The Bridge

I am amazed at the number of skeptics who are posing as people who are curious when in comes to church planting.  They hide behind questions that resemble the man who came to Jesus asking him who his neighbor was.  The statement just prior to this question is, “looking to justify himself.â€?  I think there are a number of people who are doing just that, looking to justify themselves, by asking questions so they don’t have to feel bad about not doing anything.  Frequently the questions surround the arena of, why a church plant, don’t we have enough churches, or why there.  Then after some dialogue the conversation ends with a less then heartfelt, “good luck with that.â€?  My inner response to such a comment is, I wasn’t wanting your good luck, I was hoping that maybe God was prompting you do give yourself to an adventure like this one and join in me in following Him.

I am however, finding that it is important to be able to answer those front end questions with as much excellence and clarity as I can.  First, it gives me credibility as one who is called into this.  Second, not everyone who asks such questions is a skeptic, they just might not realize the benefits and blessings of a church plant. 

So here is my attempt to utilize the information and wisdom of those who have gone before me in addressing the typical questions of the skeptic.

Question Number 1 - Why do we need to plant more churches?

“Dave Olson, Director of Church Planting for the Evangelical Covenant Church, has researched ten years of consecutive attendance data from 300,000 Christian churches in America.

            According to Olson, 3,200 churches close their doors each year in American, while 3,600 new churches, that ultimately survive, are started each year.  This results in a net gain of 4,600 churches from 1990-2000 (my math came up with 4,400).  However, in order to have kept up with the current population growth during that same time period, we would have needed a net gain of 38,802 new churches.�   - taken from Starting New Churches On Purpose by Silvia

The breakdown of this can be seen more easily by the research done by the North American Mission Board.

·       In 1900, there were 28 churches for every 10,000 Americans

·       In 1950, there were 17 churches for every 10,000 Americans

·       In 2000, there were 12 churches for every 10,000 Americans

·       In 2004, there were 11 churches for every 10,000 Americans

Yet all of this information paints a negative or we’re losing posture and that is why we need to plant more churches.  This isn’t the goal though.  The right ratio of churches isn’t our target.  Our target is people; people who currently aren’t being reached by existing churches.  So, in that light I again ask the question, “Why plant more churches?�

According to Ron Sylvia, “The simple truth is, new churches reach more new people, and established churches reach more established people.�  I don’t know if it is quite that simple but time and time again I hear stories of people coming to faith for the first time because they went to a new church.  Does this mean that established churches don’t have converts?  No, but one denomination found that 80% of their converts came when the church was two or less years old.  Other reasons why planting new churches is necessary could be that new churches are able to target the next generation, they can take risks more easily, they can equip young leaders who are willing to go for it, and new churches move the gospel across cultural lines that prevent established churches.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 8th, 2006 at 4:48 pm and is filed under Church Planting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.