Often church planters will intuitively focus on what needs to be done when preparing to plant a church. And often they will tick most of the boxes, but not all.

So have a look at the 10 questions every church planter should consider and take particular note of any that haven’t been adequately considered:

1. What is Our Vision and Mission?

• Why does God want this church to be planted?
• What impact does He want it to have?
• What will the unique vision and mission of the church be?
• Do you have buy in and engagement from your team on this?
• How can you best communicate this with simplicity and clarity

2. Who is Our Ideal Target to Reach?

• Who are the people we would most naturally connect with?
• What are the demographics of the area?
• How can we engage with our ideal target group naturally and effectively?

3. Where Should We Plant the Church?

• Is there an ideal location that can accommodate our vision and community needs?
• Do we need a building to own or rent?
• Does the church plant team live in that area

4. How Will the Church Plant Be Funded?

• Is there a denomination, network or sending church that will financially assist us?
• Are there grants or donations we can obtain to support our mission?
• Is there a team of people who will commit to being financial supporters for an agreed minimum period of time?
• How will money and financial need be talked about in the church

5. Who Will Be In Our Core Team?

• What roles do we need filled?
• How can we attract committed individuals?
• Will the launch team be different to the core team?
• How can the team be discipled so that we are all on the same page in areas such as mission and vision, ministry style, core theology and missional commitment

6. How Will We Make Disciples?

• What structures are available to disciple people as they are gathered to the church?
• How will attendees become disciples who will become disciple makers?
• How will you shape a disciple making culture and form disciple making pathways?

7. When and How Will We Launch?

• What are the steps we need to take to publicly launch the church?
• What timeline should we set for our goals?
• How will we know when we are ready to launch

8. How Can We Engage With and Evangelise the Community?

• How will we engage with the community?
• What needs exist in the community that we could meet?
• How will we evangelise and reach people with the message of Jesus?

9. How Will We Build a Strong and Healthy Sense of Community in the Church?

• What structures  (ie small groups, services and other gatherings) will we use to build healthy community?
• Which structure will be like the glue that holds community together

10. How Will We Multiply?

• What is our vision in terms of planting more churches?
• How will we raise leaders and resources to do this from day one?
• Where will we plant next and why?

These are great questions to work through with the church plant team to help clarify direction and get everyone on the same page.

Some of the answers you come up with may change as the church plant progresses, and that’s ok. It’s better to plan and then modify the plans rather than fail to plan.