Tag: Church Plant Launch Team

Putting Together a Launch Team: How?

The final component to recruiting a launch team is making the ask.

Don’t be afraid or ashamed to make the ask:

  • Whether you’re going to be paying them or not, you are not asking them to make a sacrifice,  you are giving them an opportunity to join you in transforming a community.

  • If you begin a recruiting conversation with an apology, you’ve just lost them.

  • Your perspective must be to communicate your vision clearly and ask them to be a part of your team.
    • It’s not simply to serve in a role, but to be a part of something bigger.

A few recruiting tips:

  • Lead with vision, not ‘the ask. Help people grasp your vision before you ask them to join it.
    • One of the best ways to do this is through stories.  It helps put a face to your vision.  Share testimonies or hypothetical situations of residents in your target community.
    • You want people to relate and connect with the problems you are trying to solve.
  • Once you’ve communicated clear vision, communicate the team role you would like them to serve in.
    • Be clear in your expectations
    • Let them see how that role will help in accomplishing the vision.
  • Finish with a ‘Imagine If’ vision.
    • Give them a mental picture of what their efforts will do in changing a community/city.
    • “Imagine if you were in this role…”
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Putting Together a Launch Team: Who?

Continuing my post from yesterday on assembling a launch team. Today, I’d like to move pass the question of ‘What?’ and move onto ‘Who?’

Now that you have identified the key roles, now comes the tough part – finding the right people to fill those roles.

  • John Maxwell, “Those closest to a leader will determine the success level of that leader.”

  • Write down each of the key roles you’re looking to fill & list names under each of them. As you might hear in a church planting boot camp, don’t role anyone out. List 3-4 for people you might consider for each role.

    • There are different areas you can look:

      • These can be people you’ve known in ministry
      • People you’re familiar with through your own network of relationships
      • People from sponsoring churches
      • Students at credible ministry schools, colleges or seminaries
  • Wherever you find them, make sure you get the right people not just the available people.

    • Having the wrong people in roles can cause double the work, and instead of being a catalyst in the launching of your church, they can become a barrier to your growth and effectiveness.
    • Your ability to have a clear vision for you church will help you identify who the right people are.
    • Jim Collins states in Good to Great: “…people are not your most important asset, the right people are.”
  • Be careful not to simply bring people onto your team that you know. You want to bring the right people onto your team.
    • Having the right people will save you frustration in the long run.
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Putting Together a Launch Team: What?

Last week I taught a session at a church planting roundtable on how to put together a church planting launch team. The main premise of my talk was “Church Planting is best done in community (as a team), through community (relationships), to a community (a ministry focus).” Over the next few days I’ll be posting my notes that answer the questions of What, Who, & How? Here’s the first one: What?

The first step for any church planter should be to identify their community and target.

  • This is a combination of assessing your passions & giftings with God’s callings and promptings for your ministry.

In identifying the target community, decide what the problem your team is called to serve.

  • As Andy Stanley states, “What problem has God called your team to solve?”
    • Gives a team a reason to be
    • Creates the context for passion
        • Pat McMillan: “A clear, common, compelling task that is important to individual team members is the single best factor to a team’s success.
        • Teams are dissolved when the problem is solved.
      1. Don’t start with position, start with your goal.
        • Once you’ve identified the problem, establish what key roles are necessary to solve that problem.
        • Most church plants will begin with at least these three:
          • Lead Pastor/Teaching Pastor
          • Worship Leader
          • Children’s Ministry Leader
        • Other possibilities
          • Admin
          • Outreach
          • Assimilation
          • Tech/Design

        Once you’ve identified the key roles you need to fill…

        • Establish clear expectations for these roles. Your ability to establish clear expectations will determine your team’s ability to function effectively.
          • Pay (full-time, part-time, volunteer)
          • Titles (be careful not to throw around titles without purpose and the right timing)
          • Responsibilities (what will they be doing?)

        Tomorrow, I will post notes on Who to Recruit?

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