Planting Space

We are often asked what equipment a new church needs to obtain.  There is no one answer to this question.  Church Planting Solutions provides an initial ‘worst case’ list of equipment. This comprehensive list includes every possible piece of equipment that might be needed. The list is useful for estimating equipment budgets and for communicating specific needs to supporters (i.e. for donations).  The equipment list is generic and needs to be customized for the church plant.  Most churches will not purchase everything on the list, but simply use it as a starting point to make sure they don’t forget anything they will need.  You can download the list here and customize the list for your use.

Once the equipment list is customized, you must decide whether to buy the equipment, seek donations, or more likely both.  You have three primary choices when it comes to buying equipment:

1. Do It Yourself - Often the cheapest option.  Doing it yourself means you do lots of shopping in lots of places looking for the best prices and figuring out which equipment will work best with what other equipment (e.g. which soundboard, which speakers, which recorder, etc).  This is very labor intensive and is only recommended when you have someone on your team that really understands equipment.
2. Consultant - Makes sure you get the right stuff.  There are organizations who will help you put together a custom list of equipment.  Whether it’s a local sound consultant (for sound equipment anyway) or a national equipment vendor with consultants (e.g. NCPG) enlisting the help of a qualified professional can make sure you don’t spend money on stuff you don’t need.  You will still have to put everything together (figure out which wires go where etc) but this saves much of the leg work.
3. System Integrator - These organizations (e.g. Portable Church Industries or a local A/V Company) will not only make sure you get just the right equipment for your facility, they also put everything together and train your staff with the equipment.  While you pay more for the labor to do this, you save a great deal of time and end up with the best equipment to do the job without days/weeks of research and procurement.

Whichever you choose you need to be aware of the trade-offs.  The more service someone else provides, typically, the more money it will cost… but the more time you have to spend with lost people, develop leaders, network in the community, etc.  Only you can answer which is the best path for you.

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