How To Plant a Church With Little or No Outside Funding

With all the discussion over the funding of church planting, I thought I would share how we are planting a new Southern Baptist church with no outside funding. Yes, that's right; no outside funding. It can be done. Here's how we're doing it.

1. Get a secular job.
Don't take any salary from the new church until the church can meet its financial needs for startup costs and weekly expenses. Also, when you are in a secular job, you are actually around lost people. These are the people you are trying to reach with your new church plant.

2. Put your children in public school and have your wife get a secular job.
There's nothing worng with having your children in public school. They will get out of it what they put into it. Also, your children need to learn how to be around lost people. Being around lost people provides opportunities for witnessing for Christ. Your wife needs to be around lost people too.
3. Start a weekly bible study in your home.
Let the people know that the plan is for the bible study to ultimately become a church.

4. Once the bible study outgrows your home, find space to rent.
We outgrew our home bible study in two months. Thankfully, the Lord provided a local YMCA for our meetings. Your local YMCA is a great place for a new church plant.

5. Join your local Southern Baptist association, state convention, and the SBC. Cooperation is key for any SBC church. Join the SBC. As a member of the SBC, your church will automatically have tax exempt status. This will save you $850 in legal fees to become a 501c3 entity.

6. Pray, pray, pray. 
Nothing will happen without prayer. You can never pray too much.