A Fresh Look at Church Planting

If you care about church renewal, you cannot ignore church planting! As we seek to move our congregations out of maintenance mode and into a multiplication mindset, church planting should be on all our radars!

• Over the next few newsletters, we’ll explore various aspects of church planting from a fresh perspective. We will look at what it takes for church plants to thrive. We will compare various planting strategies. And we will ask the question you may already be asking: What if my church isn’t able or ready to plant? What about us?

This entire discussion starts, however, with a simple question: Why should I care about church planting? Below are six fresh ideas about why church planting is a key part of church renewal.

Six reasons church planting matters more now than ever.

Reason 1. New Churches reach the community more effectively

• Missiologist C. Peter Wagner wrote, “The single most effective evangelistic methodology under heaven is planting new churches.” Statistics back this up! Lifeway Research has found that church plants consistently see higher percentages of first-time faith commitments and baptisms than older churches.

Reason 2. Church Plants Reach new and different demographics

• Lifeway Research has also reported that church plants are more effective at reaching demographics of people that existing churches often overlook. While established churches often struggle to increase their diversity, church plants naturally welcome people from varied backgrounds.

Reason 3. Church Plants are more nimble strategically

• Church plants with fewer long-standing traditions and less cumbersome decision-making structures can pivot much more easily. By contrast, established churches often have strong inertia (see my article on The Physics of Church Renewal), making change more difficult. Making even simple decisions in churches with high inertia can be exhausting!

Reason 4. Planting renews the city

• Tim Keller said, “Vigorous, continual planting is the single most crucial strategy for growth and renewal in the city.” For church plants, engaging deeply with their community is not optional — it’s a matter of survival. They design Sunday mornings with seekers in mind, invest in their neighborhoods, and shape ministry strategy around those who need to meet Jesus.

Reason 5. Church Plants help members put their faith in action

• The members of church plants often mature quickly because they are expected to live out their faith. Church plants invest in their members’ evangelistic training more frequently than established churches, with more than 80 percent of the top-baptizing churches teaching people how to share their faith annually. For these churches, spiritual growth is not just about head knowledge but about mission fulfillment.

Reason 6. Planting ignites passion

• It can be demoralizing to be part of a declining or disconnected church. Becoming part of a church planting movement, whether or not your church is the one planting, gives congregants a renewed sense of purpose and passion. It helps them see that they are part of fulfilling God’s mission in the world. It breathes new life into tired congregations and helps them turn from an inward to an outward focus.

The Spirit is always pushing the church outward. How is he calling your congregation to not only honor the past but secure the future?