The National Congregations Study Survey that was done in 2020 found that there are almost 400,000 churches scattered throughout the country. This statistic might lead you to believe that there isn’t any room for new churches.
But this simply isn’t true. If you take the right steps while setting up a church and work hard to grow a church, you can still turn a new church into a complete success.
All you’ll need to do is work your way through starting a new church checklist for pastors. Take a look at this checklist below and use it to open a church.
Decide Which Type of Church You Want to Start
Recent reports have indicated that there are well over 40,000 Christian denominations that exist on a global level. You can choose to start a church that follows along with the teachings of one of these denominations if you would like.
There are also many non-denominational churches that exist. They don’t identify with any of the known denominations and instead have their own belief systems.
Your new church can go either the denominational or non-denominational route. You’ll have to select the type of church you want to start before doing anything else on this starting a new church checklist.
You can make a smart decision by understanding five fold ministry gifts and other religious concepts. It’ll help you figure out the type of church that will be your best option.
Work to Legitimize Your Church
Once you know which type of church you want to start, you can begin to work towards legitimizing it. This part of the process will involve doing things like:
- Starting a non-profit organization that is your church
- Coming up with a name for your church
- Putting together a mission statement for your church
- Creating bylaws for your church
- Assembling a board of directors for your church
- Bringing together a finance team for your church
After you’re done doing these kinds of things, you’ll begin to see your church come to life. It won’t be long before you’re holding church services so that you can (hopefully!) grow your church.
Build Up Your Church’s Congregation
When you get to this point, you should start to look for a location for your church so that you can begin holding services. You can actually build a church from the ground up or rent space that you use for church services every week or so.
Either way, your goal should be to create a congregation for your church and work on building it. It’s likely going to be a small congregation at first. But you can grow a church through word of mouth and through marketing campaigns.
Social media has turned into an invaluable tool for those pastors looking to grow a church. You use it to connect with those in your community over time.
Complete All the Tasks on This Starting a New Church Checklist
You aren’t going to be able to finish all the tasks on this starting a new church checklist overnight. It’ll take you months to complete them all.
But you shouldn’t let that deter you from working to get your church moving in the right direction. You can grow your church slowly in the weeks, months, and years to come and make a real difference in your community in the process.
Want more tips on starting a business from scratch? Find them in our other blog articles.
