But today, when I see a highly respected, mature pastor who is doing remarkable work, more often than not, they felt such a passionate calling to preach, they came from one of two backgrounds:
1) They started in a tiny church (often with a denomination) but needed a second job to raise a family.
2) They started the church completely on their own (usually in their home) and needed to keep their day job to survive.
Both were risky, but then again, which of the apostles launched their ministries without risk?
I’m not against church-planting networks at all, and I applaud the effort to launch more congregations. Plus, there are personal failures and leadership implosions from all kinds of churches. But I also wonder if those well-intentioned networks are helping so much that they’re not teaching young pastors to be determined, driven, and resilient.
Should we pay church planters a full-time salary? I wonder if taking on more risk at the beginning will help leaders avoid risk later on.
This article on whether we should pay church planters originally appeared here, and is used by permission.
