My First Church Planting Adventure

So there I was, convinced that it was time for me to start a church because the pastor had hired a new worship pastor, an accomplished musician, to change the way music was done each week. It was only a few short years since I was thoroughly back-slidden with golf as my most religious activity. But I had read some church growth books and listened to some tapes on church planting and I knew I could no longer worship at my church because of the music change. I was ready to start a new church!
The next step? Make an appointment with the pastor to give him the good news! Here was my announcement: “You are pregnant and you probably don’t know it, and the only question is whether or not you are going to bless it or curse it!” I’ll have to give the pastor credit, he was far more gracious than I would have been, that’s for sure. His immediate comeback? “I’m going to bless it!”
Oh boy, now what? I did have a few ideas. I picked out a cool name. I held an interest meeting. I began talking about the new project. And then the church administrator called me and scheduled an appointment. “What’s all this about starting a new church?” His tone seemed a little angry. He then spent some time telling me why this was a not-so-good idea. There were no resources to help me. Was I going to be criticizing the church? Who was going to be the pastor? You don’t have any training, do you?
Those of you who have struggled to hear God’s voice and to clarify his call know that when a new project is underway you are looking for every circumstance to confirm the direction you are going. We want opened doors not doors slammed in our faces!
I was visiting a church in another county and decided to go early. I had about an hour and a half before the church service started and I walked into a class just to kill some time. The teacher was sharing from Gene Edward’s excellent book about leadership, “The Tale of Three Kings.” The book follows the interaction between Saul, David and Absalom. I bought a copy at the church bookstore and devoured it over the next couple of days.
A flash of enlightenment, my current pastor might be Saul, but I was acting like Absalom. Rebellion and arrogance were the character traits I was exhibiting. I had already scheduled a preview service for the new church plant, but I knew that I had to pull the plug on my church planting adventure. You see, even though my pastor had responded with blessing, his subsequent actions made it clear that he did not support the project. I was attempting to split the church. I hadn’t thought of it this way.
How to get out of this mess with the least amount of damage? I held the preview service and then just stopped. Soon the interest died down. I did nothing and said nothing further about the church plant plans. It was depressing and sad, but I was following the voice of God. I did make God a promise. If I was ever approached by someone wanting to plant a church, I would truly bless their project with all the support I could give it.