Some days as a church planter I feel stretched between organic growth and putting structure into the ministry. At moments I grab my white board, scribble all over it, erase, scribble again, and just when I think I got the ideal structure, it eludes me.

I walked into Plantr Network this morning pressed by this burden. I want growth to be natural. Yet in my passion to see "every man complete in Christ" I keep trying to find that structure that's as simple as it is thorough without killing organic growth and the leading of the Spirit.

The speaker at Plantr Network asked the church planters at each table to share what they are struggling through. I went first and shared my burden. The men at my table resonated with my struggle and offered refreshing encouragement:

• You'll never arrive to the point where you feel like you've figured it out. So enjoy the process. 
• Do not feel like you need to add structure because your ministry is growing. Add structure only to serve the vision, otherwise, it will overtake the vision. 
• If you think once you have a big, going church then you've arrived, you'll miss the adventure of what God is doing now and your people will too.
• One of the most common mistakes of a new church planter is moving to structure too quickly. 
• Know the niche (or veing) God has called you to (serving the poor, training evangelists, reaching the music community etc.), and let the only structure existent be structure serving that niche.

I felt I could relax and trust God again. Some days, we just need to keep on with a little encouragement but without all the answers. Knowing that God's got this under control and that Jesus is going to build His church is enough to let me sleep well at night.