I have been afraid of these things for a while now.  I am scared that I will take one and it will say, “You shouldn’t be a church planter.”  Having reoriented my life towards this goal, a fear of failure has certainly kicked in, in a way that I am actually surprised to find.

So, when I encountered yet another church planting organization that asks prospective planters to undergo a starting “online assessment“, I decided to take the plunge and at least see what it says, knowing an online multiple choice tool can’t possibly know everything but at least will give an idea about where I need work and where I have strength.

102 questions, and it tells me 50%.

Is that good or bad?

“Based on your score, Emerging Leadership Initiative strongly encourages you to complete a full Church Planter Profile!”

Of course, a full profile costs $79.

Hmm.

Looking deeper at the report, my own sense of not having all the experience that I might desire does jive.  What I think this report is telling me is that while I might not have the perfect experience set to church plant (yet), I may still be suited for it but just haven’t had an opportunity to get all that experience.

One of those “you need experience, do it, and you only get experience by doing it” things.

So, my trepidation was fairly baseless.  The test did not tell me anything I didn’t know before, but it has given me the courage to go on to the next step.