Thanks for the brutal honesty there. I am planting a house church(s) right now, and have to take honest hard looks at myself constantly. I believe God is in the business of reaching the lost, but He chooses to use me in that process.

I also believe that are a couple of different roads to take in planting a church. There are indiginous individuals who gravitate towards each other and gain a vision together to begin a church. I don’t think the mental, psychological and spiritual stamina has to be as great with this group as it does with a “catylist” type of a planter. A catylist moves into a new area with few, if any contacts and goes about the work of starting a new fellowship. The catylist must (and I can’t stress this enough), be a pretty sound individual. That is where the denominational or mission organizational requirements, training and assessment are great tools.

The stresses I face as a house church planter are different (and somewhat less) from those of a traditional planter. Either way God has given me a great opportunity to build a Biblical community in my city, and I feel a responsibility not only to God, but to the folks in that community. Thanks for the pointed comment Russ.