6 Leadership Tips for Church Planters

1.  Think marathon not sprint – When church planting you will have some great days but you will have some "not so great" days.  There will people that criticize your vision and the implementation of that vision.  What will always help you keep moving forward is remind yourself that this is a long term goal...there is a bigger vision that you are about!  Train to run the marathon...anyone can sprint. 

2.  Fight the battles that matter – The key is to remember the over all vision.  Anything that distracts, impedes, or destroys the vision God has given you for that church and for you community is worth the fight. Remind yourself of the end goal- Go for that and don’t be distracted by the things that won’t matter in eternity.

3.  Don’t try to duplicate the success of others  – I see a lot of new church planters stress out about their overall progress of the church and ministry.  It is good to be aware of progress but don't define your progress based on what you see other's doing. Trying to duplicate someone else's success just leads to unwarranted stress and disappointment.  Remain faithful to what God has called you to do and He will take care of the rest.

4.  Be yourself – Live authentically.  People will trust you more if you are who you claim to be…always. Don’t try to make yourself bigger than you are. People can easily spot the gap between the portrayed you and the real you. 

5.  Run with runners, Lead with leaders – The more you surround yourself with people capable of leading others, the greater the impact your leadership.  Besides, just like runners enjoy running with other runners, leaders enjoy spending time with other leaders.  This will help keep your cup full.

6.  Your downtime cannot be neglected –  Discipline yourself to build sufficient rest and family time into your schedule.