Unfiltered: Real Church Planting Conversations

Many declining or dying churches are partnering with church plants. Converge church planting leaders Lee Stephenson and Danny Parmelee discuss what to do when a church wants to give or sell their building to you.

1:05 Danny says in Converge MidAmerica three churches have chosen to do a restart with a church plant or to gift their building. He’s seen this happen with the launch team he is on.

1:25 Lee discusses three scenarios when it comes to existing churches allowing church plants to use or have their building.

2:39 Danny says sometimes churches give up their building with no strings attached, while others opt for a restart where they give up all control. Either way, the big thing is that there is clarity of expectation for everyone involved.

4:03 Lee says it’s crucial to have things in writing and to get lawyers involved if necessary.

4:28 Danny says it’s essential to follow the existing church’s constitution and bylaws so that the gift can’t be contested in the future.

6:12 Danny talks about how the church plant he’s a part of was given a building. It came about because the church planter built a relationship with the church.

7:42 Danny says at first he was skeptical of the pastor’s motives for giving away the building. The pastor is part of the church plant launch team, serving in the parking lot.

8:13 Danny says a downside is that most older church facilities were not built for community and kids. His church plant invested about $150,000 in renovations, and over half that amount was for the kids’ space. 

9:07 Danny says another drawback is that the church is a smaller facility, which required them to launch with three services.

10:40 Danny talks about three things to consider if you have the opportunity to be given a building.

12:48 Lee’s last piece of advice is to pay attention to the location and the past. How have people in that community viewed that location and that church? Do you have the ability to change, or are you going to be absorbed by whatever the past reputation was of the previous church?

As a church planter, you want to maximize your financial resources. Converge church planting leaders Lee Stephenson and Danny Parmelee help you avoid some purchasing pitfalls they’ve seen over the years.

0:54 One of Danny’s biggest pet peeves is haphazard marketing, including misusing mailers and radio ads.

2:37 Danny talks about how many mailers you need to send out to see a return on your investment.

3:54 As an alternative to mailers, Danny recommends spending money on your church website and social media ads.

4:46 Lee and Danny discuss the dangers of being a "conference junkie."

6:23 Lee’s biggest pet peeve is spending money on staff positions that could be filled with volunteers.

9:06 Danny shares his thoughts on paying for musicians or using volunteers.

10:53 Lee warns about investing too much of your resources into technology and neglecting the development of your volunteers and culture.

12:19 Lee talks about how a consultant helped his first church plant save a lot of money.

13:58 Danny says his church plant invested a lot of money in a church management system that they used for a couple of years and then had to start completely over.

Converge church planting leaders Lee Stephenson and Danny Parmelee are joined by Don Willeman to discuss some of the challenges he’s faced planting in the Northeast.

0:29 Don planted his church 20 years ago in Hanover, New Hampshire, home to Dartmouth College.

1:33 Don talks about how God has given his church an open door "in a place where people said it was impossible to plant a church."

2:48 Don’s church has met at Hanover High School for the past 20 years.

3:29 Because of outdated zoning laws, his church has been unable to get permanent space in town.

4:35 Twelve years ago, the church initially tried to build in a commercial district but was told it was not allowed. The zoning laws say the building has to be in a residential neighborhood.

4:57 Three years ago, the church purchased a 9-acre parcel of land to build on. They’ve been before the zoning board for the last 2 ½ years and still don’t have a resolution.

6:16 Don discusses doing setup and teardown for 20 years as a portable church.

8:33 Don talks about how they’ve tried not to have an antagonism against the town or its residents.

12:23 Don encourages planters who are facing similar challenges "to take a big step back and make sure you see this through the big picture."

Lee Stephenson, executive director of Church Planting for Converge, talks with Randy and Amy Moore of Revolution Church, McKinney, Texas, about how to protect your marriage as church planters.

1:14 Amy says the No. 1 thing is making sure your marriage is healthy. She recommends going to counseling to work on any issues you might have in your marriage before you start to plant.

3:35 Randy says, "We know that God’s called us to our marriage first. Before he gave us this call [to plant], he gave us that call."

4:44 Amy talks about the importance of designating a date day with your spouse.

5:27 Randy discusses the emotional stress he and Amy endured after decided to plant their church, including the loss of her father.

6:38 Amy and Randy say that it’s invaluable to have relationships with people you can genuinely trust and pray with.

8:58 Lee asks Randy and Amy about what it’s like working on the same staff together.

9:48 Randy says a huge thing for couples is to realize that your biggest cheerleader should be your spouse.

11:09 Amy talks about how she felt called into ministry before meeting Randy.

12:34 Randy says one of the initial challenges they faced was him not giving Amy a voice during staff meetings.

Converge church planting leaders Lee Stephenson and Danny Parmelee discuss how to improve the preparation and delivery of your sermons.

1:10 Danny says the most important thing is allowing God’s word to speak to you first.

2:26 Danny spent more time studying than writing.

2:59 How can I help them the most, not just give them the most information?

4:20 Often, we stop at the information level, and we miss the practical application.

5:05 We have to help tell people: This is what it means. This is what you do with it. Now do it.

6:24 Figure out the one main point and then have everything else support it.

7:13 Lee talks about the "I-we-God-you-we" communication technique.

8:29 You need to know your audience.

10:10 You’ve got to figure out based on where you’re at, who your church is focusing on, who you feel like God has purposely placed you to reach, who you can best connect to, and go after that.

11:05 Danny discusses three types of preachers — king, prophet and priest.

12:07 Danny talks about the importance of having a teaching team and having other people critique you in your preaching.

13:20 Don’t overdo the amount of time you spend in your office studying and neglect important relationships in the early days of your church plant.

14:12 You need to have people critique your sermon before you preach it.

15:49 Don’t fill your sermon with quotes from other people; personalize it.

16:42 Lee and Danny talk about their sermon planning process.

Converge church planting leaders Lee Stephenson and Danny Parmelee discuss baptism and communion. How can you incorporate and maximize these moments in the life of your church plant?

1:05 Danny’s church plant had baptism services even before it launched for people who came to Christ during the launch team phase.

2:03 Danny’s church celebrated baptisms in the waters of Lake Michigan, which meant it could only baptize people during the summertime.

3:01 Danny talks about the positive and negative aspects of doing outdoor baptisms on a Saturday. He says the church eventually started doing baptisms in the service, as well.

4:02 When Lee’s first church plant started, it did baptisms on Sunday night at a pool.

4:27 Lee found that including baptisms in the Sunday worship experience was very powerful.

4:49 Lee decided to make the entire day about baptism, including the teaching time. Those baptism services "were our best services of the year."

6:30 Danny required people to have a written testimony, which the church approved ahead of time.

7:33 When lots of people were baptized at one time, Danny’s church showed a video of shortened versions of their testimonies.

7:55 Lee says everyone baptized at his church recorded a video testimony, but not all of the testimonies were used in the service.

8:16 After the testimonies video was shown, Lee invited people to trust Jesus or get baptized.

9:31 Danny’s church provided people with baptism T-shirts.

9:54 The conversation turns to communion.

10:25 Danny’s church celebrated communion once a month.

10:58 Danny’s church practiced intinction, receiving communion by dipping the bread into the cup.

12:24 Danny always gave a clear gospel presentation and invitation before communion and reminded people that communion is for believers.

13:17 When Lee’s first church plant started, it celebrated communion as a separate service on Sunday evenings.

14:30 His church eventually moved communion to Sunday mornings, once a month.

14:46 Lee advises planters on what to say to nonbelievers in the room.

15:50 Danny and Lee share their thoughts on celebrating communion in a small group setting.

16:32 Danny talks about inviting a second person to participate in a baptism.

17:56 Some of Lee’s favorite baptism memories are of baptizing multiple family members at the same time.

Converge church planting leaders Lee Stephenson and Danny Parmelee discuss the essential items you need to buy to start your church.

0:43 Danny says it’s important for church planters to know ahead of time some of the funds they’re going to need to raise so they can communicate that to their launch team.

1:47 Lee says if your church is portable, one of the first things you’re going to need to purchase is a trailer. He recommends buying one that is at least 20 feet long and has a ramp.

2:35 Danny and Lee advise against putting the church’s logo on the trailer for security reasons.

3:27 If you have a large trailer, you’ll also need a vehicle large enough to pull it.

4:12 Danny says buying a bounce house is a good investment.

4:53 Danny talks about musical equipment. He says to be wary of purchasing another church’s equipment.

5:57 Lee thinks it’s worth spending a little extra money to bring in an audiovisual specialist to give you an estimate on what you need to buy to have quality sound and lighting.

7:02 Danny talks about what musical instruments the church should buy.

8:54 Danny and Lee discuss lighting costs. Are you going to use Facebook Live? Are you going to record your sermons?

9:46 Danny and Lee list some children’s equipment you’ll need.

11:54 You’ll need something to collect people’s tithes and offerings, like buckets or a giving box.

13:04 You’ll also need to think through the ordinances (baptisms, communion) and put some money into that.

13:38 Danny says he’s on the launch team of a church plant that will probably spend $50,000 to $60,000 on sound and lighting equipment.

14:46 Lee and Danny encourage planters to go ahead and step into the next level when purchasing AV equipment.

16:02 Lee says plants launching at a larger level will probably invest $75,000-$100,000. With a smaller launch, you can probably get by with $25,000-$50,000.

16:48 Danny and Lee talk about things you can buy to control the size of a room or cover up unused space.

Converge church planting leaders Lee Stephenson and Danny Parmelee discuss the highs and lows they’ve experienced as church planters.

1:01 Danny says the fear of the unknown is one of the hardest parts of church planting — but it’s also part of the thrill.

1:41 Danny and Lee talk about what their biggest fear was.

2:55 Danny says the lack of resources is a double-edged sword — it is challenging, but it forces you to depend on God.

4:02 Lee says it was tough seeing people leave the church.

5:30 Danny says one of the best parts of church planting for him was being able to start something from scratch.

6:51 Lee found it hard to deal with the "weird" people his church plant attracted.

7:19 Lee talks about the boredom factor he wrestled with during the pre-launch and post-launch phases.

8:39 Lee says one of the best things was seeing God provide in crazy ways (financially, people, opportunities).

9:15 Danny says a highlight for him was the friendships he developed.

10:21 Lee says you have to remember to slow down and celebrate how God is showing up.

11:18 Danny says preaching was always a blessing and a challenge for him.

11:57 Lee encourages planters not to give up. "Stay true to the course of what God has called you to do. He is faithful."

Converge church planting leaders Lee Stephenson and Danny Parmelee continue their discussion on choosing the right facility to launch your church plant. In this episode, they look at renting space from other churches, industrial space and storefronts.

1:04 Danny talks about his church plant renting space from an old Presbyterian church.

2:29 Danny says his church starting meeting on Saturday nights and then moved to Sunday nights because Sunday mornings weren’t available.

3:20 Danny says the church gave them a terrific deal on rent.

4:22 Danny says unchurched people feel more comfortable meeting in a church building.

5:46 Danny talks about a church planter who started meeting in a church’s fellowship area and now has moved to the sanctuary on Sundays.

6:44 Lee says using a local church during the pre-launch phase was helpful.

7:36 Danny talks about two established churches that recently gave their buildings to church plants.

8:45 Lee and Danny shift the conversation to industrial space and storefronts.

9:02 Danny says industrial space can be expensive and parking can be difficult.

10:13 Lee talks about a church that is growing and needs to find a new facility, but it can’t because it’s locked into a long-term lease.

11:34 Lee encourages planters to find some businessmen who are familiar with commercial lease situations to read through the contracts or get help from a commercial real estate agent.

13:08 Lee talks about how he’s never had an office in the church building and discusses off-site office space options.

16:43 Lee recommends keeping your rent under 20% of your overall budget.

Where is your church plant going to gather for Sunday services? Converge church planting leaders Lee Stephenson and Danny Parmelee discuss the pros and cons of meeting in a theater or school.

1:16 Lee talks about why his first church plant in Arizona chose to meet in a movie theater.

2:11 Lee says that movie theaters are usually willing to rent to churches because Sunday mornings are a dead time for them.

2:24 Lee discusses the benefits meeting in a movie theater provided, including lots of lobby space, good parking and comfortable seating.

2:48 Lee encourages planters to stay away from dollar theaters and theaters that have reclining seats.

3:44 Lee talks about how his church was able to rent out multiple rooms in the theater as the church grew.

4:02 Lee says having a limited amount of time to meet for services was a challenge. The theater charged them double if they went over their allotted time.

4:57 Lee explains how his church plant did children’s ministry in a movie theater.

7:22 Lee says another challenge was getting electricity for running sound systems, instruments and lighting. His church got permission by the movie theater to pay an electrician to come in and run extra power.

7:49 Lee says the theater allowed them to store their equipment inside the building during the week.

8:44 Lee talks about how the church was able to have a good relationship with the theater and its staff.

9:30 Lee discusses how much it cost to rent the theater.

11:23 Danny and Lee talk about how Regal Cinemas has people to work with churches.

12:18 Danny and Lee shift the conversation to talking about schools.

12:49 Lee says if you’re going to go into a school, a high school should be the first one that you talk to.

13:13 Lee talks about how meeting in a large performing arts facility at a high school was actually a hindrance for his church plant.

14:07 Danny discusses some of the challenges his church plant faced while meeting in a school.

15:22 Danny talks about ways to create children’s ministry space in a school.

16:33 An elementary or middle school will probably cost less than a high school. But they usually don’t have as much parking available and don’t have a gymnasium or performing arts facility to meet in.

17:40 Danny explains why it’s becoming more difficult to rent at schools.

18:51 Lee points out that elementary and middle schools are usually tucked away in a community. He recommends finding a place where people naturally drive.