Making it through the Difficult Times of church planting

Making it through the Difficult Times of church planting

-by Dave Jacobs, a Church Planting Coordinator in the Western Region, and pastor of the City Vineyard in San Jose, California. Email - dave@sjcityvineyard.com - Website - http://www.sjcityvineyard.com/plant.html

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. - Galatians 6:9 NIV
Three Key Types of Struggles

Personal Struggles - personal weaknesses, marital difficulties, struggles with your children, perhaps health struggles, and financial.

People Struggles - they will leave, or betray, or cause offense

Goals Struggles - failed plans, goals not achieved, there will be many things beyond your control, often your feelings will be tied to church attendance, common financial errors are to buy a building too soon, or to add staff too soon

Six Key Things That Help

Tend to your Soul
Love People unconditionally
Develop a correct definition of success. A book about this by Samuel Rima is "Rethinking the Successful Church"

The average size of the Protestant church in the USA is 50 to 75 people
The average Vineyard size is 100 - about twice the National average Protestant church.
There are 560 Vineyards in the USA. 440 of them are 300 or less and 220 of them are 100 or less
Of the 560 Vineyards, only 129 of them are involved in churchplanting and 53% of the churchplanting churches are 100 or less.

Hold on to your calling. Remember God called you.
Hang in there.
Reach out to people you can talk to about it