Starting a church is hard. Starting a church without an assimilation process is stupid.

Motion Church’s assimilation process looks great on paper – but we are finding out that it is much more difficult to put into practice.

The goal of the assimilation process at Motion Church is to move people to take the important, life-changing step of church membership – to become an owner of Motion Church.

The first step in the AP is to break the process down. We don’t think about the AP as “first-time guest to sold-out member” but we look at it in 3 steps:

1. First-time guest to second-time guest
2. Second-time guest to regular attender
3. Regular attenders to sold-out member

This allows us to identify the commitment level of frequent visitors and we have a process for each step in order to get people plugged into Motion Church.

Small groups have to be the most challenging part of starting a church. Small groups are where transformation happens (most people will agree with that) but they must be lead very well.

Here is some help: (make sure to check out these blogs regularly for small group info)
Here are the top 3 small group blog posts from this past year.

1. 4 things a church (small group) must do.
By Dan Lentz

2. What if I don’t know the answers?
By Allen White

3. What a small group leader is not.
By Sam O’Neal

Our team recently began discussing the characteristics of the people Motion Church will attempt to attract.

We took a close look at the demographics of Tampa and Riverview and began listing ‘Motion Mo’ and ‘Motion Molly’ (yeah, that’s from Saddleback Church).

Here are a few that we came up with:

• 18 -45 year olds
• Families: younger children
• Men: restoring masculinity
• Financially Middle Class
• Spiritually intrigued but don’t like church

What does a typical member of your church look like?

In order to have the greatest impact on your community, begin to market to your ‘Motion Mo’ or ‘Motion Molly.’

The Purple Cow by Seth Godin brings a great question to the surface. (He didn’t raise the question, but it’s infured upon for church leaders):

Why would someone go to your church and not the other churhes in town?

What is it about your church that is unique?  What is it that your church offers that can’t be found anywhere else in the city?

Matt Keller says (about the point of Godin’s book) that:

“if you and I drive through the countryside and see 2,000 black and white cows grazing on the hillside, we won’t think a thing about it.  But, if we see a purple cow standing in the field grazing next to the 2,000 black and white cows, we’ll stop the car, jump out, grab a camera, take a bunch of pictures, and call all our friends to come and see it.”

We should not attempt to out-shine another church by doing what they do better, but we should strive to be clearly unique.

Where do you complement other churches?

At Motion Church, it is our desire to be a church for churches.  We want to direct people who may not fit with our way of doing church to another church in the area that will better connect with their needs and preferences (yes, we shouldn’t cater to personal preference but we don’t want unhappy people in our church either).

Up the Middle Church is a book written by Matt Keller of Next Level Church in Ft. Myers, Florida.

Matt Keller has recently been added to my list of B.A. pastors.  I got a copy of his book at the 2011 Exponential Conference in Orlando.

Currently, I am in the planning stages of our church plant and Up the Middle Church is a great resource to organize thoughts and methodically create a game plan.  There is a section after each chapter that allows the team to discuss important practical questions that help pinpoint where the efforts of the team should be focused which creates greater effectiveness.

I highly recommend the book to all church planters and church leaders who desire to have the greatest impact on their community.  Up the Middle Church will help you focus in your effort in order to maximize your church’s effectiveness.

No question about it.  The scariest thing about starting a church is … the finances.

No question. Yup, the money aspect of the start.

Everything about it is scary:

1. what if my family can’t eat?
2. what if the church can’t rent a facility?
3. what if people don’t give?
4. what if we just don’t have enough money?

All very good questions and all very acurate fears of mine.  Starting a church from zero is a lot like beginning a small business — only no small business loan.

Told ya!  Scary.

Our vision verse is 1 John 4:9-10

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

The purpose of God’s actions (Jesus’ payment on the cross) is for those who believe in him to experience life through Christ.  Christians get the God sent Jesus to die for our sins part (they should anyways).

People have an innate sense deep within-to the very core of who they are-that there is more to life than what they have come to expect.

The good news is that people are looking for what’s not there.

Our job is to provide people the answer.  Not drugs, not porn, not sports, not success.

But a real answer that is found in the person of Jesus.