–This original article by Josh Miller (@joshmiller0604) can be found here.
“Why would you plant a church here? We’ve got plenty of churches.” That was the response of one local pastor to a church planter I know. Not all verbalize it but many established church pastors think the same thing. Role-play time: You’re hoping to partner with an established church to reach a community but you just received a less than cheery welcome. You have two minutes to convince him you’re not here to steal his people and that his town needs new churches. What do you say?
Some of us are undereducated for this scenario. Church planting is so common in our tribe that we’ve always assumed it but never defended it. Others are overeducated. We’ve digested so many blog posts that we don’t know where to start. The result? We stammer for 30 seconds about a conference we attended and this guy named Tim Keller that seems really smart.
A few weeks ago I had the privilege to hear D.A. Horton (@da_horton) from the North American Mission Board give a clear and compelling argument for church planting that you can deliver in two minutes or less. With permission from D.A. here is the “ABC” of church planting.
AWARENESS OF THE NEED.
The population of North American continues to accelerate while 3,500-4,000 churches close each year. Just to keep up with population growth evangelicals need to plant more than 15,000 churches by 2022. In most North American cities 9 out of 10 residents are lost. If 25% of any North American city decided to attend worship this Sunday thousands would be turned away because of space. Statistically we need more churches.
BUILDINGS DON’T EQUAL BODIES.
There are some impressive church buildings in North America, but many no longer house churches. Some have been transformed into apartments or bars. Others host Sunday gatherings but the gospel has been so lost that the gathering can’t qualify as a worship service. Many communities have multiple church buildings but no church bodies ministering the gospel among them.
CONTEXTUALIZATION.
The gospel doesn’t change but the medium by which it is communicated does. Studies show that new churches reach new people. As thousands of people move into our cities we need new churches that can engage and contextualize the gospel appropriately. When the energy of a church plant is combined with the community insight of an established church the result is a powerful force of community engagement.
Maximum gospel impact occurs when church plants and established churches work together to reach a community. By mastering a two minute “why” of church planting you can dispel misconceptions and build partnerships in your community.
Josh Miller (@joshmiller0604) is a Church Planting Catalyst with Summit Network and a Church Planting Pastor at The Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, NC.