Launch 3: Funding

I’m gonna do a few series kind of interacting with and starting discussions about themes in some books on church planting. This series comes out of the Launch by Nelson Searcy.

One of the topics Searcy deals with is fundraising for your church plant, which is good because it’s an important issue and one which doesn’t seem to always be adequately covered.

This is also, to me, a curious issue. On one hand I know a guy who is like a scientist of church planting and he would tell you that the amount of cash you raise is absolutely critical. In fact, he can show you that (though there are exceptions) there is a rule of thumb that the total dollars you spend through three months after launch will equal the number of attending three months after launch times $1,000. (So, for example, if you spend $100,000 pre-launch and through the first three months after launch, you’ll have 100 people.)

Yet on the other hand I have heard so many stories of guys who started with nothing, maybe put $30,000 on their credit card to buy the essentials, and now have huge successful churches. I realize that they are the exception to the rule but it definitely makes you think…

I guess I would say: Don’t underestimate the importance of money … but the importance of money shrinks to nothing in comparison to the importance of God’s blessing.

Searcy gives some ideas for finding potential funding partners. He says the important questions to ask are: (1) Who do you know? Ask them for money! (2) Who do the people you know know? Ask them! (3) Who has a heart for your area? Ask them! (4) Will God show you what you need to do? Yes He will! (5) What if the people you ask say no? Keep trusting God!

– featured on newchurches.com