Wise church planting: two pitfalls to watch for

Recently we had a friendly plumber at our house to investigate a patch of damp by the shower and a slightly strange smell. We ended up having to replace the whole cubicle; pipes, drains, tiles and all.

Sometimes in life problems are not immediately obvious, but over time – and in the hustle and bustle of life - they are revealed. Well, so when it comes to church planting. Sometimes problems that are there from the beginning don’t show themselves at the beginning.

I said in my last article that one of the pitfalls when it comes to starting a new church (or indeed any church ministry) is the problem of you. Issues of character or temperament or indwelling sin have a way, in the ministry furnace, of rising to the surface and causing problems. Sometimes though, they lurk behind the scenes and it takes a couple of years for their fruit to be seen.