over at the Resurgence Blog (where Mark Driscoll has just posted about complementarianism) Barry Keldie is doing a series about pitfalls to be careful of when planting a church. The first two of the series have been posted.
the first one is finances.
When you or your elders have developed and written out a plan (budget, priority spending, etc.), then you should hand it off to someone else to manage. As a lead pastor/church planter you should not give yourself the power to write checks, make changes to the budget, or affect financial records in any way. This is not because church planters are thieves and have a history of spending offerings on Cheetos and new cars, but because it will go a long way in protecting your integrity. Setting up layers of accountability from day one is essential. You have enough to worry about without dealing with accusations that come from poor planning and weak financial structures.
the second one is part 1 on leadership:
Every planter is frantically looking for teammates and help as he plants the church, but don’t install elders too quickly. This usually leads to hiring people who are not qualified or ready to lead, or giving authority to people who are not completely in sync with your mission and values. I know a church planter in North Carolina who hastily installed a group of elders who proceeded to fire him in their first elders’ meeting. Your first elders should be picked with almost as much care as your wife (unless you got married in Vegas)!
emphasis in original
go read the rest at the two links above. I am ready to see part 3.