Where do I start if I think God’s calling me to plant a church?

Lee Stephenson: Welcome, everyone to the Unfiltered podcast. Lee Stephenson here, overseer of Church Planting for Converge. Local church planter in Orlando, Florida.

Danny Parmelee: I'm Danny Parmelee, and I oversee Church Planting for Converge MidAmerica.

Lee Stephenson: And we want to kind of address those that are kind of on the fence as to is God calling you to plant a church or not? And just maybe you're at a place kind of going, I think God is calling me to. What do I do now? You know, how do I get moving in the process? And Danny, this is something that you deal with on a daily basis, I'm assuming, of just being in a district role. A regional role. A lot of interaction. A lot of feedback. A lot of people filling out information on websites. So, what advice would you give to somebody who goes like, I think God's calling me to a plant a church. Now what? What do I do? Like, where do I actually get started?

Danny Parmelee: Yeah, and this is actually my most fun part of the job, actually is working with guys in this phase. A lot of times people think that my job is recruitment. And sometimes I even describe it that way. But it's really not. It's actually a job of discernment on the front end of things. And what I mean by that is, I don't believe that every single person is called to be a lead church planter. And so, a lot of that is with guys that are kind of, you know, thinking about it is, of course, yes, it's going to God in prayer. But I think the second part of it is submitting yourself to wise counsel, to people, to a process that helps you to discover first of all, if you are called and gifted to be a church planter. So, within church planting, I think that there's a unique personality and spiritual gift mix that you know, some of we see in Scripture, and some of it’s been stuff that we've just kind of learned over the years. And so, for guys that are kind of like kicking that around, I would say that kind of the pre-assessment, or you've heard of assessment center or assessment process is just so huge in that. So, before you say, yes, I'm planting a church type of thing. Like I had a dream, or someone told me I should plant a church. God may be using some of those things as the initial promptings. Maybe someone saw you preach, or they've seen you in ministry. Your pastor, you know, mentor said, hey, consider church planting. Take that as one piece of the puzzle. But then get involved in a process. So, I'm going to speak specifically to how Converge does it. So, we really do what we call kind of a pre-assessment process, where there's kind of asking some questions. There are some different personality profile, kind of assessments that we have people take. Those are often helpful to kind of just, you know, see if you kind of fit at least some of those main things. Again, conversation. What other people have witnessed, what you've done in your life. And then it comes to a place of formal assessment. So, we have our Assessment Centers that happen all over the United States. We're going to have one coming up in June, in Nashville, where I am very excited about that one. So, some of you that may be listening to this are like, hey, I want to get into that process. Then, reach out to myself. And again, it doesn't matter where you're going to plant. You can plant anywhere in the United States. That's really national that we do that. And that's a four day process that we'll give kind of a deep dive into that. So, as far as starting the process, there's this pre-assessment assessment process. The other thing that I would say to it is that you want to find your tribe. Who are the people that now...? Lee and I, we're very biased towards Converge. But we're the first ones to admit that Converge may not actually be the tribe that you should plant with. We'd love to have that conversation with you. We'll tell you how we operate. We'll tell you our theological and philosophical ways in which we do planting. But that may be a great fit for you. If not, we will help you. So, again, we're not trying to recruit you. We want to help point you in the right direction. There's some great church planting organizations that will probably even do a lot of similar stuff that we do as far as pre-assessment and assessment type of thing that way.

Lee Stephenson: So, let me begin with that, Danny. Because I mean, you've already covered a lot of information. When it comes to choosing a tribe. What are a couple of key questions that you think a person needs to ask as they're journeying through this idea? And I know that one question that we tend to ask is who gives the most money? And that's where I'm gonna go. But I think there are a lot of questions that are much more important than just money.

Danny Parmelee: Yeah, I do like to think of it a little bit like dating, which I know sounds weird. And I actually think it is okay for a church planter to as much as they're in a pre-assessment process, you should also be kind of just judging some of the chemistry and the feel there. So, it's hard. There's not a specific question. But you should ask their philosophy of planting. They might say, our philosophy of planting is, you know, we only do house churches. Or we only fund churches once they get over 500. Maybe some of those things, just all sudden, you're like, oh, you know what, that's not how I want to plant my church. Or that's not how I'm wired. But more of it is the chemistry stuff. So, whether it's on phone calls. Whether you're going to their events, that's really helpful. When you look around the room are you excited to be there? Are you looking around saying this is the group of people that I want to celebrate? Yeah, that are like me. That I'm going to want to celebrate with. That this is the group of people that when I'm having a tough time that I'm going to feel totally comfortable giving them a ring. And again, there's probably no specific questions to kind of ask. But I think even kind of how you're treated. And it's been fun for me, because there's certain guys where it's like, man and talking to him, like, I don't think you're a fit for Converge. But I want to introduce you to my friend, who leads this church planting organization. You're a perfect fit for them. So yeah, the pre-assessment...like asking that question. And truly giving it you know, before the Lord. The thing that I would kind of encourage guys is your knowledge of church planting is not as important. So, there's a lot of guys who don't want to take the step of even like, calling me or calling someone else. Because I need to learn more about church planting before I ever call. Absolutely not. I have conversations with guys. They barely know what church planting is. Someone just said, hey, you should consider church planting. They're like, I have no idea what that is. And they can become the most amazing church planters. And you know, starting out with no knowledge of church planting, is one of the things that's easier to train. So, for us, it's discerning the call of it. Some of your passions, gift mix. More than the actual, practical logistical things that it takes to plant a church.

Lee Stephenson: Yeah, well said. And I wouldn't even tack onto it is thinking through like, you want to ask some of the systematic questions. Like, walk me through the process of where do I go from here? What are the key markers that you're looking for? And if they don't have an answer to some of those things, and they can't quickly come up with it, you're going to be an afterthought in their process. And I would find a different tribe to align with.

Danny Parmelee: Yeah. Let me add to that, too. Because you said ask the questions, too, that are beyond launch. Because there are groups out there. And they would say this, about themselves. That they're a church launching organization. So, it's like, once you launch that's really what their primary goal is. In comparison to other groups such as Converge. Where it's like, it's the long-term relationship. We've got, you know, 150-year-old churches. And after you launch, there are still tons of resources for you. Everything from loans, and, you know, retirement funds. And what it looks like for you, as you grow from a church plant into an established church and a multiplying church and those types of things. So,  just understanding some of those differences. So yes, asking the process questions. I think it is okay to ask about funding. That's not going to be your primary determining factor. But how will they fund you? Ask about coaching. What does it look like for someone to coach me through the process? Like I said, before, there's guys that like, hey, I have no idea how to actually plant a church. That doesn't matter. We can pair you with someone that has more to do with, again, the drive and gift mix and personality, you know, for church planting. The other thing is, I'll tell guys, you may discover that God's called you to church planting, but there's lots of steps in between. That's okay. We're in it for the long haul as well, too. So, we've talked before about residencies. Or maybe you're like, hey, someone said church planting but I'm a youth pastor now. I want to get some experience as I don't know, an associate pastor, or preaching pastor or even a lead pastor. Whatever, that's totally fine. We're in it for the long haul. Let's figure out maybe what some of those next steps are. Because every person's timeline is different as well, too.

Lee Stephenson: Yeah. Well said. And I'm particular about our coaching processes as well. It's easy for organizations to stand out there and say, yeah, we'll pair you up with a coach. But I would go with next level. Like, what qualifies them as a coach? Is it just because they're available? Or they have the experience? Have they coached other people successfully? Is there a credentialing process? You know, just dive into a little bit because it's... You are looking for a long-term relationship. And you ought to know the ins and outs of the organization that you're looking to planting with. But starts with a phone call. Start with an email and just see where it goes relationally from there would be my advice.

Danny Parmelee: One quick thing before we close up here is you had mentioned the coaching thing. One of the things that I do love about Converge is that our coaching, and even our church planting process is not model specific. So, in other words, you may go, I kind of want to plant a church, but you know, it's different. We coach people to the church that God has laid on their heart. And pair them with a coach that maybe even didn't plant a church in that sort of way. But the coaching model says, we're going to help you to plant the church that God's laid on your heart, not just a cookie cutter type of approach. Or says okay, you know, now ask them to do this. Or tell them to do this on week 14 of their, you know, church plant. Of course, coaches are gonna bring their own personal experience. They might have their own opinions, but their job is really to help you plant the church that God's laid on your heart.

Lee Stephenson: Love it, love it. Well, we'd love to be able to partner with you. Walk that journey. And even if you didn't plant with Converge, we'd love to be a resource to you. Reach out to us and let us know how we can help you. Thanks for tuning in everyone to the Unfiltered podcast. Until next time, keep it real.