tfelice
Puritan Board Freshman
I was wondering if I could get feedback on my current status with getting this church started.
I have been told by our denomination that in order to get funded and be considered a mission church we need to have a core group of 5 to 6 families. The problem with that though, is while I am getting very positive responses to the concept of the church being planted here (this is a fast growing area and everything on paper says plant here), I am unable to get people to commit to being part of a "core group" and meet in our home till we get rolling.
As I see it, there are a number of reasons for this, and without detailing them all, I will say in summary that people are willing to attend something concrete, but something conceptual is too much of an unknown for them. Essentially I am looking for needles in a haystack here, trying to find committed Christians who aren't involved in a local church that are so fired up with the concept of planting a Reformed church in this town that they are willing marry themselves to the idea of getting it launched. Meanwhile, time keeps marching on and follow up with interested parties keeps yielding the same question "when are you going to start worship on Sundays?"
As you can see this is quite frustrating for me.
My background is business and this whole "core group" notion is foreign to me. I mean if I were going to open a restaurant in town, I wouldn't conceive the idea, spread word around town and then expect a dozen or so people to come eat at my house on Thursday nights until we get the restaurant open. Of course not, I would rent a place, advertise heavily and open the doors.
As I see it now, my family (and another family that has been with us since the start) have all that we need to get Sunday services started. I have plenty of friends that are involved in other churches but are more than willing to pitch in to get us off the ground. Finances aren't an issue as we can get going for less than a few hundred dollars. Location isn't an issue as we already have a place reserved for when we need it.
So my questions are: Why is the core group so important to have before the church starts Sunday services? Could not a core group be gathered from those that attend reguarly on Sunday morning and become captured by the vision of the church?
Sorry to ramble here for a while. Hope you all can help.
I have been told by our denomination that in order to get funded and be considered a mission church we need to have a core group of 5 to 6 families. The problem with that though, is while I am getting very positive responses to the concept of the church being planted here (this is a fast growing area and everything on paper says plant here), I am unable to get people to commit to being part of a "core group" and meet in our home till we get rolling.
As I see it, there are a number of reasons for this, and without detailing them all, I will say in summary that people are willing to attend something concrete, but something conceptual is too much of an unknown for them. Essentially I am looking for needles in a haystack here, trying to find committed Christians who aren't involved in a local church that are so fired up with the concept of planting a Reformed church in this town that they are willing marry themselves to the idea of getting it launched. Meanwhile, time keeps marching on and follow up with interested parties keeps yielding the same question "when are you going to start worship on Sundays?"
As you can see this is quite frustrating for me.
My background is business and this whole "core group" notion is foreign to me. I mean if I were going to open a restaurant in town, I wouldn't conceive the idea, spread word around town and then expect a dozen or so people to come eat at my house on Thursday nights until we get the restaurant open. Of course not, I would rent a place, advertise heavily and open the doors.
As I see it now, my family (and another family that has been with us since the start) have all that we need to get Sunday services started. I have plenty of friends that are involved in other churches but are more than willing to pitch in to get us off the ground. Finances aren't an issue as we can get going for less than a few hundred dollars. Location isn't an issue as we already have a place reserved for when we need it.
So my questions are: Why is the core group so important to have before the church starts Sunday services? Could not a core group be gathered from those that attend reguarly on Sunday morning and become captured by the vision of the church?
Sorry to ramble here for a while. Hope you all can help.