Church planting is too often wrongly portrayed as a magic bullet to aid flagging congregations or the sole domain of young visionary charismatic heroes. 

It was refreshing therefore to be at the New Churches (formerly Evangelism Ministries) Church Planting Conference. Strong connections were drawn between normal local churches operating as bases to plant churches, Christians living as missionaries, and the movement of people from cold contact to maturity in Christ via the word in fellowship.

More striking than the message however were the messengers. It would be hard to imagine less impressive speakers. No great international platform headline act. No bookstore selling their latest wares. No-one you'd have heard on a podcast. No website to refer you to. Just a bunch of local nobodies who've been planting churches.

Not super-impressive churches mind you - churches in local schools, churches with Farsi speakers, churches with Surf Lifesavers, churches with Housing Commission residents, and churches with new housing estates.

They spoke about their failures and frustrations. We heard about how hard it was to raise finances, to look after families, to find resources, to keep asking the church to change and reach the lost.

None of it was rocket science, but there was a lot of wisdom. Hard-earned wisdom. Costly wisdom from guys who'd been a bit scarred along the way.

There was a sobering warning that the current enthusiasm for planting wasn't being matched by theological rigour and could lead anywhere in a decade. Concern was also expressed that this would be just another talk-fest rather than equipping real change.

What does a planter need to do? First and foremost - be a missionary where you are. Spend more time with unchurched people. Trust in God and ask Him to act. Tell people about Jesus. Disciple people to be the same.

In short: be unimpressive - that's what 99 percent of faithful ministry looks like.