In the
fourth installment of this blog series on building a core launch team,
Stadia’s Doug Foltz shares why he believes communicating expectations
are integral to the life and future of your church plant.
Launch Team Covenants (as well as membership covenants) are about one thing: Expectations.
Expectations are simply the ways we live out
what is really important to us. They are the actions that demonstrate
our beliefs and values. Clear expectations are vital to a healthy launch
team and later a healthy membership later on. Expectations help create a
clear path to spiritual growth and let everyone know that if they are
on this team, here is where they need to go.
Many church planters shy away from high
expectations of launch team: If my expectations are too high, then I’ll
scare people away. But consider this. Expectations reveal your desired
picture of a disciple.
If you have low expectations, then don’t be surprised when you’re frustrated that your church is full of spiritual infants.
Consider some of the expectations Jesus had of us:
- “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48).
- “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (Mark 8:34).
- “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me” (Luke 18:22 ).
Those are high expectations. When seekers and
Christians alike come to the church, I believe they are let down by
watered-down expectations. If they don’t have to change much, they may
go looking elsewhere.
To determine what expectations you will have, look to your values. Will Mancini in his book, Church Unique,
encourages a healthy exercise. He says to take each value of the church
and flesh it out with “as demonstrated by …” For example, if you value
relationships, how is that demonstrated in the life of the church? Then
ask, “How will we measure that?”
What you measure you value.
So to answer the question: Should I use a
launch team covenant? Maybe. You need to determine how signing a
covenant will be received in your community. But if you don’t use a
covenant, you still need to communicate expectations. In lieu of a
covenant, what will you do to communicate expectations?
Related articles
A self-described “church planting junkie,” Doug Foltz serves as director of planter care for Stadia as
the director of planter care, where he helps church planters clarify
and implement their vision. He stands alongside church planters,
leveraging his 15-plus years of church planting experience with more
than 50 new churches. In 2004, Foltz moved to Charlotte, N.C., to help
plant LifePointe Christian Church. Currently, he lives in a rural town in Illinois and speaks nationwide about church planting. Doug blogs at plantingchurches.org.
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