Planting Space

I just finished reading The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations. It’s a really interesting read about the strengths of flat decentralized organizations versus hierarchical centralized organizations. When I think of the difference between a regular business (where there is a CEO who calls the shots from a national headquarters) and a volunteer led organization (like your church plant where any of your “employees” can simply walk out if they don’t like you), the Starfish model becomes very useful.

Think about Wikipedia. The only reason it’s a success is because of the community of authors, editors and designers who contribute. Much like your church will only be a success if you have a community of people being Jesus.

You as the church planter needs to learn to lead by influence, not by authority. You need to be a catalyst, bringing people together under a shared vision. It’s a balance between strong leadership where you are in charge, protecting the vision for the church that God called you to plant, and letting the people who come to be a part to own their piece and in a collective way make the church better.

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