Church Voices

Find a need and fill is the stock advice given to any budding entrepeneur. That’s because it may be the only way to build a business. Its also the only way to start a new ministry. The vast majority of the growth going on in the Restoration movement is found in megachurches and church plants, both are places designed to fill an unmet need. Megachurches have the membership and resources to create specialized ministries while church plants are positioned to take advantage of a dearth of churches. Both are filling unmet needs and experience growth because of it.

Obstacles
Finding an unmet need and filling it sounds easy enough, but like many things the devil is in the details. The US is a nation in which Christianity has experienced huge amounts of growth, and has maintained a vibrance that hasn’t lasted in other places (*cough* western europe *cough*). What this means is that if it appears there is an unmet need there may be obstacles that aren’t readily apparent. If a church doesn’t exist in a particular locale it may not be because of negligence on the part of the church, it may be a church simply hasn’t survived there for very real reasons. If it were easy to start a church or specialized ministry from scratch there’d be a whole lot more ministers, ministries and churches around.

Instead of simply looking for a need that hasn’t been met and charging off to fill it ask yourself “why hasn’t this need been met yet”? It may be its a new need created by shifting demographics. If that’s the case then proceed at full speed ahead. But perhaps an area without a church isn’t interested in having a church, or doesn’t have the fiscal resources to maintain a minister and building. Such a situation doesn’t mean its time to scratch the idea completely, but it does make you aware of the problems that will have to be overcome. Develop specific steps that will overcome these problems and maximize the possiblity of success. We’re charged with expanding the kingdom of heaven and using our resources in the best way possible. Preparing for potential problems doesn’t display a lack of faith in God, but discharges our duty to act in a Godly way.

Competency
So now you’ve identified a need, you know why that need hasn’t yet been filled by a church yet, and now you’re ready to charge off and expand the kingdom of God, right? Wrong. First, you must evaluate whether or not you have the necesary talent and resources to fill that need. It may be that there is a great need for post-abortion counseling, and there are no significant obstacles blocking that ministry, but I have absolutely no competency in that area. If I were to try to fill that need I would fail spectacularly because I have never experienced and overcome the pain and guilt that comes with an abortion, nor have I received any sort of training in this type of counseling. The need is there, the obstacles are not, but I’m woefully unqualified to do something about this on my own.

Identify the core (ie the minimum level) talent and resources that will be necessary to successfully start the new church or ministry. Explicitly list them and then evaluate the resources and talent that are available to pour into a new church or ministry. If you don’t have the resources, you don’t have the resources. Pray about it, come up with the resources somehow, or shelve the plan until you do, but there’s no reason to go into a new situation without the gas to go all the way.

Agility Is Power
Once the decision has been made to plant a church or start a specialized ministry it is important to remove as much redtape as possible. Free your newly budding ministry to act as quickly as possible to react to changing conditions or to correct practices that aren’t conducive to the ministry. Waiting for the next Elder’s meeting or staff consultation to make changes could be the difference between success and failure. But at the same time recognize that quick reactions can lead to overcompensation. Coming up with new decision making processes may be necessary to provide but agility and wisdom in making decisions.