My Prayer for Church Planters
Jul. 6, 2009
Oh God, will you raise up a cadre of church planters who see their ministry as beyond just planting one church to being a catalyst for multiple church plants? This is my prayer for the church planting movement in The Wesleyan Church. As a denomination, we are committed to church planting.
This is my prayer for the church planting movement in The Wesleyan Church. As a denomination, we are committed to church planting. We applaud the partnership between the department of Evangelism and Church Growth and our districts in mobilizing for M3, a missional multiplication movement, within The Wesleyan Church. A church planting movement is taking shape in The Wesleyan Churchpraise the Lord! Church planting is not simply a passing fad; it is and must be the very fabric of our existence. New church multiplication is a vital sign of a healthy congregation, district, and denomination.
The Best Practice
Lyle Schaller states: "Every denomination reporting an increase in membership reports an increase in the number of congregations. Every denomination reporting an increase in the total number of congregations reports an increase in members." Church planting is the best method of reaching the unchurched, the best model for accomplishing evangelism, the best means to reach all groups of people, and most importantly, it is our biblical mandate to follow.
A church planting vision embraced both locally and denominationally empowers us to fulfill the Great Commission. The church becomes more effective in the proclamation of the gospel as we become more proficient in the planting of new congregations. We cannot ignore this direct correlation. Research bears out that conversion growth occurs more in new church plants than in older established churches.
Four Focus Points
Church planting is a must if we are serious about fulfilling the Great Commission. To continue the momentum for church planting, we must continue to focus on four things.
- First, we must plant churches in strategic North American cities, targeting the population centers. Stewardship dictates that we direct our efforts toward our cities. Targeting cities and urban areas for church planting must be a priority.
- Second, we must plant churches cross-culturally, generating new works among minority and ethnic populations. Every state and district has seen the multi-cultural expansion that provides a ripe mission field to harvest right at our doorstep. May we have eyes to see these explosive opportunities.
- Third, we must plant churches in new communities, growing communities. Until the recent housing downturn, many new communities were popping up near the vicinity of our established churches. Every established church needs to be on the lookout for nearby communities to help partner or plant a new church. "Churches Planting Churches" is more than a slogan; it is the preferred method for starting new churches.
- Fourth, we must plant churches by establishing extension campuses, targeting new geographical areas as extension ministries of existing churches. Many of our larger churches, such as 12Stone Church in Lawrenceville, Ga., (Kevin Myers, senior pastor) and Heritage in Rock Island, Ill. (John Bray, senior pastor) are employing this method of church planting by intentionally creating multiple venues for expanding their church ministry.
Local Leadership
In each case, the best church planting efforts are those initiated locally. As church growth consultant George Bullard states: "Congregations must be caught by a spiritual passion for congregational reproduction." When this happens all across our denomination, then we can say this movement is growing.
Often, the number one reason for the lack of church planting is the need for more workers divinely called to plant a new church. Jesus teaches, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field" (Matt. 9:37—38). So my prayer continues -
Lord, please raise up among our men and women the passion for being apostolic church planters, missionaries if you will, called to see multiple church plants through their ministry career. Oh God, raise up a cadre of persons in The Wesleyan Church who can say with the Apostle Paul, "My ambition has always been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard, rather than where a church has already been started by someone else" (Rom 15:20, NLT). Let it be so Lord, Amen!
- Thomas E. Armiger is a General Superintendent of The Wesleyan Church, Indianapolis, Ind.
