Church Planting Landmines by Tom Nebel and Gary Rohrmayer

Question 1

What should happen from failure?

Answer 1

We learn from it. “Learning from failture is a key concept in life and successful church planting.” (12)

Question 2

Why do the authors say it is often not natural for planters to learn from their mistakes?

Answer 2

“By definition, church planters and teams are not particularly reflective; they are people of action who focus on the work of changing the world. Church planters don’t like to think about the things that will stop them, just the things that will keep them going.” (13)

Question 3

Besides not being reflective, why do the authors say it is often not natural for planters to learn from their mistakes?

Answer 3

“Church planters are visionary. Not only do they want to avoid considering obstacles, but they also do not want to contemplate any negative possibilities.” (13)

Question 4

Where should the planter be standing, according to Nebel and Rohrmayer?

Answer 4

“As with any missional endeaveor, the church planter needs to stand on the edge of lostness. When you are there, the chance of failure is great, but so is the chance for great results.” (13)

Question 5

According to Dr. Bobby Clinton of Fuller Theological Seminary, why don’t most leaders finish well?

Answer 5

They ignore personal health and growth. (Nebel) ““They would be in the true difference-makers of their generation. But something happened. They burned out, they gave up, or they were disqualified.” (15)

Question 6

When is the “middle game” (chess reference) of ministry years for leaders (planters) according to Clinton’s research?

Answer 6

“Statistically speaking, people in ministry burn out, give up, or are disqualified most often between the ages of 35 and 55.” (16)

Question 7

Why are planters more vulnerable?

Answer 7

More freedom “Church planters are vulnerable in a unique way because they have more freedom than established church pastors do when it comes to the creation of policy and protocol.” (17)

Question 8

What are the common race-enders for planters?

Answer 8

Abuses of 1) finances, 2) power, 3) pride, 4) illicit sexual relationship, 5) Neglect of physical bodies, 6) critical family issues, 7) plateauing,

Question 9

Where does financial abuse begin?

Answer 9

“Financial abuse begins with a condition of the heart that has lost is perspective.”

Question 10

How is the abuse of power tied to church planting?

Answer 10

“a significant number of church planters are “high D” personalities” (18) “They function in a wolrd of dominance. We need people who can push forward, control chaotic situations, and get the job done.” (provide example of Ds and Is having higher attendance) “Our strength is our pathology.” (20) “Abuse of power lurks in the shadow of most successful planters.”

Question 11

List some ways planters are vulnerable to pride:

Answer 11

1) think they are God’s gift to the church, 2) think they are relevant and every other church or pastor is irrelevant, 3) Can’t handle criticism of our model, our preaching, or our performance - even when we’re wrong, 4) name drop, brag, 5) Defensive and not open to coaching, 6) avoid vulnerability and accountability. (20)

Question 12

What are the qualities of good church planters that make them vulnerable to being prideful?

Answer 12

attractive personalities, relationship-building gifts, capapcity for empathy, and solid communication skills (21)

Question 13

When does plateauing occur for a planter?

Answer 13

Person stops learning and growing (23)

Question 14

Signs a planter is plateauing

Answer 14

1) no great vision for the future and no great attempts to get there (23), 2) become very pragmatic, 3) stop thinking strategically about the future (23)

Question 15

What are the authors suggestions for enabling planters to finish well:

Answer 15

1) intercessory prayer teams, 2) disciplines, 3) renewal times, 4) mentoring and accountability, 5) becoming a life-long learner (23-27)

Question 16

The authors say there is no such thing as

Answer 16

“ready made leaders” (29)

Question 17

Most church planters pray that God will bring them leaders, but ….

Answer 17

“God wants them to develop leaders on their own.” (30)

Question 18

What kind of culture does every new church need?

Answer 18

“A leadership culture” (30) Spotting, training, and deploying potential leaders (30)

Question 19

What are the steps of creating a leadership culture?

Answer 19

1) define, 2) embrace apollos mentality, 3) identify leaders, 4) equip leaders, 5) coach leaders, 6) celebrate leaders achievements purposefully, 7) multiplication mindset …..1) develop a workable definition of a leader (31) 2) Identify emerging leaders who should be developed (pray, work, look) (35) 4) equip leaders holistically

Question 20

What is leadership backlash?

Answer 20

“a surprising and antagonistic reaction from other church leaders to a trend, development, or event that you hold closely.” (42)

Question 21

The basic difficulty in leadership backlash is…

Answer 21

one of value and agenda disharmony

Question 22

What is value and agenda disharmony

Answer 22

Leadership team discovering that they are at odds with one another over issues affecting the direction of the church. (43)

Question 23

What can cause value and agenda disharmony

Answer 23

pre-existing leaders, insecurities in church planter, planter has limited time, potential leaders feel pressure to serve, impure motives to serve in ways they were not allowed to before, assumptions that initial leaders will be perpetual leaders

Question 24

What are values?

Answer 24

"”Values are those deeply held beliefs that become non-negotiables, and they are the cradle of problems.” (44) “When my values differ from yours, it’s likely that we will have some sort of friction.”

Question 25

What do the authors recommend?

Answer 25

1) in the beginning, don’t give away roles, give away jobs. 2) hold onto your principles tightly, hold onto your personnel loosely, 3) not all leaders need to come from the church you’re planting, 4) choose short-term pain and long-term gain, accept that you’ll have hassles (49)

Question 26

What is entropy?

Answer 26

“Entropy is the natural and irreversible tendency toward disorder in any system without an external source of energy” (53)

Question 27

What are the three spheres of evangelism for a church planter (54)

Answer 27

The planter (modeling) people who know you and your church. Your people - equipping - People who know your people. The unconnected - marketing - People who don’t know you, your people, or your church.” (54)

Question 28

How to sole church planters burnout because of evangelism?

Answer 28

Rejection, lonely nature of the job, and care of new believers (55) “Pioneer church palnters are fully engaged in evangelistic activities out of sheer need for survival . The ability to network in the community and to engage it evangelistically rests solely on their shoulders, and the burden of the responsibility is intense. The constant load of rejectiion they encounter can lead to burnout.” (55)

Question 29

Suggestions to avoid evangelism entropy:

Answer 29

1) Remember that you are a missionary to your community (56), 2) upgrade your networking skills, (56), 3) be available to those experiencing life transitions, 4) share your wins, losses, and blunders continually with the church, (59)

Question 30

Statistics and experience indicate that evangelism entropy can creep inside a new church within

Answer 30

months of its first service. (63)

Question 31

What are the reasons for corporate evangelism entropy?

Answer 31

1) postpartum syndrome (let down after launch of church) 2) drifting into maintenance after launch,

Question 32

Avoid corporate evangelism entropy

Answer 32

1) fuel the prayer life of the people (66) 2) train the people to be storytellers (67), train the people to be inviters and includers (69), 3)

Question 33

What are the two macro-principles of good follow-up?

Answer 33

1) discipleship (spritual formation) and 2) ministry flow (76)

Question 34

Discipleship -

Answer 34

Relating, reaching/conversion, identifying (baptizing), training, reproducing (77)

Question 35

Ministry Flow -

Answer 35

Map work of disciplemaking. (78) Reaching people through front door (public worship, side door (affinity events) and back door (one-to-one invitiations) (78)

Question 36

Micro principles of follow-up

Answer 36

1) First impressions, 2) Response filtering 3) Second touch, 4) Next steps

Question 37

The roots of fear and neglect

Answer 37

the fear or neglect of money issues is connected to a planter’s personal rejection issues (91)

Question 38

God blesses…

Answer 38

faithful stewards (92)

Question 39

It’s not about what the church needs…

Answer 39

it’s about what the Lord wants (93)

Question 40

It’s ok to teach

Answer 40

about tithing (93)

Question 41

How to counteract the fear of money landmine:

Answer 41

1) tithing guarantee card, 2) financial seminars, small groups, and disicpleship, 3) captial campaigns, 4) bulletin and newsletter reminders, and sensitivity

Question 42

Prayer is not preparation for the battle…

Answer 42

prayer is the battle (101)

Question 43

discouragement

Answer 43

“one of the easiest things to do is to dampen someone else’s spirits” (103)

Question 44

Sin in the camp

Answer 44

“Bible tells of when sin got in the way of victory” (103)

Question 45

Physical and emotional hardship

Answer 45

vulnerability to attacks on health and daily routines (broken appliances)… then weight and difficulty of the place where they are serving

Question 46

Fear

Answer 46

a battle for new church planters

Question 47

Derailment

Answer 47

episodes of failture in the lives of leaders that have th epotential to bring the ministry to a screeching halt (107)

Question 48

Counterattack suggestions

Answer 48

1) The God-dependent church - create a culture of dependence on God, intercession teams, specialized prayer teams, fasting, specialized prayer meetings, prayers for healing, individual prayer life of the leader,

Question 49

Mistakes on hiring the first staff can be

Answer 49

crushing and creates a potentially explosive situation (115)

Question 50

The ________ - _______________ tension

Answer 50

Owner - employee tension - church planters see themselves as owners, not as employees.

Question 51

The “___________ ___________ mistake” and the “___________ - _________ tension”

Answer 51

youth pastor mistake and shepherd equipper tension; “nothing can institutionalize your new church faster than hiring a full time youth minister” ; settling for what you can afford; developing a process for hiring;

Question 52

What does delaying mission engagement look like…

Answer 52

losing the vision to parent a new church, not becing a generous church, unwilling to participate in the broader mission, ignoring cross-cultural or international missions;

Question 53

Y word

Answer 53

“not ready YET” (132)

Question 54

Reasons to be a missional church…

Answer 54

1) theology requires it, 2) God blesses generosity, 3) Obligation and integrity, 4) The need

Question 55

Ways to maintain missional commitment

Answer 55

1) plant a daughter church, 2) be generous, 3) participate in a larger movement, 4) involvement in international missions (138-140)

Question 56

According to Tom Nebel & Rohrmayer, what is the benefit of North American missionaries observing what went wrong with other church plants? (page 12)

Answer 56

“By observing what went wrong with others, we will not be surprised and disheartened when those same landmines explode in our midst. Instead, we learn to expect the problem, and we gain insight into addressing it when it occurs.” (page 12)