More churches have started new churches using the “Daughter Church Model” than the other four iconic models combined. If your congregation wants to start a new church that can quickly become self-sustaining, look here first.
The mother/daughter metaphor well describes this church planting process. The “mother church” starts the “daughter church.” There is a “prenatal” stage where the mother church prepares to “birth” the daughter church. Once the mother church launched the new church, the mother church continues to “nurture” the daughter church for a period of time.
Daughter church planting is so popular because it’s a relatively straightforward process. There are no partners to complicate the decision-making process. There is a high degree of trust between those starting the new church and the mother church. The mother church also has total control of the church planting process until the new church launches.
The daughter church model’s widespread popularity has surfaced a number of best practices.
Rally broad congregational support for the new church start.
It’s tempting to let a group of members start a new church in their community with the support of a handful of mission-minded leaders. Resist the temptation. Give the entire congregation opportunities to support the new church. The broader the congregational support for the daughter church, the more likely the daughter church will thrive.
Send a group of members to launch the new church.
Congregational members make a good launch team because they embody the beliefs and values of the mother congregation. They also have a network of relationships for personal support and to promote the church plant. Mother church members are generally more supportive of a daughter church started by people they know than a church started by strangers.
Bring the church planter into the mother church before launching the daughter church.
Church planters need to earn the trust of the congregation. They especially need to find people who resonate with their values and personality to join them in starting the daughter church. Give the church planter at least nine months in the mother church. Ensure the planter splits time between tradition pastoral roles and organizing the new church start.
Find support for the daughter church from outside the congregation.
The mother congregation is in a better position than the church planter to find support from outside the congregation. Congregational leaders know people in the community who could provide resources. The mother church can leverage relationships with denominational or community leaders.
Create a communication system between the mother and daughter church before starting the new church.
The daughter church plan should call for the new church to become self-sufficient within three to five years. This means the mother church is still providing support after sending out members. Yet, communication is much more difficult once the launch team leaves the mother church. So create a communication plan before the new church starts.
What best practices for daughter church planting would you add to the list? Post them in the comments or shoot me an email.
Additional posts in this series:
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