I thought one of the best pieces of advice on church planting success I had heard came from Steve Sjogren. He had said, “If you are a church planter, don’t so much read about leadership… just do it!!” I agreed.
Importance of Execution Over Leadership Initially
I believed we all understood the importance of leadership, but the truth was, in church planting, initially, you didn’t have a lot to lead. When you began a church, paying close attention to the quality of your execution was paramount.
Strategic Planning and Nimbleness
I believed in planning and being strategic in a big way. Planning paid off for planting, but success depended on how nimble you were on your feet. I was convinced that most planting success came from learning to capitalize on the serendipitous. Planting success was about creating opportunities and seizing them quickly.
I was working on a plant in Orlando, Florida as I wrote. One of my assignments was to find the best zip codes for our vision. This was not an easy task. I knew movement was the only thing that would get you to success. Research was vital. But in the final analysis, breathing deep and launching out there was the pathway to success.
Flexibility in Planning
I didn’t know many people who saw their actual planning documents as fully workable. Really successful leaders understood that planning was fluid, flexible. If you had a team that demanded rigid adherence to the plan, getting a new one was necessary! You planned like a maniac, but at the same time, you held loosely to the plan and kept focused on the aims.
Learning from Failures
With my first plant, we had actually begun in the wrong area. It was a highly affluent neighborhood that had not been spiritually prepared. The principalities and powers were strong in their resistance. We just couldn’t break the 100 Barrier after two years. Then another group sought us out about merging churches. Trust me, mergers rarely worked. But in our case, it was a serendipitous move that proved vital.
We ended up relocating to a neighboring suburb that was well prepared for an awakening, and we saw one. I had to scrap my plan and humbly grasp a new direction for the group. Our aim was clearly to reach as many pre-Christian people as we could and see them become transformational people.
Execution vs. Planning
Execution was more important than planning, in my opinion. You had to at some point just do it. And be ready to correct your course. I advised planters to plan, plan, plan, and then put their planning documents aside and start DOING. I had often seen poor planners who were great at execution and had strong intuitive skills do better at planting than extraordinary planners.
Planting was like riding a bike. There was little to keep you upright if you were not in movement.
Execution had to be pressed even when things looked unclear. The pieces would come together at some juncture if you executed well. Next to skills at fundraising, I thought the ability to grab open doors was the most vital skill needed for successful planting.
I found that people who acted in the face of ambiguity did better than those who demanded too much clarity. Acting by faith meant sometimes acting in partial blindness. Living with loose ends was one thing but living boldly in the face of loose ends was another. The latter was the formula for greater success.
The Role of Strategic Plans in Ministry
Let me again emphasize that much of my ministry was helping teams write strategic plans. It was vital. But being a good planner said only a little about your success. Execution in faith was the vital skill needed to see an effective plant.
Doing whatever you did with excellence and boldly was necessary.
A Lesson from Corrie Ten Boom
When I was just beginning the ministry, I had the chance to be part of an outreach in Germany. Corrie Ten Boom led one of the training sessions. She took out a tapestry as though we were in a Sunday school class. She flipped it around to the backside of the craft piece. There were only loose threads hanging in a confused fashion. There was no apparent reason or pattern to the tapestry. She said, “this is your life from your perspective often.” And then she flipped the artwork around to the image side and it was a beautiful tapestry of the disciples on the Sea of Galilee. She said, “This is your life from God’s perspective. Act on his view and trust him boldly and you will change the world.”
Execution and Success
I had an extraordinary set of plans for our new plant. I was good at it. But I knew as good as our planning was our success would depend upon passionate, bold, nimble execution at every phase. And success would require adjusting the course when opportunities arose. Those who planned well and worked hard created opportunities. One could say that successful planters executed so well they created surprising avenues for progress and success.
Successful Planting Pattern
- Plan.
- Work hard.
- Work boldly.
- Work watchfully.
- Seize opportunities.
- Rewrite your strategic details often.
- Develop a nimble team who thrived on the unexpected.
Vital Skills for Success
- Great planning.
- Great boldness and faith.
- Great eyes for open doors.
- Great sense of execution. Doing what you planned well. In other words, was vital.
- The ability to respond nimbly to course adjustments.
- The ability to stay focused on aims rather than just the details of a plan.
Again, Steve was right on. It was all about DOING the work, not just planning. In fact, one was better served to be in action mode rather than planning mode if you had a choice.
