When Church Planter Josh Dupiche was feeling the Lord calling him into church planting ministry, he knew he needed ministry experience. So he found a small church and he got involved. By participating in small church ministry, he was able to try new aspects of ministry that he wouldn’t have been able to in a larger church context. Through his experience he was able to find out what gifts he has and how he can be engaged in church life. He found out that he could be useful and was able to think through what is would look like to start a church from scratch.
Now Josh Dupiche is church planting at Hope Church in Milford, DE and he is thankful for his time in a small church before he transitioned to church planting. Hope Church is bursting at the seams and they are praying for God to provide a new building for them.
If you decide to transition to helping at a small church, be up front with the pastor. Let him know that you are thinking about church planting and are looking for experience. Chances are that the pastor will be thankful that you are there and ready to help. Make sure you are serving the people of the church with genuine care and love and are cooperative with the current elders and pastors. Make it clear you are not there to take over the church, but are there to learn and grow as well as serve.
Small church life lets you see all the facets of what it takes to run a church and what details you need to remember as you are church planting. If you only have experience in a larger church, you may be used to participating in a well-oiled machine having a custodial staff, an administrative assistant, a tech person, and a children’s ministry team that is already well developed. In church planting, you need to build this team from scratch. It helps to have put in some time cleaning church bathrooms, making a bulletin, running a church Facebook page, teaching children’s Sunday School and other tasks yourself so you understand what it takes to be in each of these roles.
If you are interested in church planting, reach out to Church Extension Ministries. We have lots of small churches or existing church plants in which you can have a formal internship or in which you can participate in to see if church planting is right for you. Find out more about church planting with us here or schedule a call with our Mentoring Assistant Tim Zuck to see what opportunity would be right for you.
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