We had a church plant fail, and the reason were in my opinion were 3,4,5 and 10. I am also sure that we contributed to the failure. I did not speak early enough or loud enough when the plant was crashing. We are now considering we are going to so it again. Ironically it is not the investment that is the catch, it is the partnership we would have. That and we are considering a multi-site option.

Our association had two church plants finally fold this summer.  We had a bootcamp to train the planters.  We had resources.  We had a coach hired for the planters.  Two churches were the “mothers” for support and accountability.  What killed them was the skyrocketing rent.  Both were growing steadily but the economy was faster and the competition for commercial space caused both plants to meet to vote to end.

The list of reasons New Church plants fail is almost endless. I find nothing in the list to “fuss” about but I would not necessarily say any one of them is THE reason a Church fails.

Far too many new Church plants are either splits or duplications of what is already available.  We like to think we are something new, different or special but in reality how different are we really from the Church down the street? Should we be different?

I have been involved diretly or indirectly in a number of Church plants over the years. Many of them failed. Some of the failure was “operator error.” Sometimes, the reason for failure is not evident. Or perhaps, from God’s perspective it was NOT a failure. How do we judge success? Attendance? Offerings? Buildings?  I suspect most of the Churches in the NT would be deemed failures by modern evangelical standards.

Starting a new church is an exteremly difficult task that requires many factors to be in one’s favor. These 10 are some of them, to be sure. It’s no wonder most churches in this country will remain in 100 level. Many of the practical factors in starting a church cannot be spirutualized away. To be sure, every church planting Pastor has to go into the venture with both eyes wide open to the extreme challenges and be willing to face potential failure.

I am planting a church at the beginning of the year.  I deeply believe that this is where God is leading me.  I do not have the experience as many of you, in planting, but your responses are encouraging and a little scary as well.  I ask that you pray for me and my family as we move towards this great task and any advice that you can give I am willing to read it and or listen to your helpful advice.

Sincerely,
Al

Rick, thanks for your response.  I am planting in the metro Atlanta area.  I am just 30 miles south of downtown Atlanta, GA.  I have some assesment material from the Southern Baptist Assoc. here in GA, but I haven’t taken any coaching.  Where can I find out about coaching?

Al

Rick, yes, I met with two SBC representatives on two seperate occassions and I was given personal assessment material as well.  I will check with Ed Stetzer in Cummings and see what help I can get from him.

Thank you for your assistance and any future help that you may have.  What I get from you and others will be beneficial to me when I can help someone else who needs a little or a lot of help along the way.

Al

i’ve got the same problem, and i found the solution here to top registry cleaner, just for reference.