A call to endure in church planting

Patience is more than a virtue; it’s a necessity.

Unspoken expectations in ministry are huge. As Pete the Planter sets out on serving and leading a new planting project, what does his three-year vision look like? Where does it come from? Is it realistic? Why?!

At this point, there are at least a couple of things that are not helping us.

1. We live in an impatient world

We live in a world where time is forever of the essence, Wi-Fi needs to be fast, and queues need to be short. We’re just not very good at waiting. And if we do have to wait, then we’ll make sure we have a stack of podcasts lined up to ‘redeem the time’.

The problem with general impatience is that when it transfers into ministry, it easily morphs into unhealthy expectation of quick results.

2. We only hear the success stories

The second thing is this: we often only really hear of the large, famous, and fast-growing plants that flourished in extraordinary ways. The unusual plants. The outliers.

The danger for Pete the Planter, with unhealthy expectations followed by very slow progress, is that he can look to other short-term strategies to boost numbers. Indeed, it can end up being more than a looking to these things, but even beginning to hope in them. Where God has told us in His Word how the church grows (prayer, preaching, pastoral care, patience…), Pete can be easy to be drawn in and duped by whatever the next ‘best-selling ministry silver bullet’ is. This can be exacerbated by expectations from the outside (think mother-church, praying friends and supporters, funders…), but planter, hold your nerve.

The importance of patience

So often in the Christian life, what God is doing takes time. It can appear to be painfully slow, but really deep roots grow really slowly. Well, so ministry that flourishes for generations after us often begins with years of patient prayerful sowing. It’s easy to forget that the stories of quick success are anomalies and not the norm - most grow through slow and steady consistent, faithful perseverance, not overnight miracles.

But what is patience, though? It’s not passive resignation - it is active, deliberate dependence on God. This kind of patience requires security in your identity, faith to trust God’s timing and discipline to resist the constant urge for comparisons. It doesn’t matter how their plant is going! Pete the Planter’s journey is less about crafting a perfect three-year vision and more about cultivating the long-haul habits of faithfulness: private prayer, preaching God’s Word, loving the people God has entrusted to Him, and trusting that God is at work even when the results seem invisible or under the surface.

The call to patience is a call to resist shortcuts. Growth strategies, slick programs, nicer coffee and majestic marketing campaigns can be helpful tools, but they are no substitutes for the Spirit’s work. When Pete the Planter begins to hope in them, in methods rather than the God who gives the growth, the foundation of the ministry begins to shift.

In an impatient world, patience stands out as a powerful witness. It demonstrates trust in God’s goodness, sovereignty and timing. It models a countercultural reliance on things that can’t be measured by metrics or timelines.

So, planter, I know it’s hard, but hold your nerve. Please. Stay rooted in prayer. Preach the Word. Love the people. Wait on the Lord. And keep doing it. In time, He will make His work evident. Remember, it’s not about how quickly the plant grows but about how deeply its roots are anchored in Christ.

And planting churches, friends, supporters funders? Be careful about your expectations and the unhelpful pressure that they can put on Pete. Be patient.