Lessons learned from sponsoring four churches in four years, Lesson 3: Launching the church–the first public worship service

1. When?

• After Labor Day is the most common starting date. For many families, this is the time new schedules are being formed for the year and people are locked into an area because they schedule their moves and vacations around the school calendar.
• At Easter. The advantage of starting at Easter is so the church can launch some ministries early then, in the fall when school starts, launch others. For example, church leadership can focus on starting large group worship services and small groups at Easter and in the fall start the college ministry or expand to youth and children’s ministry. This approach may be best for a smaller staff team that can’t launch everything at once.

2. Things to remember after the launch.

• Growth will probably be uneven and unexpected, attendance may drop 30-50% from initial launch.
• Focus on the main things: quality worship services and small groups. Be willing to resist pressure to expand ministries too soon.
• At the start, continue to rely on your coaches, interim elder team, and other partners. They will provide valuable outside feedback and advice.
• When new people begin to get involved, resist the temptation to focus primarily on them and neglect reaching out to new people.

3. Make sure that visitors get incorporated into a small group. Have a system for tracking this.  All church leadership should actively ask the question, “Have you been able to join a small group yet?”

4. Continue to help people to become involved by finding a place to serve. All church leadership should be able to answer the question, “How can I help serve in the church?”

Lessons learned from sponsoring four churches in four years, Lesson 5: The first year