Ed has been at the work of supporting new church plants in the Southern Baptist church for years. When I met Ed several years ago I was impressed by his self-deprecating humor and passion for the hard places in ministry. Surely, like in the business world, one of those hard places is launching a new venture. In his piece Equipping Church Planters for Success he identifies the following components of a support system:
1. Use of a Behavioral Assessment to measure 13 key qualities developed by Charles Ridley helps suggest who has the potential to succeed in this task.
2. Boot camps to teach the skills and energize the candidate make a significant difference.
3. It seems obvious that church planters need mentors and supervisors, but we have failed with some of my colleagues to provide this support.
4. Each planter needs to be in a support group. Friends whatever you are doing, find a posse. My team has been meeting for 15 years and they have seen me through the my ministry successes and failures.
Check out Ed’s article for all the details.
Front Porch Reflections 