Characteristics of Church Planters
Following are 13 qualities characteristic of successful church planters.
1. Exercises faith. How well can he exercise faith? How has he experienced God at work in response to his trusting Him?
2. Visionary capacity. Does he have a visionary capacity? Has he taken a project from nothing and made something out of it?
3. Intrinsically motivated. Is he a self-starter? Does he have a drive that works from the inside rather than from the outside?
4. Creates ownership of ministry. Can he create ownership of the ministry among the people he leads? Can he pass the ministry baton on to others?
5. Reaching the unchurched. Does he go beyond relating to the unchurched to actually reaching them for Christ?
6. Spousal cooperation. Does he have true cooperation from his spouse?
7. Effectively builds relationships. Can he effectively initiate and build meaningful relationships?
8. Committed to church growth. Is he committed to church growth rather than merely to maintenance hoping it will grow? Is there a strong focus on quantitative as well as qualitative growth?
9. Responsive to community. Is he responsive to the community by understanding the culture, and does he build bridges to it?
10. Utilizes giftedness of others. Does he know how to utilize the giftedness of others? Can he help people discover their gifts? Does he know how to develop these gifts and then deploy them in ministry?
11. Flexible and adaptable. Is he flexible and adaptable, able to balance or juggle several jobs, shift gears, and use innovative methods while keeping the goal in focus?
12. Builds group cohesiveness. Can he build group cohesiveness by developing a nucleus group as a foundation and quickly incorporate newcomers into a network of relationships?
13. Resilience. Is he resilient? Can he bounce back from a loss?