A Must Read for Planters (Post by Steven Furtick)

By Steven Furtick

Minister of GCD
Here’s one of the most frequent questions we get from church planters:What position should I hire first in my church?

It’s taken me almost 4 years of reflection, but I think I’ve finally formulated my answer. Any guesses? I’ll bet some of you immediately thought: Worship Leader. Nope. Important, but not most important. You can pray and preach your way into the presence of God without any music for a while if you have to. Children’s Pastor? Again, it’s definitely a priority. But not the first priority. At least, not in my experience.

The very first position any church planter needs to fill is the Minister of GCD. That’s short for Getting Crap Done.

Notice I didn’t advocate a Minister of GTT (Getting Thoughts Thunk) or HLM (Having Lunch Meetings). The most important thing a senior pastor needs in the earliest days of starting a church is a support person that will enable him to fly at a high altitude. A good GCD Pastor is willing to be your children’s pastor, administrative assistant, executive director, and custodian. In the same day. A natural born CGD (Crap Getter Done) will learn to live for the thrill of freeing up the leader to do what only the leader can do. And the vision will flourish.

Over time, your needs will become much more sophisticated. You’ll want to hire specialists and people who deal in big ideas. But in the first year or so, you don’t need theorists. There’s no room for that on the payroll. The more limited the budget, the more important it is to fire the show horses and hire folks who know how to execute. Someone who specializes in follow through. Someone who’s not afraid to get his/her hands dirty, and can morph into whatever is needed from moment to moment.