Church planting
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Church planting is a process by which new churches are established. This is usually accomplished with help from a denomination, a church planting center, a local church or churches, a network, an association, and/or other church planting resources. The term can be applied to the establishing of churches as a legal entity and organization, as well as establishing an organic simple church or house church, which may or may not be formally organized.
In an international non-American missiological context, church planting may be defined as "initiating reproductive fellowships who reflect the kingdom of God in the world."[1] Another similar term, Church Planting Movement (CPM), is defined as a rapid and multiplicative increase of indigenous churches planting churches within a given people group or population segment.[2]
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[edit] Views on church planting
Widely divergent views exist within evangelicalism regarding the subject of "church planting" and how to go about it. Some people advocate a very simple, uncluttered, unstructured approach to planting a new church, beginning with a few families and meeting in homes. Others pursue a "high-yield" or "high impact" strategy, requiring months of preparation before a formal launch designed to attract hundreds of people to the first worship service.
[edit] Models of church planting
These are some of models for church planting. Any given church plant may include a portion of each of these models. The model of church plant will be determined by the leaders and is best chosen to fit the needs of the community in which the church will be started.[3]
Parachute Drop – A church planter and their family move into a new location to start a church from scratch. The planter has very little connection with or existing support within the new area. The planter and their family are “pioneering” new territory. Where there is great risk, there is great reward, but this approach is not for the faint of heart.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| The church plant has great flexibility in possible mission, vision, and adaptation to the local culture. | A church planter that is new to an area may not be able to connect with the population. |
| There is great potential for a church plant in an area where there are no existing churches. | The church plant may suffer from lack of support, financial and otherwise. |
Mother / Daughter – An existing church or church planting organization (Mother) provides the initial leadership and resources (dollars and/or people) to get a new church (Daughter) started. This includes the selection of the church planter. Often the church planter is selected from within the organization and already agrees with the vision, values and beliefs of the sponsoring organization. The existing relationship allows for a close working relationship between the “mother” and “daughter” churches. Although the new church is autonomous, the sponsoring organization often has significant influence in the new church (including decision making during the pre-launch phase). Advantages often include increased financial resources and the ability to draw core team / launch team members from the sponsoring organization.
Collaborative Network / Partnership – This is a rapidly growing trend where an organization (or many organizations) committed to church planting work together to plant churches. These informal alliances are referred to as collaborative or partnership networks. The participating organizations often share common beliefs and a passion for starting new churches. Planters often get many of the benefits of the “sponsoring church” model but with increased autonomy in decision making.
House Church / Cell Church Network – Small (5-20 people) groups / cells form and multiply via a network of people meeting in homes. In some cases, the individual cells are connected in a larger network that meets together periodically in a large group setting. This relational model focuses on personal growth, care and teaching through one-on-one and small group discipleship. Groups are birthed through multiplication, and, often die, only to resurface months or even years later. This model requires very little funding.
Satellite / Campus / Multi-site – An existing church opens new locations. The idea is for one church to have many meeting locations. Motives range from reaching more non-Christians to making more room at an existing location. The evolving multi-site model is proving important in creating an entrepreneurial spirit of multiplication / replication within existing churches. It is still to be determined whether this model will spark an increased rate of new autonomous church planting.
Restart / Re-launch – An existing struggling church decides to bury the old and plant a fresh new church. The restart may or may not be at a new location and may or may not be with the same leadership. The resources of many older stagnant churches are a good way to bring new life to the community being served.
Church Split – Unfortunately, this model of church planting most often results from disunity. As a result, it is the most dangerous form of planting. A split typically occurs when competing groups conclude there is less energy required to “split” or “divorce” than to resolve differences and reconcile. The underlying factors causing the split often develop over years, only to “explode” in what seems like a spontaneous act. In many cases, the dysfunctional character traits of the old church carry forward to the new churches.
Also, see the expansion of the Church in the Third world and in places such as China and North Korea.
[edit] Objections
For Anglicans and Catholics, "church-planting" can be very problematic because of the territorial nature of a diocese. For both the Catholic and Anglican churches, this practice may be viewed as an abrogation of the rights of a local bishop. This is because the bishop of the diocese has the right to decide where churches will be "planted", and the phenomenon of church-planting sometimes ignores both courtesy and obedience to the local bishop. This issue is particularly sensitive in regard to the Anglican diocese of Sydney in Australia, from which many Evangelical churches are "planted" in non-evangelical dioceses. See History of Independent Evangelical Churches in Australia
[edit] References
[edit] See also
- Church in a pub - a type of Church plant
[edit] Additional reading
- Mark Driscoll, The Radical Reformission: Reaching Out without Selling Out
- Mark Driscoll, Confessions of a Reformission Rev.: Hard Lessons from an Emerging Missional Church
- George Hunter, Church for the Unchurched
- Ralph Moore, Starting a New Church: The Church Planter's Guide to Success
- Aubrey Malphurs, Planting Growing Churches for the 21st Century: A Comprehensive Guide for New Churches and Those Desiring Renewal
- Steve Sjogren and Rob Lewin, Community of Kindness
- Andy Stanley and Ed Young, Can We Do That? 24 Innovative Practices that will Change the Way You Do Church
- Ed Stetzer, Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age
- Rick Warren, The Purpose-Driven Church
- Bob Logan, How to Plant a Church, Beyond Church Planting, Be Fruitful and Mulitply
- Neil Cole - Organic Church - Growing Faith where Life Happens.
- Pete Ward - Liquid Church
- Stuart Murray - Church Planting: Laying Foundations
