In this article we present the results of a Big Five personality test among 59 religious entrepreneurs (church planters) in Europe, and we compare these results with (a) a general database, and (b) existing research among secular entrepreneurs. Our study concludes that church planters are significantly more extravert and significantly less neurotic than the general population. Although our research also indicates that church planters are more agreeable and more conscientious than the general population, differences on these items were not significant. As to openness to experience, there was no difference between church planters and the general population. Comparison with research among secular entrepreneurs leads to rather ambiguous results. The only shared trait that can be established with some reliability is that both church planters and secular entrepreneurs are less neurotic than other people.

It is widely believed that the planting of new churches is a cause of church growth, regardless of culture or context. However, surprisingly little reliable and relevant data are presented to support this claim. In this article recent membership data of the Bund Freier evangelischer Gemeinden (Association of Free Evangelical Congregations) in Germany is explored to examine the relationship between church planting and church growth. The data show that there is indeed a positive correlation, but since there is also a clear correlation between rapid growth and decline, the evidence should be treated with care.

Church planting is often seen as the best way to grow the church numerically. However, there is surprisingly little research examining this claim in any detail, and the research that exists turns out to be not very well-founded or unclear in terms of sources, definitions, and so forth. Recently, research has been conducted in three small Reformed denominations in the Netherlands, comparing older and younger churches with regard to converts and returnees. The results show that the younger churches gained approximately four times as many converts and five times as many returnees as did older churches. Three explanations seem the most plausible: younger churches are more often in good demographic locations, they spend more time and energy on outreach, and their leadership is more entrepreneurial.

Church planting – the creation of new Christian communities for missionary reasons – is becoming increasingly accepted among the larger churches and denominations in Europe. As church plants in the secular parts of Europe are usually under-resourced, and remain small, the normalization of this entrepreneurial approach of church and mission raises the question of its sustainability. Part of the answer to this question lies in the resilience of church planters; that is, those who lead these enterprises. In this paper we present the results of a qualitative study of European church planters, with a view to their coping with what often appears to be a mixture of high expectations, unclear structures, and a difficult “market.” This research shows the particular nature of crises in the life of a church planter, while identifying sources of resilience. Its results are relevant both for the assessment of church planting projects, and for the training and coaching of church planters.