passion play

Michael Foster is the planting pastor of Seven Hills Church, a church that has yet to publicly launch in Cincinnati, OH. So what does Michael have to say?

• Protect and strengthen your marriage/family. The biggest area ignored in all church planting books, seminars/conferences and church planting networks/denominations is marriage/family. Let this all-important verse sink in, “He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? (1 Timothy 3:4-5)” Church planting will put your marriage/family through a white hot heat that you have never felt before. All the weakness and faults in your marriage/family will be amplified ten times over. This will be a good sanctifying, albeit painful, experience for your marriage/family if you don’t let it destroy you. A few steps I’d take are 1) Make sure your wife has a friend outside the church that she can confide in about everything and I mean everything that she is going through 2) Date your wife and do what it takes to keep the sex life hot, steamy, and frequent. 3) Set a work schedule that includes hours of work and a day off so you family knows when they can spend time with you. Remember if you lose your marriage/family, you lose your pastorate. They are your first priority.

• Surround yourself with wise counselors. Take to heart the following two passages from Proverbs: “For by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory” (24:6) and “Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment” (18:1). You need to surround yourself with counselors. You need to seek out both “fathers” and “brothers.” A father is an older counselor that has been through the fire and can pastor you with his wisdom. A brother is a person close to you in age and maturity who can relate to your struggle in the “now sense” and can challenge/encourage you in the battle. You should seek counselors from within your network/denomination and without.

• Don’t sacrifice the long term for the short term (aka take your time). It is true that the fields are ready for the harvest but that in no ways should be used as an excuse to rush things. Take time to understand your context, develop relational networks, and properly develop a leadership base. In regards to leadership, you will be tempted to be guilty of, “being hasty in the laying on of hands” (1 Tim 5:22) but remember the easiest way to fire a person is to never hire them.

Great stuff from Mr. Foster. You can check out more of his thoughts at his blog, The Gaslight Gospel. Tomorrow? Unexpected Church Planting Wisdom.