Sean Benesh's Blog, page 10

Rewriting the Unwritten Rules of Ministry

One of the common narratives I hear regularly from church planters, pastors, and others involved in ministry is how they feel beholden to the unwritten rules of ministry. In particular, in how this is juxtaposed against the startups they’re working on. Most notably, they talk about all of the freedom and creativity in the...

Where Do All of the Church Planters Go Who Don't Make It?

This is a question I’ve been thinking more and more about over the past few years. I’ve known a lot of church planters over the years … A LOT. However, most are no longer planting. Where did they all go? Maybe, the more accurate question is … what did we all end up doing post-church planting failure?

If you’ve followed alo...

Should Every Church Planter Start a Side Hustle?

I get asked this question a lot … should every church planter start a side hustle? Interestingly, it usually comes from well-funded church planters who have no interest in starting a business or non-profit. Why would they? They’re not scraping by nor actually needing to create additional income streams. But what about the...

What if the Best Thing You Could Do as a Church Planter Was Fail?

Failure is one of the words we want to avoid in life. It haunts us. We’ll do almost anything than to live through failure. We abhor the title of failure. This semester I’m teaching a course on public speaking. Last week we concluded speeches on the topic of biggest fears. I’ve been doing this long enough to know without d...

How Do I Know What to Start? Exploring a Framework for Determining What to Start: Part 4

In this How Do I Know What to Start? mini-series I am writing about a framework for helping you decide and land on an idea of what to start. One of the common conversations I have with people entering our cohorts or reaching out to me is they are not 100% sure what to start. They know they want to, are super interested an...

Why Church Planting is a Horrible Investment

I’ve changed a lot over the last 20 years. Most notably, about how I view church planting. In particular, about how we fund church planting. I think it’s a horrible investment.

Now time for the fine print or the warning label. You know, like the ones you see on every prescription pill you may take. Side effects may include...

How Do I Know What to Start? Exploring a Framework for Determining What to Start: Part 3

In this How Do I Know What to Start? mini-series I am writing about a framework for helping you decide and land on an idea of what to start. One of the common conversations I have with people entering our cohorts or reaching out to me is they are not 100% sure what to start. They know they want to, are super interested an...

How Do I Know What to Start? Exploring a Framework for Determining What to Start: Part 2

In this How Do I Know What to Start? mini-series I am writing about a framework for helping you decide and land on an idea of what to start. One of the common conversations I have with people entering our cohorts or reaching out to me is they are not 100% sure what to start. They know they want to, are super interested an...

How Do I Know What to Start? Exploring a Framework for Determining What to Start: Part 1

It’s not cliché to point out that there are opportunities everywhere … because there really are. New businesses and non-profits are popping up everyday. The larger the city the more we notice it, and that’s simply mentioning the ones that are observable. There are even more that we never see because they’re being run at h...

How Do I Know What to Start?

I spend a lot of time with people who are at a crossroads in their life. Turn left or right? Unfortunately, there are usually a lot more decisions to make than simply two. These decisions cause anxiety because of their weightiness. Let me explain.

I spend my days with either university students in the classroom or with ent...