Reacting to Church Planting Potential
Baseball season is starting soon, and if you’ve ever watched a game, you know that fielding a ball is all about reaction time. In the major leagues, an infielder has just 0.15 to 0.25 seconds to recognize the ball coming off the bat and start moving. That’s faster than the blink of an eye. If they hesitate, even for a fraction of a second, the ball is already in the outfield, and the play is lost. The reason they react so quickly isn’t luck—it’s training. Major league players have fielded ground balls thousands of times, until recognition and response have become seamless. They don’t think about moving. They just move. Slow to Recognize, Even Slower to RespondIn my observation, we are far too slow to recognize church planting potential—and even slower to respond to it. For years, church planter assessment trained us to be cautious. We learned to look for pitfalls instead of potential, to hold off on affirming a calling until we were sure. That approach made sense when there were more aspiring church planters than available opportunities. But today, that’s not our reality. The need for church planters is far greater than the number of people stepping up to plant churches. If we don’t adjust our mindset, we won’t just be slow to recognize church planting potential—we’ll miss it altogether. Training Ourselves to React FasterWe need to develop a scouting mindset when it comes to church planters. Instead of waiting for someone to prove they are ready to plant, we need to spot their potential early and help them develop. This requires two things: 1. We need to know what church planter potential looks like. If you don’t know what to look for, you won’t see it—even when it’s right in front of you. This is why we created a Church Planter Scouting Guide—a simple tool to help you recognize the qualities of a future planter. 2. When we see potential, we can’t hesitate. If we don’t engage them, someone else will. Great leaders are in high demand. If the church isn’t developing them, they will find leadership opportunities elsewhere. The Church Planter Coaching Cards provide a way to start intentional conversations and help potential planters take their first steps. The Future is in the Scouts’ HandsThe players on the field today didn’t just show up ready for the majors. Someone saw their potential years ago—when they were still raw, unpolished, and not yet ready to play at the highest level. A great baseball scout doesn’t wait until a player is fully developed. They see something before anyone else does, and they act. That’s the role of church leaders today. The future of church planting depends on those of us who will see it early, say something, and start the process of calling, equipping, and sending. The question isn’t whether church planter potential is out there—it is. The question is, will we react in time? Download the Church Planter Scouting Guide and Coaching Cards today and start spotting the potential in your church.
Church Planters Need More Than a Residency
What if church planting didn’t require quitting your job or relocating? Multiply Project redefines development with a flexible, inclusive model for raising up new church planters-right where they are-in your church. Learn how it works.
Local Leaders are the Future of Church Planting
Church planting is hard. Parachute planting—where an outsider moves into a community to start a church—can be even harder. Many well-meaning planters struggle to establish deep roots and lasting impact in unfamiliar cities. That’s why the future of church planting lies in developing local leaders—those already living in and understanding the unique needs of their communities.
3 Clues to Clarify Calling
Do you know someone wanting to discern their calling? Help them find these three clues:
-A specific people or place.
-A clear purpose that brings tangible change.
-A unique role that aligns with their gifts.
There are Church Planters in Your Church
I’m convinced there are people within your church, right now, who could become church planters. You just need help recognizing them. You need a church planter scouting guide.
The Lost Habit of Calling
Growing up as a pastor’s kid, I spent much of my childhood in the church—specifically, in the adult services. Back then, children weren’t separated from adults on Sunday mornings. I remember attending Sunday school. It would be hard to forget since I met my wife in our 4th grade Sunday School Class. I also attended church every week. And while I might not recall a single sermon, I do remember the repeated elements: the hymns like Blessed Assurance and How Great Thou Art, and the invitation at the end of each service. This invitation was a call to come forward if you wanted to follow Jesus, be baptized, join the church, or be called into ministry. Though I can’t say no one ever responded to the call during those services, I don’t remember it vividly. However, I do remember it well from summer camp, where my own journey into vocational ministry began. The calling of young people into ministry still happens at camps, but the practice of making such calls on Sunday mornings has become rare. This lack of calling has resulted in a lack of the leaders and workers needed to fulfill Jesus’ mission. In 1885, German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus published research on forgetting and learning, which introduced what is now known as the forgetting curve. Today, Americans consume around 34 gigabytes of data daily—about 100,000 words, equivalent to reading the Book of Psalms 2.5 times each day. Unfortunately, much of this information is forgotten quickly. Research shows that within one hour, people forget about 50% of new information, and after 24 hours, this rate jumps to 70%. By the end of a week, up to 90% of what was learned is lost. However, repetition can help overcome this forgetting curve. A century later, psychologist Robert Zajonc found that repeated exposure to something increases our preference for it. For instance, as a lifelong Californian, I have a strong preference for Mexican food, simply because it’s so prevalent in my area. This principle of creating preferences through repetition can also apply to the practice of calling people into ministry. You might wonder why I’m discussing psychology in the context of calling, which is fundamentally the work of the Holy Spirit. Acts 13:2 makes it clear: “The Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’” While we can’t dictate the Holy Spirit’s actions, we can prepare people to hear and respond by making the call to ministry both memorable and preferable. This requires repetition. If you’re a pastor or church leader wanting to increase the number of church planters, start by talking about it – frequently. Incorporate discussions about calling into your regular communication. Add it to your calendar, include it in your message preparation, and make it a part of your worship planning. You’ll know you’re succeeding when even occasional attendees are aware that God might be calling them to start a church.
The Best Coaches were Rarely the Best Players
The best players rarely make the best coaches. They don’t know how to teach certain skills because they never had to learn them. It turns out the best coaches are good at coaching.
Church Multiplication Shift #1 – From Planning to Praying
Church planting movements are possible. They require a shift from planning for them to praying for them.
Do Tomorrow What You Can’t Do Today
We consistently give too much credit to talent and not enough credit to training.
It All Starts with an Invitation
Multiply Project helps churches call, equip, and send church planters from within their congregation. Yes, that means there is a church planter in your church. You’re thinking, “You don’t know my church. We can’t find enough people to spend an hour with kids on Sunday morning. How could someone possibly be willing to plant a church?” Have you asked? God sometimes calls people in extraordinary ways. Moses saw a burning bush. Saul saw a light so bright it blinded him. Compare that to Jesus’ invitation to his disciples, “Come, follow me.” That’s how it began. No burning bush. No bright lights from heaven. Just a simple invitation. I wonder, has anyone ever invited you to start a church? That’s how church planting started for me. I was having lunch with a mentor. I was a typical frustrated young leader. I told him I thought I could be doing more. Our church could be doing more. God could be doing more. He listened patiently and then invited me to start a church. On the flip side, have you ever invited someone to start a church? I do it often. Most recently over coffee with a friend. Not everyone says yes. Truthfully, most don’t. That’s ok. My role is to invite. Convincing is up to God. Here are three keys to inviting people in your church to plant churches. First, you must talk about it publicly. When does an idea in your church become a reality? When it comes up in a meeting? When a decision is made to do it? or when you talk about it on Sunday? If you don’t cast a vision in your church’s primary gathering for people from within your church being sent to start churches, people won’t believe it’s possible. Then you must also invite people individually. We call it an “I see in you” conversation. It’s an invitation with an explanation. There is something powerful and incredibly affirming when you hear someone describe the skills, talents, gifts, and abilities they’ve seen in you. They’ll thank you even if they don’t say yes to church planting Most of all, you must do this constantly. Once isn’t enough. Once a year isn’t enough. Once every time they are around you until they are sick of hearing it and tell you – that’s enough. That’s when you know they’ve heard. Somewhere in there, someone will say yes. It all starts with an invitation.