Planting Churches Among the City's Poor - Volume 2

P ART I: C OACHING U RBAN C HURCH P LANTERS • 147

Question 6 How many teams may one lead and/or facilitate at one time?

Answer to Question 6 The answer to this question is dependent on the individuals and teams involved. Some church planters deliberately focus on planting more than one church at a time to prevent over involvement in any one plant. Some fields may require that the Team Leader give all of his/her attention to a particular team and neighborhood. In regards to facilitating more than one plant as MTL, this too depends upon the individual teams and their needs, your ability, and how available you might be to oversee them. You could easily oversee 3-4 Teams and conceivably 8-10 teams. Question 7 What role does/should the Charter play in my leading or facilitating a new or emerging urban church plant team? Answer to Question 7 The Charter is the source of authority for the church planting effort. The Team Leader must understand from the beginning that they have committed themselves to act responsibly and faithfully under the constraints and opportunities that the Charter suggests. Of course, the Charter will be adjusted and amended after discussion and review by the team in conversation with the MTL. Still, every effort must be made to invest intense time and scrutiny in creating and following through upon the Team Charter. Team Leaders seek to plant a church in a particular community and MTLs provide service and counsel during its Charter period. A stalled team may need a new Charter or need to be disbanded. New or emerging teams must go through a Charter process at minimum, we highly recommend they attend our Urban Church Plant School. Question 8 What is the best way to handle division, conflict, or error in the team, especially if various members appear to be incompatible, incompetent, or uncommitted? Answer to Question 8 When conflicts come, the Team Leader should be allowed to resolve them on his/her team. If conflict continues, the MTL will need to bring things to the Director or church authority for resolution. The team may need to be disbanded, reassigned, or allowed time to resolve the situation.