Or, Three Questions Every Church Planter Should Ask . . .
I recently became a grandparent. (Woohoo!) While we were visiting my daughter, son-in-law and the new baby, a question arose about who the baby looks like. It’s probably too soon to tell, but, in any case, I’m certain he’s the best looking, smartest and most talented kid I’ve ever seen. Not that I’m prejudiced . . .
In our work with churches, we’ve learned that new churches often resemble the mother churches from which they were birthed. If the momma church enjoyed good “bodily” health, it’s likely the church she births will be healthy and happy. If the mother church suffered systemic problems—things like poor communication, broken trust in leadership, or unresolved historical wounds—it’s highly likely there will be a “strong family resemblance” in the offspring.
We worked with a church that was birthed out of a split, splitting because they reacted strongly to what was called a “controlling pastor” in the mother church. The new board in the baby church decided that a pastor would never again have that kind of power in their church, and so they became a “controlling board,” hamstringing and abusing pastors now the exact same way they felt they had been abused. They became known in their denomination as a “pastor killer church.”
Another church was birthed out of people unhappy in two other churches. They joined together to form their new baby of 200 members! That would seem like a healthy start. But distrust in leadership—both of lay leaders and pastoral leaders—marked the congregation. They refused to follow the godly people God gave to lead them and soon wasted away.
As with some human births, church babies can also come into the world for the wrong reasons. One church we worked with was born out of harsh rhetoric and division in the mother, exhibited in their church business meetings. A new church was planted of people trying to escape that heavy handedness, but that “bullying spirit” became part of the DNA which the new church contained and which followed it into its first decade. Needless to say, it created an atmosphere that stunted the baby’s growth. We often carry with us the things we seek to escape.
Another was born out of a church planter’s disillusionment with a previous ministry. Guess what? The baby grew up disillusioned and distrusting, taking decades to shake its congenital defect. Another church, born of a split, went on to split again and again. It was in their DNA. Baby churches often need support, but are sometimes born of neglectful mothers, and they end up underweight and even abandoned like an infant in a basket at the door of an orphanage.
If you’re contemplating giving birth to a church, please consider the following three questions:
- What is the spiritual health history of the mother church? Please don’t settle for a superficial answer here. It may take some research, but if you discover unresolved crises that have negatively impacted the health of the mother church, be prepared to see it again in the baby. Use Blessing Point’s ChurchScan Inventory to assess the mother church (and yourselves).
- Have you been completely honest with yourself about your reasons for wanting to plant a church? Escaping from under someone’s authority, feeling hurt over a perceived injustice or any kind of personal agenda will leave you with an ugly baby. You carry the wounds with you and they shape your new ministry.
- Are you willing to care for an unhealthy baby? You may have one now. What do you do? Throw the baby away with the proverbial bathwater and move on to another ministry? Or, will you care for it, praying for and encouraging treatment for its illnesses? Dealing with the inherited issues is a good place to start. We find that health is as contagious as sickness when it comes to churches.
We all want to see the Kingdom of God expand through local church planting in a healthy way. It starts by making sure the mother can give birth to a healthy baby. If you realize your “baby” is not as pretty as you thought, please give us a call. When it comes to church babies, the Great Physician is also the Great Pediatrician.
Have you ever been a part of a church that was birthed in an unhealthy way? How did things turn out? Your comments are welcome!
Rev. Mark Barnard serves as President of Blessing Point Ministries. Blessing Point works to heal local churches that have been wounded by painful crises. Barnard is the author of the recently released book, Diagnosing the Heart of Your Church – How Church Leaders Can Assess Systemic Corporate Dysfunction.
