Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch [Paperback]

Nelson Searcy (Author), Kerrick Thomas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 11, 2007

Starting a church from scratch? Start here! This is no typical “church planting” or “church growth” book. The authors, both pastors at The Journey Church of the City in Manhattan, offer specific strategies for beginning a church from scratch, based on their own experiences in launching a church with no members, no money and no staff—and watched membership skyrocket to more than a thousand people in three years!  They offer clear, practical how-to strategies for quickly raising funds, creating a team, planning services, effective evangelism and rapidly developing a growing membership. Specific advice is included for reaching that often difficult-to-target demographic, the 20- to 40-year-old. You’ll also get an insider’s look at The Journey Church of the City as a model for church planting. The helpful strategies here will help you remove many of the barriers, questions and doubts encountered in starting a church from scratch. If these principles work in NYC, they’ll work for you!

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Thinking about starting a church but feel like everything is stacked against you? Let authors Nelson Searcy and Kerrick Thomas, both pastors at The Journey Church of the City, offer you specific strategies for beginning a church—from scratch. As true practitioners, they launched a New York City church with no members, no money and no staff, and then watched membership skyrocket to more than a thousand people in three years! How did they do it? You’ll discover clear, proven strategies for planning services, building a team, raising funds, doing evangelism and rapidly developing a growing membership. Specific advice is included for reaching that often difficult-to-target demographic, the 20- to 40-year-old. You’ll also get an insider’s look at The Journey Church of the City as a model for church planting. Let this be your toolkit to begin building a healthy, growing church—from scratch!

About the Author

NELSON SEARCY is the founding pastor of The Journey Church of the City in New York City, which he and his wife, Kelley, began from scratch in 2002 and now has more than a thousand members. He has personally trained more than a thousand church planters through his seminars, and is the publisher of Evangelism Online, an Internet resource for pastors. Prior to starting The Journey, he was the founding director of the Purpose Driven Community at Saddleback Church, with more than 5,000 member churches and a key architect for Rick Warren’s Pastors.com. KERRICK THOMAS is a teaching pastor at The Journey Church of the City in New York City. Thomas, who received his Masters of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, regularly co-leads training events with Nelson Searcy.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Regal (January 11, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830743103
• ISBN-13: 978-0830743100
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #87,244 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Practical, but broadbushing!, February 18, 2007

By 

S. Doyle "lsdjr" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch (Paperback)

I like this book, but I have issues with it as well. I like the fact that they are more practical than theoretical. That said, I find it a bit too broad bushing. They imply that if someone plants a church and doesn't follow their advice, then that person is going down the wrong path or cannot succeed. I think they have great ideas, but I have no doubt that God can use different methods in different cultural settings. One church planted in NY doesn't make one an expert on church planting nationwide. I have read other books from men who have planted multiple churches on multiple occasions in multiple areas of the nation who come to different conclusions on methodology than do Searcy and Thomas. I tend to lean toward the guys who have done it several times. Time will tell whether or not this book and the methods promoted within it are timeless or trendy.

Finally, I don't like the emphasis on numbers as being the barometer for health. We have been meeting with our core group for 4 months now and I have seen phenomenal growth with few numbers added. Perhaps their background with Saddleback has influenced them to be numbers driven. It's Christ who grows the church anyway, and He is sovereign and will build according to his free will.

50 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed feelings...like Larry Wildman going off the cliff in my new Maserati..., March 5, 2007

By 

John C. Ou (manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch (Paperback)

Sorry to use a quote from the movie "Wall Street," but that basically sums up how I feel about this book.

Having attended and served at the Journey, the church where Nelson and Kerrick (the authors) pastor, I see how they have valid points in building a church. However, I am concerned because of how "success" is defined. The Journey, their church, has an average attendance over four services of approximately 1100-1300 people, depending on the Sunday. However, most people attend the church for a year or just slightly more, before they leave to go to another church or drop out of church entirely. How "successful" is a church if the attendance keeps changing?

Also, did the Journey really start from scratch? I would argue that it didn't. It had a great deal of support from large megachurches such as Saddleback and other Southern Baptist organizations. The Journey has been meeting at the Manhattan Center at 34th and 8th for over two years at a cost of approximately $7000 to $10000 per week just for the rental of the space. Only in the last year did the church become self-sustaining.

If you want a Madison Avenue/Purpose Driven Church formula for how to start a megachurch that recycles messages every single year (every year they do a series on relationships/sex/love, every year they do a series on finances/money/tithing, every year they do a watered-down Christian self-help book everyone in the church is required to read) and church that defines success by quantity (attendance numbers) as opposed to changed lives/discipleship/devotion/commitment...well, this is right up your alley.

As for me, I'd rather read the Bible. Everything you need to know about the CHURCH is in that book.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nelson and Tomas are trailblazing for many of us, March 5, 2007

By 

E. Ramirez "Christ Is King" (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch (Paperback)

I have been very blessed by reading the principles in this book. I have planted a church in New York, and it is not easy. However, Nelson has done it, and is doing it as he writes. Although I dont personally agree with all of there philosophy of ministry, i do think that the benefits of this book far outweigh the loss of not reading it. after reading this book and meeting nelson and tomas at a recent roundtable conference, I have adapted many ideas from them and am convinced they are building a ministry as a model in which we can all benefit. If you have issues with saddleback, or contemporary churches, you should not let that mentality keep you from benefitting from the wealth of insight and ides this book has. Wothwhile read.