Why Most Church Planters Burn Out Before Year 3 (And How to Avoid It)
Why Mark 1:35 Might Be the Most Important Verse for Church Planters
Church planting is exhilarating—and exhausting. In the first few months, the adrenaline rush can feel unstoppable. You’ve got momentum, crowds showing up, baptisms happening, stories being told. Everything looks like success.
But here’s the trap: the very momentum that feels like God’s blessing can also become the thing that buries you.
Mark 1 is a warning. Right after explosive growth and miraculous ministry, we read this:
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary place, where He prayed” (Mark 1:35).
Jesus shows us the pattern: find yourself before the crowd finds you. If you skip chapter one, you won’t make it to chapter two.
The Danger Every Church Planter Faces
Most planters don’t flame out because of lack of vision, preaching ability, or even strategy. They flame out because they confuse calling with potential.
Potential says, “I could do more, I should do more, the crowd is here, the need is endless.”
Calling says, “I know who I am, what I’m supposed to do, and where I’m supposed to do it.”
Crowds will always try to define your ministry. If you don’t anchor yourself first, they’ll set your schedule, shape your priorities, and ultimately crush your family.
Four Commitments Every Church Planter Needs
1. Commit to Living with Low-Level Frustration
Not your low level frustration. But the frustration of people against you when you don’t meet their needs. You’re not called preach Jesus but not to be Jesus. You cannot please everyone. People will be disappointed—at you, at your leadership, at your boundaries. If you try to keep everyone happy, you’ll lead nothing but exhaustion.
How to apply:
Make peace with unmet expectations.
Keep a short list of “non-negotiables” you will say yes to (your family, rest, prayer). Everything else is negotiable.
Develop a holy comfort with being misunderstood.
2. Commit to Making Family the Priority (Not Just a Priority)
If your spouse and kids resent your ministry, you’re already losing. Ministry begins at home (1 Timothy 3, Titus 1).
How to apply:
Put family nights on the calendar six months out—and protect them like a board meeting.
Empower your spouse to guard your schedule. Teach them to say, “I’m sorry, he already has an event that night” (even if that event is Mario Kart with the kids).
Ask your spouse directly: “If you could change my schedule, what would you change?” Then listen.
3. Commit to Knowing Your Calling, Not Chasing Your Potential
Jesus could have healed every sick person in Galilee. He didn’t. He stayed faithful to His mission.
How to apply:
Write down your calling in one sentence. Example: “I exist to make disciples in [my city] by planting a church that reaches skeptics and mobilizes saints.”
Review it weekly. When opportunities come, ask: Does this serve my calling or just my potential?
Learn to say “no” to good opportunities so you’re free to say “yes” to God opportunities.
4. Commit to Being the Best “You” You Can Be
Giftedness is not the same as spirituality. Your people need a healthy pastor more than a busy one.
How to apply:
Build weekly rhythms of rest, exercise, and hobbies. (Golf and fishing aren’t selfish—they’re survival.)
Schedule a monthly personal retreat (even just a half-day) to pray, journal, and recalibrate.
Surround yourself with friends who love you more than your platform.
Practical “How-To” Checklist for Church Planters
✅ Block off early mornings for prayer before checking email or texts.
✅ Schedule Sabbath into your launch calendar. Don’t wait until “things slow down” (they won’t).
✅ Keep a physical “family first” reminder at your desk or lock screen (a picture, a note, a symbol).
✅ Once a month, ask your spouse: “Do you still feel like you’re first in my life?”
✅ Build a small trusted circle that has permission to call out drift, exhaustion, or pride.
✅ Teach your launch team that ministry interruptions are exceptions, not the pattern.