For 99% of us, July is our lowest time as far as attendance goes. I encourage you all to at least take two weeks off in July from preaching and observe your church on a Sunday morning. I think too many times our churches are like this mark we have on our wall. When we moved into our house, I rubbed a dresser against the wall and left about a 6 inch black mark. I never fixed it and now 12 months into my house, I don’t notice it. However everytime fresh eyes come in the house, they ask about the mark.

I think many times we don’t notice the bad signage, the unfriendly greeters, etc. on Sunday mornings because we are too busy to notice.

Take two weeks off:
1.) To evaluate your church
2.) To visit another church and steal ideas

I always find it amazing when I talk to planters and they don’t know the numbers from the previous weekend. The more I am in church planting, the more I realize the best way to evaluate is by the numbers. By the time I leave on Sundays I have the attendance numbers in my hand and first thing Monday morning I have the offering numbers on my desk.

Why? Because these two things allow me to evaluate if what we are doing is effective or not.

For instance, if our numbers go up in during a certain teaching series, I know this is teaching that our people are connecting with. For example we did a marriage series where our numbers went through the roof, this let me know our people needed to hear this stuff. We do a fair amount of marketing in the community and based on our numbers I can tell if that months advertising worked. For example did a big children’s push this month in our marketing and our children’s numbers are only a little up. That lets me know we didn’t connect in that advertising.

As I plan for the next year on my teaching calendar, I look at the numbers to decide when I need to do felt need teaching or more insider teaching. I am not going to teach a series focused on our church when the numbers say that is the time we have the most visitors coming.

I also watch the giving because it allows me to know if our people are buying into the vision. It allows me to know for the future when our giving will drop so I can budget around it.

Watch for patterns and don’t freak out over one week things but watch the numbers. They do drive things.

I think pastors think they sound spiritual when they say aren’t concerned about numbers. But numbers tell the story and will help you lead better.

I am in a state of evaluation at RSC. Things are going very well but I know they could be going better. I think it is important for planters to continually be evaluating what they are doing and how they are doing it.

• I am looking at every staff person and asking myself are they in the best role for them and for the church
• I am looking at every ministry and asking myself if it is worth the effort we put into it or could that time and those workers be better used elsewhere
• I am looking at our spending and asking how can we be better stewards
• I am looking at myself and asking how can I lead this church better

Don’t get so caught up in doing that you fail to realize what you are doing isn’t really working.

Sometimes the grass looks a lot greener on the other side of the fence, doesn’t it?

Nuff’ said.

I recently heard a church planting group in Georgia bragging because over 70% of their church plants are successful. So when I asked what they considered success, they said that if a church was still going after two years then they considered a success.

WHAT???????

I know many of these church plants firsthand and I consider very few of them a success. But what is success in a church plant? I am number driven but it can’t be all about numbers. I am life change driven but if a church isn’t growing is it seeing life change?

I don’t have the answers but I would love to hear your thoughts on what and when you consider a church plant a success?

Man, I don’t know what is going on in this county but I just found out today that ANOTHER church plant in town is closing down. I can’t figure it out but something is going on. I know another one that probably won’t make it through the summer.

Trust me, I know Church planting is hard but I don’t understand what some of these guys thought they were getting into. It is almost like if they don’t have a 1,000 people after a year they are feeling like failures.

Are we judging success wrong?

…the fact that you will probably never get to plant another church? I mean to experience the rush of starting something from nothing, living by faith financially, wondering if anyone is going to show up at the first serivce, thinking of the perfect church name, finding that location to meet in, etc.

This is my second plant and I feel 100% sure it is my last but, I hate that will never get that rush that only starting a church can provide again.

Am I the only one who thinks about this?

If you had any doubts that I truly am a postmodern redneck, this will confirm it. I bought the new Van Zant CD tonight and it is great. I am a huge Lynyrd Skynyrd and 38 Special fan, so when Johnny and Donnie FINALLY came out with a CD together, I had to get it. It is straight up southern rock and if you are a fan, you will enjoy it. I was really surprised at the “religious” theme throughout. So anyway, laugh away but it is currently being played in the Lamb house.

Don’t be too hard on me, remember I was born and raised a Georgia boy.

One of the great thing about planting a church is being there for the first of something. I remember our first person to enter a relationship with Christ, I remember our first baby being born, our first baptism, etc.

Well today we sent our first group of teenagers to summer camp!!! New Spring Community Church was cool enough to invite us along for thier summer camp. It was awesome to see all the teenagers at the office today excited about what was ahead.

I remember summer camps like they were yesterday.

Planters, enjoy the firsts because they only happen once.

Palm Valley Community Church is located in Litchfield, Arizona. Pastored by Greg Rohlinger, PVCC is one of the fastest growing churches in America and truly is an awesome work. I always say there is a difference between a new church and a church plant(I might post on that subject one day). PVCC is a church plant in the truest sense. Greg and his wife started PVCC with very little funding and even a smaller core group.

They are now 5 years old running over 2,000 and still meeting in a high school.

I am by no means an exepert on PVCC but from watching and talking with Greg for almost 5 years I can list some of the things I think have lead to their success.

1.) Raising up of leaders - All the current staff were hired from within. Greg takes staff with him everywhere and invests in them. In return he has guys who are sold out to PVCC and not looking to the next bigger church that calls them.

2.) Focus on the unchurched - All new church plants say this is their goal but that simply isn’t the case. PVCC has focused on the unchurched population and it shows.

3.) Celebrate Recovery - 6 months in they started Celebrate Recovery and it has been huge for them. Focusing on those that most churches blow off is biblical first of all and leads to people having their lives changed and then being sold out.

4.) Creativity - They are very creative in their teaching wheter it be props, video, music, or dramas.

5.) Vision - Greg is a big vision guy and it has spread.

I could go on but you get the idea. If you are in Arizona, check out Palm Valley Community Church, it will be a visit where you leave ready to dream bigger.