Recently, I received a note from a church planter describing the process he was going through to receive approval to plant an AG church in a district that will remain nameless. He was a little frustrated with the process…especially the “hoops” he was required to jump through. He wondered if it was really worth it and even considered the possibility of planting the church disconnected from any denomination. His note got me thinking about why jumping through the “hoops” is worth it. So I wrote down some thoughts about the benefits of the “hoops.” Here’s what I wrote…

“I know this is a hassle to go through all this stuff, but in the long run it will be helpful to everyone.

  1. It will be helpful to you, because every time to make the case, your presentation will get clearer and better. Plus it will take the rocks out of the hands of those who want to criticize what you are doing.
  2. It will be helpful to the sending church because they will hear and see your vision up close and personal and they will start to share your burden.
  3. It will be helpful to the district because you are giving them a great model of how they can say yes to “out of the box” projects in the future. So you are opening up doors for those who will follow you.
  4. It is helpful to me because you are writing another story that will inspire church planters all over the country about what a church laser focused on the harvest can look like.

The cool thing is that when you have jumped through the hoops, those who have created the hoops will be cheering your success. Your willingness to jump through the hoops makes them feel safer about what you want to do, even if they don’t understand it. They will have a sense of knowing your heart and the result will be that they will trust you to head off into uncharted territory and scout out new ministry pathways.”