Observation #1

Observation #1 - You have to plan.

Starting a church from scratch is a very time consuming adventure. Many church planters need to work outside of the church as well as launching the church. This introduces additional time constraints.

Here is what I have noticed: I always plan on planning, but don't always plan.

There are a couple results -
1. Some great ideas don't happen because there is just not enough time.
2. Poeple get tired of the fly by the seat of your pants environment.

If we are truly striving for excellence, then we have to plan. (preaching in the mirror)

That being said, I do believe that we must have a "just in time" mentality. That a great idea is worth the late night, the tight budget and the hard work to pull it off. One great idea can radically effect the over all experience. So just becuase you didn't plan it three months ago does not mean you should not do it.

- Set aside time to take an honest look at where you are.
- Contrast that to where you desire to be.
- Then map out the steps to get there.

In future posts I will talk about what to do if any one of these three steps isn't happening for you.

On our team Jireh is always pushing us for a plan. He is a planner by nature and gets frustrated when things don't happen or when we do stuff half way because there is no plan. He is so valuable to our team. I am not a planner by nature. I love to dream big. I love to brainstorm. I love to cast vision. I can see E from A but not always B, C and D. So having planners on the team is a must.

What has been your experience with this?