very real church-planting questions? In 2001, when we first began to think seriously about starting our church (The Journey), there were a number of church-planting books and resources on the market. We set out to read them all. We were going to be nothing if not informed. Many of the books were helpful on specific points. Others painted in broad strokes, giving us clear boundaries as to what we should avoid or what key questions we should consider. Several taught church-planting systems that had worked at one time, perhaps in the 1960s or 1970s, but now seemed outdated and ineffective.