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October 9, 2019

Starting a New Business and a Church Plant

By New Churches Team

Launching the Business First

Stanley Patton is the lead pastor of Victory Church in Melbourne, FL. He and his wife, Melissa, also head up Victory Kid Sports (VKS). Six months before they planned to launch Victory Church, they opened VKS. This launched served as a way to raise support, reach people, and redefine how people see the church. They wanted to create a model that would move people toward the launch of the church through VKS.

Stanley and Melissa started by going into schools and other places in their community and offering to start sports leagues. This originally began with a football team that met in the parking lot of a school. But Stanley and Melissa focused their time on connecting with the families while the kids played games around them. This small beginning led to free leagues in schools and Victory days where entire schools would compete by grade level. Now they have several divisions that also plan seasonal camps and church partnership programs.

How the Church Connects

This model works for Victory Church and VKS and is a model from which other churches can learn. Pastors do not have to be athletes, or even know anything about sports, to make this work. They simply have to be willing to meet a need in their community. This can be hosting a small sports league at a school or hosting camps that give those kids a safe place to spend school breaks. By meeting this need, they are also meeting and connecting with families who may be looking for a church.

Facing the Challenges Ahead

1. Time Management. The biggest challenge in planting a church and running a business at the same time are managing your time within the day to make sure all the pieces go. Pastors are often vision-oriented, not time-oriented, so this can be especially challenging.

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