Not all new church starts make it. Not all church-planting projects become self-supporting. Despite the hard work of planters and sponsoring organizations, some church plants do not survive. Understanding the primary reasons for these less-than-successful planting projects can help planters and sponsoring agencies avoid the actions that often lead to disappointing results. This article will review ten factors commonly found in church planting projects that fail.

1. Lack of a clear definition of "success" and a clear exit strategy.

Sponsoring organizations need to clearly state their expectations and timeline for new church starts. Failure to do so leaves planters wondering if the development of the church is satisfactory and supervisors lacking objective measures by which to evaluate the planting project. A clearly defined timeline provides all parties with a common standard by which to assess the development of the new church start. If goals are not met on time, a review of the situation may allow for corrections, additional training, a clarification of target audience, or other helpful action. It may also highlight the need to implement the exit strategy and aid the sponsoring agency to invest its money wisely.

2. Premature birth.

Starting public worship too soon is a factor found in almost all church plants that fail. Presenting a quality weekly worship service requires a large investment of time and energy. In most new church starts, the beginning of weekly worship services is accompanied by a decrease in outreach and evangelistic activities. This is due to the demands of preparing sermons, coordinating music, preparing bulletins, set-up and tear-down of the facility in which worship occurs, and the expectations of those attending to receive pastoral care from the planter. Launching with a very small group of people almost inevitably leads to disappointing results and a small or nonexistent church. Planters usually underestimate the amount of time needed to gather a sufficient number of people to move to public worship. Sponsoring agencies usually do this as well.

3. Mismatch between the planter and the community/context/target audience.

It is important that the planter have an affinity for the community/context/target audience for the church plant. It seems like an obvious statement, but this is a common factor in failed church plants. Factors such as socio-economic status, level of education, region of the country, population density preferred by the planter (and his or her family, if applicable), language, cultural differences, interests, family situation, and recreational activities that are enjoyed all play a role in determining the affinity a planter has for a particular context. This is not to say that a planter cannot be successful in an environment that differs significantly from his or her upbringing or preferences, just that it will almost certainly be significantly more difficult to do so. Sponsoring agencies must know both the context and the prospective planter in sufficient detail to make a determination of likely affinity prior to the assignment of a planter for a project.

4. Insufficient assessment.

With all the resources that are invested in a typical church plant, it is amazing that so many sponsoring organizations do so little assessment of either the context or the prospective planter. It is common that one or more people with little experience or knowledge about church planting select planters. This selection is based upon a host of factors such as "Do we like the person? "Is he or she from our 'tribe'?" "Is he or she related to someone we know?" "Is he or she likeable and outgoing?" "Does he or she really need this job?" "Is he or she a warm and willing body?" These factors are insufficient for selecting a planter. Church planters need a skill set that is different from that needed by pastors of existing churches. There needs to be a more objective standard used in the selection process. The best indicator of the future performance of a person is his or her past performance. The use of an outside consultant or assessment center or a trained team of assessors from within the sponsoring agency will result in an improved selection process and will increase the likelihood of success.

5. Lack of training and coaching.

Church planting projects in which the planter does not receive significant training and the ongoing support of a trained coach are more likely to fail than those in which this investment in training is made. Like athletes, even competent pastoral leaders need high-quality coaching if they are going to achieve peak performance. Planting a church is hard work, and most pastoral leaders have had little past training that would prepare them for such an endeavor. In fact, some of their training may even work against their success in a church-planting situation (such as the emphasis in many Bible colleges and seminaries on pastoral care, counseling, biblical languages, and debating the finer distinctions in theological positions). Compared to the large amount invested in most planting projects, the costs of training and coaching are relatively small. Some sponsoring organizations invest more than $100,000 in a new church start. Quality training and coaching might increase this investment by $5,000, but it might also greatly increase the probability of the success of the church plant.

6. Putting every egg in one basket.

It is not uncommon that a planter, or even a sponsoring agency, depends upon one event or approach or advertising campaign to make the church plant successful. In church planting circles, this is what we call a bad idea! The development of most successful new church starts is due less to an overwhelming response to one method and more to a series of waves of new people coming in response to a variety of events, approaches, and/or advertisements. If the future of the project is staked upon the result of one action, then the probability of failure is high. Every context is different. What worked in one setting may or may not work in the new setting. A better approach is to pursue a variety of actions and measure the response of the target audience. Experience will quickly identify those strategies that are more effective in the context of a particular church plant.

7. Too much overhead too fast.

There is a temptation when planting a church to attempt to acquire quickly the trappings of a "real church"; that is, to have the things an existing church takes for granted. Planters often invest resources in video projectors, computers, filing cabinets, copiers, phone systems, and office space early in the planting project. The problem with this approach is two-fold: First, these items do not — in and of themselves — attract new people to the church. If church planting is about anything, it is about putting people in seats. The second problem is that these expenses take resources away from the activities that are likely to attract new people, and some of these expenses occur every month. A new church start is not an existing church, and it cannot afford to act as if it is. Careful selection of where to invest time and money results in a church-planting project more likely to succeed.

8. The inability or unwillingness to recruit new people.

The biblical basis for planting new churches is the command of Jesus to make disciples of all people. While new church starts almost always attract people who have been attending existing churches, rarely should this be the target audience for a church plant. Planters who either cannot or will not invest themselves in the difficult work of recruiting new people to participate in the church are almost certainly going to produce disappointing results. Planters or sponsoring agencies that are more concerned with caring for the few who are currently coming than reaching additional people will find it difficult to develop a self-supporting church. Recruiting is both art and science; both a gift and the result of intentional, purposeful work. No recruitment means no new church.

9. Lack of focus and ignoring the priorities.

In every planting situation, the planter and the supervisor need to answer a few fundamental questions. These include:

• Whom are we trying to reach through this project?
• What strategies will be used to reach them?
• What is the timeline for the development of the new church? and
• What are the essential steps that must be taken and in what order must they be completed?

Many planters work very hard, but see few results from their labor. While planting is "sowing intensive," sometimes the lack of results is due to hard work on nonessential tasks. The most important items must be addressed. The critical actions must be taken and at the right time. A lack of focus will result in a burned-out planter and a failed church plant.

10. Inebriation (also known as being drunk on your vision).

Church planters can often describe in vivid detail the church they are attempting to plant. They have grand ideas about what they will do and how people will respond. They can visualize the community of faith that is going to result from their efforts. They spin their vision to others in the attempt to draw them into involvement in the new church. In this process, they begin to believe everything they are saying and begin to consider as inevitable everything they are dreaming. They are, in short, drunk on their own vision. It is good to be enthusiastic about the planting project, but planters also need a healthy dose of reality. One of the primary values of a coach is that he or she can help keep at least one foot of the planter rooted in reality. Without this perspective, planters begin to make assumptions about how effective their methods will be and excuses when reality is not as good as they expected. Church plants can fail when the planter is detached from reality and, hence, fails to make the course adjustments that are necessary in every planting situation.

The Rev. Jim Griffith is the founder of the Griffith Coaching Network, a network of coaches committed to helping church leaders develop more fruitful ministries. Jim spent the first twenty-years of his ministry life starting five different congregations. In 1995 he entered a full-time coaching ministry to church leaders and congregations, a mantle he wears with infectious enthusiasm.

Dr. Don Nations is an associate of The Griffith Coaching Network and has trained as a consultant with Bill Easum. He is a Certified Human Behavior Consultant and is a nationally certified coach for church planters. He has both planted a church and served as a turn-around pastor for several churches during his ministry. He currently serves as the director of a teaching parish (cooperative church ministry), and he has published several articles. Don is available to coach planters, work with denominations and judicatories, train coaches, assess potential planters, and conduct onsite consultations.