HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES OF

SUCCESSFUL FAITH-BASED STARTUPS

Final Report
Jean Morales
Colorado State University

EDRM 600
Tobin Lopes, PhD
May 5, 2015

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

Abstract
The training, development, and management of members in new Christian Churches
contribute to their sustainability and longevity. However, only 68 percent of churches survive
past year four of their initial launch (Stetzer, 2007). The purpose of this study is to examine the
practices in training and development of members in new churches, with a particular focus on
successful new churches in the Evangelical Covenant Denomination. The study proposes that
five developmental strategies, namely socialization, one-on-one pastoral care, Sunday teaching,
learning communities, and leadership development play a factor to planting success.
Additionally, the study found parallels in developmental aims of the churches which may also
contribute to the establishment of these churches.

Introduction
New organizations and business ventures starting in the United States have a track record
of failing within the first 5 years. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the 212,182 new
businesses tracked over a four year period (from 1998-2002), only 44 percent were still in existence.
This percentage varied from industry to industry, where the lowest survival rate was 38 percent in
the information industry, and the highest was 55 percent in both the education and health services
industries (Knaup, 2005).

Faith-based organizations, such as churches, are no exception.

According to research looking at new Christian churches planted in the United States from 2000
to 2005, the survivability rate of 68 percent by year 4 (Stetzer, 2007) is only a slightly higher rate
than the reported industries above. Though the establishment of new churches is on the rise, from
2000-2005 an estimated 4,000 new churches were started in America, (Olson, 2008) the problem
is that in that same time frame 3,700 (this number encompasses churches established prior to 2000
as well as the churches in Stetzers study) churches closed. Despite the net gain of 300, it is

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

insufficient to keep pace with the rate of population growth in America. Of the 68 million people
born in the United States since 1990 and the 23 million immigrants weve received in that time
frame many do not have access to a church simply because there isnt one that can relate to them
or speak their language (Olson, 2008). Additionally, the amount of resources (human and financial)
spent to establish these places of worship is significant. It is helpful to have a clearer understanding
on what practices foster sustainability so that the growing need for churches can be met more
effectively.
Sustainability is tied to growth. And growth is tied to the development and management
of members within these organizations. It is apparent that rapid-growth firms depend heavily on
the abilities and efforts of their employees to maintain their growth-oriented strategies (Barringer,
Jones, & Neubaum, 2005). In fact, versatile and flexible members are a crucial contributor to the
success of new organizations, mainly because new startups have limited capital and relatively fluid
organizational structure. So it would make sense to explore how organizations develop and train
their human capital. However, there is very little research on training non-founders within
entrepreneurial organizations (Cadon & Stevens, 2004).

And when looking at new churches

specifically, there is scant research being done on their leadership decisions. This overall lack of
insight into the leadership and management of new churches is the impetus for this research project.
This qualitative study examines the people development practices of five successful church
planters in the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) denomination. The study proposes that five
developmental strategies, namely socialization, one-on-one pastoral care, Sunday teaching,
learning communities, and leadership development play a factor to planting success. Additionally,
the study found parallels in developmental aims of the churches which may also contribute to the
establishment of these churches.

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

Background and Rationale

Though church planting is non-secular in nature, this project uses the secular and corporate
term human resource development (HRD) as an umbrella term to encompass all practices and
processes related to developing people. This helped us to interrelate literature from both the
secular and non-secular world. However, it is important to note that there are specific aims to
developing people in church planting that is not and will not be relevant in the corporate setting.
This project desires to not only understand the strategies of HRD in successful church planting,
but the purpose or goal of what they want their people to become, achieve, or know. The research
of Driesen, Hermans, and Jong in their paper Towards a Typology of General Aims of Christian
Adult Education provides nine different classifications of aims for Christian adult education and
subsequently how these aims impact the educational philosophy. Three of these classifications are
supported by ECC church planting, which we will delineate below.

Having covered the

developmental goals, we then move onto a discussion of strategy/practices in HRD for start-ups.
We will detail why the success of church startups hinge on HRD practices, present an
organizational life cycle model that helps to provide parameters for the literature, and to offer a
framework for inquiry in regards to HRD best practices in successful church startups.

Aims of Christian Adult Education

Christian adult education can run a spectrum of educational orientations and attitudes.
Driesen, Hermans, and Jong in their paper Towards a Typology of General Aims of Christian
Adult Education propose a classification system that clarify a spectrum of educational
orientations. In their paper they classified narratives that described these orientations and their
focus group mainly aligned with three particular narratives, coincidentally these three narratives
also are supported by ECC church planting. These narratives are relevant because they provide

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

clarity as to the educational approach in developing learner religious identitythey help define
the philosophy that informs the praxis. These narratives are also helpful because they clarify
objectives that are relevant to developing people. Spirituality in adult learning includes Christian
aims for helping individuals achieve meaning through connecting to a higher power or through
discovering a more authentic self (Tisdell, 2008). How the person connects to a higher power or
discovers the self is shaped by the Christian adult educators orientation. Table 1 outlines these
three aims of Christian adult education relevant to this project.
Table 1
Goals for Christian Adult Education
Narrative name

Description

Educational
Orientation
appropriate
A conformity
orientation where the
narrative is the great
story to which the
learner is expected to
adopt as his/her own.

Identity

Kerygmatic
(named after
Kerygmatic
theology)

Jesus is placed at the

center of Christian
faith practice where
the story of Christ is
impacts the learner in
a personal way.

Hermeneutic

Seeking a way to
make the Bible and
Christian tradition
relevant to today.
This incorporates
understanding stories
and tradition in light
of historical context
and applying
contemporary
contexts.

Learn to interpret
The goal is to teach
learners how to
interpret the Bible
and be able to pull
out timeless truths
that can apply to
todays contexts.

meaning of Bible
and tradition for life

Participatory

Religious insight is
gained through
religious practice

develop
Participation is not
enough, learners are
expected to reflect on

personal identity
through collectively
giving meaning to
religious practice

experience of
personal surrender to
Christ
Outward form of
faith practices is
secondary to inward
reflection of a
personal relationship
with Christ.

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

embedded in a
community.

the practices in which

they participate.

Participation is an
integral part of
identity formation but
is something that
arises from both
internal (reflection)
and external
(participation)
factors.
Note. The data is from Towards a typology of General Aims of Christian Adult Education by
Driesen, Hermans, and Jong, 2005, Journal of Empirical Theology, p 241-242, 248, and 251.

The educational or developmental orientation shapes the strategy of HRD. For example, under a
Kerygymatic orientation, there would be strong emphasis on reflection upon the interplay between
the gospel story and ones own story. This emphasis would shape any coaching, direct teaching,
and group work that is a part of the developmental strategy. In the following paragraphs we will
discuss HRD in this phase of a startups growth as well as describe three strategies arising from
the literature particular to this phase.

Defining Success and the Critical Role of HRD

This research will examine five new successful churches within the Evangelical
Covenant Church (ECC) denomination. The ECC has determined three markers of success for a
church plant: 1. Rapid numerical growth; 2. Financial independence; 3. Official membership in
the denomination. Rapid numerical growth refers to not only the people attending Sunday services,
but participating in any church-sponsored activity. Growth indicates that the church is meeting
the needs of the community, through spiritual development or community development (e.g.
support groups, schools, food pantries, after-school programs etc.). Financial independence
indicates that the church has been adopted by the community. If a community has ownership over
a church it will invest resources into it. As the church becomes more supported by the community

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

it no longer needs the financial support of the denomination or of a mother church. Lastly,
membership in the denomination indicates that the church has been approved by experienced
authorities who have assessed the church on varying factors of organizational and leadership health.
If this is the desired outcome, then the strategies and processes in transitioning from being a mere
startup of a small team of people (or in some cases a singular pastor) to a growing, financially
independent organization are wholly relevant.
The challenge to studying this transition is determining what aspects of the transition is
noteworthy or salient especially across fields. One way to help frame our investigation is to utilize
the organizational life cycle paradigm. The benefit of utilizing a life cycle model provides
nomenclature and categories of developmental processes. This common language facilitates a
comparison between the development of new church members to the human resource development
(HRD) practices of successful new business startups. This comparison is beneficial because there
is more significant research available studying the for-profit sector than faith-based institutions.
For the purposes of this paper, the taxonomy of the four-stage model set forth by Hanks, et al. in
1993 will be used. The following table details the model:

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

Table 2
Four-Stage Organizational Life Stage Model
STAGE
Age
Size

I: Startup
Young
(mean age 4 yrs.)
Small

Growth Rate

Inconsistent

Structure

Simple and
informal

Centralization

Highly centralized
in founder
Identify niche,
obtain resources

Tasks

II: Expansion
III: Consolidation
A little older Ranges
(mean age 7 yrs.)
Small
Large (twice the
size of 1 &2)
Highest of all
Slowing
stages
Formal systems
Formal,
emerging, lax
bureaucratic, and
enforcement
enforced
Centralized;
Moderately
limited delegation centralized
Capacity
Management
expansion,
systems
Operating
established, make
systems created
business profitable

IV: Diversification
Ranges
Largest
Rapid
Formal,
bureaucratic
Decentralized
Expansion of
product market
scope

Note. Adapted from Tightening the Life-Cycle Construct: A Taxonomic Study of Growth Stage
Configurations in High-Technology Organizations by Hanks, Watson, Jansen, & Chandler, 1994,
Entrepreneurship: Theory & Practice, p 12.

This particular life-cycle paradigm provides a direct comparison of the different attributes of an
organization as it evolves. Successful startups evolve past Stage I. In the church context, a notfor-profit context, this would also be true. The most notable differences between Stages I and II
are growth rate and structure, where the organization changes from an inconsistent growth rate to
a rapid growth rate and from a simple informal structure to a semi-complex formal structure. After
being able to attract people to join as members (Stage I), the church is able to create solutions to
develop that member base (Stage II). The structures created and solutions developed are in direct
response to needing to expand managerial capacity. The cap to growth, and therefore sustainability,
is limited to the ability of the founder / leadership to handle the training, support, and development
of the member base. Rutherford et. als research on HRD problems as related to organizational
life cycle found that the variable of growth rate supports previous studies that found growth to be

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

the impetus for firms moving through organizational development stages (Rutherford, Buller,
& McMullen, 2003). In other words, growth sparks the move from Stage I to Stage II and
successfully remaining in Stage II without regression lies in how leadership manages that growth.
Thus HRD is crucial to church planting success and therefore why it is the focus of our research.
In the following section, we will look at developmental need which in turn can inform us regarding
what types of training and development should be necessary in this Stage I to Stage II transition.

Three HRD Practices Crucial to New Churches

A Stage II organization is largely impacted by its rapid growth, and HRD practices revolve
around managing the complexity generated by growth. Three major themes emerge in regards to
HRD practices in Stage II organizations: Founder Delegation, Non-Formal and Informal Training,
and Socialization. In the literature regarding Christian Evangelical church planting, the model
proposed by Malphurs in Planting and Growing Churches is one of the most clear in its
taxonomy and detail regarding HRD practices in church planting. Unfortunately, there is scant
literature to be found regarding empirical analysis of these practices. However, the Malphurs
model incorporates practices and language familiar to most churches and at the very least can
provide some theory regarding best practices. He asserts that six factors critical for new church
growth are as follows: 1. Leadership; 2. Vision; 3. Staffing; 4. Mobilization; 5. Assimilation; and
6. Organization (Malphurs, 2004). In this paper, Malphurs factors are categorized under the three
themes found in for-profit HRD. Table 3 is a visual representation of the combination of these
two data sources. And we will go on to describe each theme in light of this fusion.

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

10

Table 3

Stage II HRD Practices and Church Planting Factors

HRD Practices for Stage II Organizations
Founder Delegation

Malphurs
Six Factors of
Church Planting

Leadership
Vision
Staffing

Non-Formal/
Informal Training

Socialization

Mobilization

Assimilation

Organization

Founder Delegation
Malphurs first three factors of growth (Leadership, Vision, and Staffing) fall under this
category. Leadership refers to the planting pastor (a role that would parallel the founder role
in for-profit firms) and his / her team. This team utilizes the skills they bring to the table and
work together to manage the membership at large. This team grows and advances based on the
ability of the founder to release responsibility through delegation, a change from sole reliance on
the founder/planter in stage one. Vision refers to a vision for growth. The effective
communication of its vision for spiritual and numerical growth to the rest of the church becomes
a key issue in growth and is disseminated by the planting pastor to others. Staffing refers to
recruiting the right leadership to help the congregation to take ownership of the vision for growth
(Malphurs, 2004). All three factors help to expand leadership capacity by distributing the
responsibilities that once belonged solely to the founder/planter.
In Johnson and Bishops study of fast-growth firms, they concluded that the role of the
founder significantly shifts from stage one to stage two. Therefore, the transition toward the
second stage would demand that the founder increasingly engage in activities designed to
establish informal communication patterns and internal structures as the number of people

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

11

involved in a fast-growth venture rapidly increases, the complexity involved in ensuring clear
communication and effective interaction among rapidly forming groups and sub-groups increases
exponentially (Johnson & Bishop, 2002, p. 15). In other words, for an organization moving into
Stage II, it is important for the growing number of people involved to be rallied and synced to
the organizations purposes and goals. This process is increasingly complex, can no longer be
the sole responsibility of the founder, and must be delegated.
Non-Formal and Informal Training
Malphurs factor of mobilization deals with motivating members toward meaningful
avenues of Christian service and creating the appropriate structures that support their activity
this is largely done through training and development (Malphurs, 2004). Research looking at
rapid-growth firms done by Barringer, Jones, and Neubaum suggests that rapid-growth firms, in
contrast to their slow-growth counterparts, focus heavily on employee-training and employee
development. This is due to these firms deep reliance on their employees to maintain growth
(Barringer, Jones, & Neubaum, 2005). Because the organization is still emerging, research
indicates that it is common for these organizations to rely on less formal member training. In
fact, many small firms pride themselves on providing workers with more hands-on highly
interactive learning opportunities and avoiding formalized systems and practices more typical of
large bureaucratic organizations (Cadon & Stevens, 2004, p. 310).
In Stage II, non-formal learning, short-term skills and knowledge acquisition in service of
the organization (Merriam & Bierema, 2014), is more common. This is different than Stage I,
where informal learning, problem based inquiry and self-directed (Merriam & Bierema, 2014),
mostly took place because the founding team already possessed previous experience needed to
help incorporate new knowledge. In Stage II there are now experienced members available to

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

12

help train less experienced ones. A feature which makes it (non-formal learning) distinctive
from other structures is its emphasis on peer assistance and instruction. Coaching,
apprenticeships and mentoring are examples of such learning (Miller, 1985, p. 25).
Socialization
Chao and Van Maanen & Schein define socialization as the long-term process where
individuals learn their roles within an organization, and adjust to job demands, organizational
culture, and other incumbents (as cited in Cadon & Stevens, 2004, p. 310). In a church context,
Malphurs calls socialization Assimilation, whereby new attenders are helped to understand and
adopt the churchs vision and mission (Malphurs, 2004). And though this process is prevalent in
organizations of all stages, it happens more quickly in Stage II organizations so that the
newcomer can be incorporated and actively contributing sooner (Cadon & Stevens, 2004).
The purpose of this study will be to uncover patterns in HRD strategies in successful
churches. Three main questions guided this study 1) what makes a church successful? 2) What
knowledge, skills, and abilities are desired and developed in the members? And 3) How do
members attain those skills?

Research Method
Literature suggests that the practices of founder delegation, non-formal and informal
training, and socialization are three strategies that contribute to new church growth and therefore
new church success. However, there is a lack of significant analytical research verifying this
assertion. For this reason, and for the possibility that other variables may contribute to new
church success, a qualitative study was warranted. The research problem required more
analytical data and further exploration of the variables contributing to the phenomenon of new

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

13

church growth and success. Qualitative research provided the best mechanism to garner in-depth
participant experiences for analysis and interpretation (Creswell, 2012) of the new church
success phenomenon.
The method used for the present study was the grounded theory method as described by
Creswell (2012). Grounded theory design uses a systematic procedure that utilizes data to
generate a theory that explains, at a broad conceptual level (p. 423) the phenomenon.
Existing theories on start-up success do not have significant analytical evidence or have not been
applied to this field (i.e. faith-based non-profits / churches). Grounded theory design benefitted
us by generating a custom theory based off of the population of interest (Evangelical Covenant
Church Plants). Grounded theory required data from more than one participant in order for us to
do appropriate inductive comparison. The data collected from the third main research question
(How do members attain desired SKAs?) in particular had the opportunity to uncover themes that
paralleled the literature. In other words, did the themes emerging from answers to question three
validate the best practices of founder delegation, informal/non-formal training, and socialization
as literature suggests?

Participants
The author used purposeful sampling technique to learn about the phenomenon of new
church success. Theory / concept sampling strategy was used to recruit pastors of new churches
in the ECC denomination. These individuals were chosen because their churches reported to
have met the markers for planting success determined by the denomination, and thereby have
been deemed successful. Sampling head pastors of church plants is based on research
indicating that founders are central to the organizations inner workings and management in this
early stage of life (Johnson & Bishop, 2002). The author expected that this sample would

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

14

provide further insight and understanding between HRD practices and new church success as
they all are instances of the phenomenon in question (Creswell, 2012).
Participants were recruited using the following techniques: 1) region-level planting
supervisors distribution and personal recruitment of participants; 2) individual members of ECC
planting churches distributing recruitment materials to their planting pastor; and 3) participants
referral. All participants were asked a series of qualifying questions to ensure that they met the
requirements of a successful church planting pastor / leader. Recruitment materials consisted
of a form e-mail that contained a description of the research project, participant expectations
(e.g. length of interview, how the interview would be conducted etc.), and how the data would be
used.

Data Collection
Data was collected via one-on-one face-to-face or phone interviews. Interviews are
helpful for this project because the reasons for new church success cannot simply be
understood through observation (Creswell, 2012). These interviews provided detailed
information regarding HRD choices and practices as well as additional variables that contributed
to the new church success. This method also allowed the researcher more access to clarify or
provide more information on areas of interest through prompts and follow-up questions
(Creswell, 2012).
The interviews ranged in length from 60 to 90 min. The interviews followed a protocol
(see APPENDIX A) and were all conducted by the author. The interview questions were openended questions designed to investigate the pastors perspectives on significant factors to their
church success with a particular focus on how they recruited or developed their people. The
author probed for more information, elaboration, and clarification as needed.

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

15

Data Analysis
The author used the emerging grounded theory analysis which stresses the importance of
emerging themes over preset categories (Creswell, 2012). This required inductive constant
comparison analysis of the data, which is an analytical procedure that generates and connects
themes and categories by comparing existing data to incoming data. This comparison of incident
to incident, incident to category, and category to other categories helps develop evidence for
emerging themes or categories (Creswell, 2012).

Because of the emerging grounded theory

method, the author used a flexible standard of categories that were adjusted as each new
interview added to the collective data. Each interview was transcribed and line-by-line coded to
be then used in comparative analysis with all 5 interviews. During the transcription memos were
used to help develop codes and categories, indicate where further research was needed, and to
provide notes on emerging theories. Charmaz defines memo writing as a tool in grounded
theory research that provides researchers with an ongoing dialogue with themselves about the
emerging theory (as cited in Creswell, 2012, p 438).
Data was analyzed to generate a theory that endeavored to meet four central criteria: fit,
work, relevance, and modifiability. Fit meant that the theory fits with the realities of the
participants, practitioners, and researchers. Work meant that the theory successfully explains the
variations of the participant behaviors. If it works, it has relevance. And the theory needs to still
be flexible and modifiable to incoming new data (Creswell, 2012). These four criteria presented
a standard for the theory that once generated required a final comparison with all the data
collected. This final check assured thoroughness in data analysis that can now add to the
conversation where analytical data has been a critically missing piece of the phenomenon.

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

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Findings and Emerging Theory

Though all of the churches met requirements for success from the standards of the ECC,
based off of Hank et. als organizational life stage model, all five churches were not yet settled
into Stage II of their development. Most if not all were still defining formal systems and
structures necessary for the churches to reach the next level of capacity and reach. Also, all five
churches did not exhibit signs of high growth rate, a signifier to Stage II, but rather they
exhibited a modest if not incremental growth rate. Therefore, the HRD strategies being practiced
and subsequently uncovered were not necessarily a direct response to growth, but rather a
response to evolving past initial startup to be potentially poised for growth. In that light, the
experiences and reflections of the pastors did uncover patterns and themes in their developmental
aims and strategies. These themes gave rise to categories of HRD practice and HRD goals that
interacted together to contribute to the central phenomenon of success. Illustrative quotations
from the interviewees are included to help paint a fuller picture of the emergent themes.

Emergent Patterns in Developmental Goals

All five plants exhibited many commonalities regarding what the plants wanted to
develop in their members. Three qualities or values emerged as priorities: 1) Value for diversity
(4/5 stated overtly this desire); 2) Value for a missional culture (5/5 stated this as a desire); and
3) Value for a personal relationship with Jesus (5/5 stated this desire). The value for diversity is
defined as a deepened understanding and concern for those who are different than yourself.
Pastor Swanson of New Community Covenant Church in Chicago stated it this way:
The kind of process and transformation, God-willing, is that they [members of the
congregation] become so intertwined with people of different races and ethnicities
cultures that they are eating together, that they know one another stories, that they come

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

17

to understand why this particular event would be experienced so painfully to this friend
of theirs.
The value for a missional culture refers to a lifestyle that reflects Jesus mission to share the love
of God to all people through word and deed. Pastor Kim of Outpour Covenant Church in St.
Louis describes this value:
Everyone gets to play right? Its not a spectator sport. So what we mean by that is
that everyone is called to do ministry. Now a lot of people translate that as, Oh if I do
childrens ministry on Sunday mornings, so usually most people have the idea that thats
a Sunday morning thing. But I want them to realize that its not a weekly thing We say
youre a Christian 24-7 and we push people into leadership [helping them] to see
because the Holy Spirit has been poured into them, theyre qualified to influence to fulfill
the great commission out of Matt 28.
The value for a personal relationship with Jesus is the belief that members have a relationship
with God and are invited to cultivate that relationship. Pastor Johnson of Sanctuary Church in
Columbus asserts:
I hope they develop a passionate spirituality that their relationship with Jesus is central.
So that relationship with Jesus being central means that Im moving in a direction
towards Jesus. Doesnt mean Im perfect, doesnt mean Ive got everything figured out,
but certainly means that Im developing this passionate intimate spirituality with Jesus.
These three aims in developing church members fall in line with Dreisen et. als Christian
adult education typologies, namely the Kerygmatic, Hermeneutic, and Participatory narratives.
Driesen and company asserts that the educational orientation for these three typologies are

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

18

conformity (creating continuity with an individuals personal life narrative with a prescribed
narrative or cannon) or transformity (where the traditional narratives are not simply duplicated
but rather the individuals story is inscribed into the pre-existing narrative, adding to and
transforming it) (Driesen, Hermans, & Jong, 2005). These orientations influence the strategy to
developing church members. For example, the value for missional culture is a direct application
of Bible scriptures (a Hermeneutic narrative), so then one of the purposes behind the
development strategy would be help members acquire Bible interpretation skills. This type of
spiritual adult learning where the chief aim is to develop a members identity, and in so doing,
altering the individuals worldview, attitude, and future learning experience, is no small
endeavor. In the next sections we examine emergent themes in how these developmental
goals are accomplished.

Emergent Themes in Developmental Strategies

There continues to be parallels across all five churches regarding how these stated values
would be instilled. This we will organize through terms of informal and non-formal learning
environments based off of Coombs theory. Informal learning is spontaneous and unstructured
and happens in the learners every-day context. Non-formal learning is sponsored by an
organization and generally has a specific curriculum that is short-term, voluntary, and occurs in a
public place. For the purposes of this research project, non-formal training would be official
church sponsored training. Coombs category of formal training is not relevant to this research
as these churches are not educational institutions or schools (Merriam & Bierema, 2014). These
strategies were further organized in terms of communal or individual. Communal meaning
happening in context of a larger group. And individual meaning happening in a 1:1 context.
From the interviews we note that under informal strategy, two strategies emerged: socialization

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

19

(communal) and 1:1 pastoral care (individual). And sunder formal strategy three strategies
emerged as common patterns: Sunday preaching/teaching (communal), learning communities
(communal), and leadership development (individual). We will outline each of these below.
Informal: Communal
Socialization to the Culture of the Community
This strategy was very indirect, as with most informal strategies. This strategy utilized
the church community to express the values of the church. Rather than overtly teaching about
the values, values would be demonstrated by the community in such a way that anyone
interacting with the community would be made aware (at least to some degree) of these values.
Some primary examples of how the community expressed these values are: through warm
hospitality; being purposeful in and serving a at risk community; being generous; and being
invitational. Heres how P. Kim of Redeemer Life Church in Vernon Hills, IL states how the
church community exhibits the churchs value for diversity:
But theres also an intangible aspect to our church in terms of a very dynamic and diverse
culture that we have at our church. That I think is kind of an unspoken training process
that is very much a part of all that we doSo I think a big part of the training or the
development of people in our church is for them to be exposed to that aspect of a very
diverse community I think a lot of that happens in the midst of a lot of community
the ins and outs of daily community livingAnd we dont necessarily have a class for
that, its merely implicit throughout the life of our church. And so I think thats also a
big part of our church experience for many people, is that they get to learn what its like
to do life with people who they wouldnt naturally associate with in their normal
regimented and controlled lives.

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20

Informal: Individual
1:1 Pastoral Care
The informal strategy of 1:1 pastoral care was expressed through casual meetings of the
pastor and church leadership with various members of the church. The purpose of these
meetings would vary. However, within this strategy, church planters reported similar practices
of counseling, coaching, and personal invitation to take risks or the next practical step for
development. When asked about what specifically happens in his 1:1 times with members, P.
Swanson stated:
I would break it into two categories: Pastoring and coaching. I want all of our leaders to
know that they do have a pastor who wants to pastor them. And that for most of the
people at our church, thats a new experience. Thats not something theyve experienced
before. And so depending on the meeting. A large percentage of the conversation will be
more in that realm of pastoral care, how theyre doing, where their struggles are And
then the other part would be more coaching which is asking questions about the ministry
that theyre leading, the people who are a part of it. Trying to help them identify where
the weaker edges are. Help them to kind of self-resource to think about what little
adjustments might be made to help the ministry flourish more. My style tends to be more
of just asking questions to help them come to some realizations about what they could be
prioritizing.
Non-formal: Communal
Sunday Preaching
All of the pastors recognized that the Sunday message was an important learning tool for
members to hear and be invited to imbibe the churchs values and practices. This of course is
one of the more traditional ways of member development in a church. But it is time-honored

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21

primarily because this is in many respects, what is expected of a pastor. P. Kim of Redeemer
Life puts it this way:
Primarily as the senior pastor you have the greatest opportunity when you preach every
Sunday. You get to address everyone at all different levels as you preach and teach from
Gods word. So thats definitely one of the biggest weapons in the arsenal, so to speak.
Non-formal: Communal
Learning Communities
Many pastors reported that the smaller group communities formed out of the larger
congregation were significant places to develop members. These were places where individuals
could learn life and ministry skills and to explore Biblical texts as they apply to everyday life.
These communities were effective because they allowed individual members to feel a more
personal connection to the community at large and to have collaborators and partners in their
faith practice. When talking about how he developed committed core members, P. Robinson of
Harvest Covenant Church in Milwaukeee describes utilizing these communities:
We focused on building relationships, building up people, being genuine, relying on the
Holy Spirit, really establishing lighthouses in communitiesWe had weekly meetings.
We would meet on Wednesdays and we were meeting on Sundays. So it was part
message and part leadership They heard the stories, but you know at the same time, we
still had a congregation of people from the three neighborhoods that we were meeting.
Every time we did something, whether it was taking food, sidewalk Sunday school, they
were definitely involved. During those summer months from June until the second week
of August they were heavily involved outdoors.

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

22

What stood out about several of the learning communities, was that many of these
gathering were not just mere meet-ups, but would be communities trying to serve together and do
life together. This was an effective strategy because: 1) it allowed for more shared power
because non-pastors could head up these groups and 2) because it allowed fringe members and
new members enter into intimacy and community faster.
Non-formal: Individual
Leadership Development
Lastly, pastors reported the need and importance for spending concerted effort in
developing their leaders. The development practices ranged, but many reported strategies such
as modelling, coaching, and hands-on experience in developing these leaders to care for and
support the congregation at large. Most of these developmental moments would occur in 1:1
sessions acting as places for debrief on ongoing programs or ministries. When describing his 12
year investment in a young leader, Bear, P. Robinson shares:
it has been 12 years of hands on, stay at my house, walk with me to the ministry, whos
seen us actually serve. But now theyve been developed and theyre serving organically.
Thats a part of the discipleship. Its the classroom teaching, but its the onsite
internship/discipleship that has made the greatest influence. And then its meeting his
needs and now he knew how he felt, how hurt he was, and how Harvest helped him, he
does that for others. The ministries [other youth organizations] see that in Bear and theyre
trying to figure out why is this young man doing this? Why is he so special? Well, we did
it for him He seen love and hes seen care. I think one of those points that hit. His mom
never went to a conference, a parent teacher conference, so I showed up at a parent teacher

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

23

conference and they were giving a bad report and just a misconception of who Bear was.
And when I stood up for him in front of the assistant principle, he was won by that.
Leadership development may not be merely a HRD strategies for successful church, but
may be one of the most important strategies. In Hank et. Als organizational life stage model,
there is a significant shift of power and leadership from highly centralized to centralized with
limited delegation (Hanks, Watson, Jansen, & Chandler, 1994, p. 12). Leadership development
may prove to be crucial to the long term stability of the church. However, many pastors reported
that by in large, the lions share of the developmental strategies were done by the planting pastor
themselves. Some planting pastors reported 1 or 2 partners, but even so, the majority of the
developmental strategys execution lies with them. This large load, understandably, would not
be feasible in the long run as the churches continued to grow. Despite this reality, it is clear that
several planters emphasized the need to identify and recruit leadership partners and are currently
seeking to develop these partners for long-term sustainability. P. Kim of Outpour Covenant
Church states I feel like one of my primary jobs and strategies is that as I look at people I try to
figure out whats a good way to plug them in [to leadership or places of influence]. For P. Kim
and a few others, leadership development was one of their primary strategies for managing and
developing their people as a whole.

The Emergent Theory and Glaserian Criteria for Grounded Theory Design
Because these HRD strategies emerged as patterns, the theory that arises is that these
particular strategies created for the aforementioned developmental aims contribute to
phenomenon in question, church success. Figure 1 illustrates the theory:

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

24

Figure 1
Emergent Theory on HRD practices of Successful churches

Glaserian emergent grounded theory design requires that the emergent theory meet four
central criteria: fit, work, relevance, and modifiability. The following bullets describe how this
theory engages all four criteria.

Fit: Because the HRD categories are summaries of the founder experiences,
they are indeed reflective of the realities of the founders (the practitioners),
however more research needs to be done to see if the theory is reflective of
the members of the churches (the participants)

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

25

Work: the categories are broad enough to encompass the diversity of

specific practices without sacrificing substance or meaning, thus explaining
the variation in participant behavior.

Relevance: because these categories are able to describe the HRD realities of
these five churches, they are relevant.

Modifiability: these categories are broad enough to be modified to other

church planting scenarios. However they are specific enough to provide an
outline for future HRD approaches.

Discussion and Implications

After gathering and analyzing data and asserting an emergent theory it is helpful to return
to the original 3 research questions of this project to discuss our results and implications: 1)
what makes a church successful? 2) What knowledge, skills, and abilities are desired and
developed in the members? And 3) How do members attain those skills?

What makes a church successful?

We discovered that in the ECC, success was defined by growth, financial independence,
and membership. However, during the interviews, it was interesting to note that several pastors
had differing ideas of what success means to them. For two out of the five interviews,
numerical growth was not as significant a factor as transformation. This was reflective in their
development strategies as well as their growth rate.
We discovered through the course of our research that the term success is too
ambiguous. That even though the ECC had these markers of success, each pastor had their own

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

26

idea of what would be success. As mentioned before, two pastors in particular touted having
transformation versus attendance (whats generally counted when referring to numerical
growth) as their primary aim. So therefore, in future study, it might behoove the researcher to
define interview questions more strictly along a pre-established definition of success. That being
said, it would be important to resolve the issue of quantity versus quality or growth in
numbers versus individual transformation in the definition. Defining success along either lines
can help to firm up any correlational relationship between HRD strategy and success.

What critical knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) are developed in members of
successful churches?
It was interesting to note that in these five cases that the types of KSAs were quite
similar, but also quite specific. We discovered that these five churches shared similar
developmental goals in wanting their congregants to: 1) Value diversity, 2) see mission and
service as a form of discipleship, 3) have a personal relationship with Jesus.
Whether or not these developmental goals contributed to the success of churches is
beyond the limited scope of this study. However, would be interesting fodder for future studies
regarding these particular developmental goals and their correlation to a churchs success.
Additionally, it is also unclear the potential relationship these developmental aims have with
each other. If there is a relationship between these values and growth, is it dependent on having
all three values? Or just one? Or two? Again, this would be of interest for future research.

How do members attain the (KSAs)?

Again there were several emergent themes regarding how each successful plant
developed their members. That being represented along two kinds of education (informal vs
non-formal) and further delineated by communal vs individual. The practices that emerged

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

27

were: 1) socialization, 2) 1:1 pastoral care, 3) Sunday teaching/preaching, 4) learning

communities, 5) leadership development. It was also interesting to note that some of these
themes aligned with the literature. For example, we found alignment in the fact that the primary
development mechanisms relied on non-formal and informal training. Additionally, there was
alignment in the usage of community or socialization as a primary tool for development.
Areas of less alignment with the literature were that the planters reported less founder
delegation than the researcher expected. It would be an interesting future study to compare and
contrast the power structures in a for-profit organization versus a church. In general, the topdown leadership model was less overt and dominant in the interviews. For example,
mentorship was mainly based on relationship versus delegation or assignment. Additionally,
almost all of the interviews reported a level of organic strategy. In other words, there was less
intentional programming and systematic teaching and more subtle demonstrative behavior and
infusing values into culture at large.
Also, the emergent theory did not weight each strategy. However, in the interview
process, certain pastors spent more time describing particular strategies (e.g. leadership
development) and less on others (e.g. Sunday teaching). For future study, it may be helpful to
add in an additional data point on time spent on each of the categories to see how much of each
strategy is being applied. Additionally, it would be interesting to see the efficacy each particular
strategy at achieving the developmental aims. Were all of them necessary? Were some more
crucial than others? All of this was not in the scope of this study.
Lastly, the purpose of this research was not to establish direct correlation between HRD
and success, however, it did uncover several patterns that seem to be shared by all 5 success
stories. Therefore, to further the research, it would be interesting to broaden the sample size and

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

28

do a quantitative study along these HRD practices and their relationship to growth. This research
highlights growth (attendance) as the main dependent variable mainly because this is far easier to
measure than individual transformation, but understandably that this may not paint the fullest
picture of successful planting.

APPENDIX A
INTERVIEW PROTOCOL
Project: Adult Learning in Sustainable Start-Ups: Practices in People Development in Successful New
Churches
Time of Interview:
Date:
Place:
Interviewer:
Interviewee:
Position of Interviewee:
Description of the project
a. Purpose of the study
Thank you so much for being willing to be interviewed. I am currently researching the training
and development practices of church planters in successfully planted churches. My hope is to
glean best practices and patterns that may contribute to planting success.
b. The individuals and sources of data being collected
I am interviewing half a dozen ECC planting pastors who have been identified as successful by
ECC standards.
c. What will be done with the data to protect confidentiality
My hope is to share my findings not only with my professors but also with interested parties in
the ECC. Im also hopeful that what I discover might be useful to my own church plant that Im
currently a member of. I will use aliases and generalizations of your churchs locale in my
research to protect confidentiality.
d. How long the interview will take
It should take no more than an hour.
Permissions:
Before we begin, I need to let you know that it would be extremely helpful for me to record this interview
for my analysis. Is it ok with you if I record the interview?
__ yes __ no

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

Questions:
1) About the interviewee
a. Briefly describe the factors that led you to plant your church?

b. Would you identify more as a gatherer or developer of people?

2) About the church
a. Whats its vision and mission?

b. Where is it located?

c. Who does it serve?

d. How big is it currently? Whats the growth rate been in the last 4-5yrs?

e. When did it become a member of the ECC? When did it become financially
independent?

3) In your opinion whats been the biggest contributor to your churchs growth?

4) Was there a recruitment/gathering strategy that you used? Briefly describe it?

5) What do you hope to develop (skills, abilities, knowledge) in church members to help further
your vision/mission?

29

HRD Practices in Successful Church Start-Ups

30

6) Whats your strategy/method in helping members gain those things? How do you balance this
with your recruitment strategy?

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