Media Outreach

I have really enjoyed talking to my friends that are launching.  I have 2 more friends that are holding their first services this month.  I am excited for them, and I have also greatly appreciated the conversations on what they would have done differently so far.  I like hearing from them the hard lessons that they had to learn, hearing the encouragements, and gleaning from the frontline experience.  Each time I talk to them, I find myself making little internal tweaks and adjustment that either confirm or correct what I am doing.  I ran across a great blog article on Path1, the new Church Plant face of the United Methodist Church.  The article reviewed a book by Jim Griffith and Bill Easum called “Ten Most Common Mistakes Made by Church Starts”.  The article summarized these as the ten most common mistakes:

Ten Most Common Mistakes Made by Church Starts

1.    Church planters neglecting the Great Commandment to love God above all in pursuit of the Great Commission of making disciples
2.    Failing to take opposition seriously
3.    Not paying enough attention to the people in the context because of a preconceived image of what the church’s vision should be
4.    Not having a critical mass before launching
5.    Vigorous evangelism ending after the early period
6.    No plan or people in place to work throughout the week with those who attend on Sunday
7.    Fear of talking about money
8.    Trying to offer ministries beyond the capacity of a new start
9.    Formalizing leadership too soon
10.    Trying to start a church with a borrowed vision

The full book review can be found here.  I hope it proves to be a valuable resource.