Location, Location, Location

We launched Brier Creek Fellowship in Raleigh last October.  We had about 20 people in our core group, who were all a part of an earlier effort to plant a church at the same spot.

It's hard to call it a "church" when there are only 20 people involved, but that's where we were.  

Growth was slow at first. By February, God had built the church up to 30 people. We stayed stuck in the 30s until May, when we started to hit 40 sporadically. 

Then a new location opened up.  We weren't really sure it would be a better location, actually.  The building - a new elementary school - is a great landmark in community, but it's hard to find the entrance.  The most obvious place to park is actually a giant no parking area.  We have to direct traffic around the block.

But we jumped on it.

Our first Sunday at the new location was July 5th.  This is not a good weekend to plan anything.  We only had a couple of visitors and 15 of our regulars were out of town.  It was lonely in that giant auditorium, even though we had carefully draped it out.

The next Sunday, however, saw a ton of visitors, and the people who came July 5th came back. Since then, things have generally trended upward. We are currently on our 3rd straight week of record attendance, with almost 70 present last Sunday.  Everyone is excited.

Here, then, is my updated list of lessons-for-church-planters, based on my experiences:

1. A bad location is going to hurt you.
2. A weird name is going to hurt (I think this alone killed my first church).
3. Invite every visitor out to dinner; befriend them.
4. Encourage angry, religious people to exit.
5. Don't tolerate contentiousness in leadership.
6. Don't make critics your counselors.
7. Don't be someone you're not (don't dress like a teenager if you're 43).
8. Exalt Jesus & the Word in your preaching.
9. Be prepared to preach Sunday mornings with minimal notes.
10. Close every message with a soft decision opportunity.
11. Don't baptize people hastily.
12. Spend money on outreach.
13. A part-time & volunteer worship team stretches the money further.
14. Forgo a salary, but don't try to be bivocational.
15. Don't preach from a platform unless you're near 100 people.
16. Use videos for previews, but use podcasts for sermons.  Here's an example of one:

If you're planting a church anywhere in the world, please call me sometime at (919) 214-1461.  I'd love to give you whatever encouragement and advice you need, and maybe get some from you.