lightstock_177561_medium_byrene_haney

Whenever the topic of church planting is brought up with churches, one common pushback question gets fired back at me. Why in the world would the church plant more churches when we have so many existing congregations struggling to survive? Would it make sense to invest in what you have versus starting something new? On top of that this something new might not work.

To be honest those are all good questions. I have heard some faulty numbers about the failure rate of church plants. “I’ve heard 80% of church plants fail.” I think we can add this to other horrible exaggerations. The North American Mission Board has reported a 68% success rate across North America. Not an 80% failure rate.

Why Do New Church Plants Typically Fail?

One word “sin.” Satan is not a big fan of church plants. Here are three reasons I have noticed over the years that doom church plants.

1. Character and Calling Issues. Many church plants fail because of moral failure or a deficiency in character in the church planter. Church planting is hard. You are often placed in a setting with new believers and not many seasoned disciples. Without the support of a strong core team, you don’t have a strong spiritual support system.

2. Wrong Context and Culture. Church planters tend to fall in love with their strategy. Even when it becomes obvious to everyone but planter that strategy is not working. Church planers are often slow or unwilling to change their approach. Sometimes it is just the wrong strategy for that community.

3. Ran Out of Time. Sometimes it just boils down to patience. The church planting group or organization may pull the funding too soon. A church plant simply ran out of time before achieving critical mass or financial sustainability. Lots of factors could go with this one, including work ethic issues of the church planter.

Work ethic can connect back to character and/or the commitment to their calling as a church planter. Others haven’t developed a strong group of partners or they lacked an effective evangelism strategy and struggle to disciple and foster team building. Other factors are beyond their control. It could be the difficulty of the soil in the area (which may go back to context). There is no sure fail-proof way to plant a church. In the end, it all depends on the working of the Holy Spirit. God waters the soil, and God causes the seeds to grow.

Why Plant More Churches,?

A 2015 Lifeway survey explained why to plant churches: It reaches the lost, energizes the planting congregation, and leads to more diverse churches (60% of new starts are cross-cultural or multi-ethnic).

This quote by Rev. Tim Keller adds truth to the statistics above.

“The vigorous, continual planting of new congregations is the single most crucial strategy for:

1) the numerical growth of the body of Christ in any city,

and

2) the continual corporate renewal and revival of the existing churches in a city.

Nothing else—not crusades, outreach programs, para-church ministries, growing mega-churches, congregational consulting, nor church renewal processes—will have the consistent impact of dynamic, extensive church planting. This is an eyebrow-raising statement. But to those who have done any study at all, it is not even controversial.”

Church Planting is Not a Problem

Often the challenge in church planting comes down to health. We need healthy churches planting churches. You would never want to trust a doctor who tells you all the things you need to do to eat healthily and exercise while he is eating a jelly donut. The keys to healthy starts include meeting in public places, focusing on outreach, supporting the church planter, and starting more churches.

What is needed are healthy churches with a deep desire or a deep enough hurt to change.
I don’t believe the church is hurting enough yet to realize that we need to get serious about planting new churches to reach a new generation of people.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said of the church. “The church is her true self only when she exists for humanity.”

If that is where we start we can never have too many churches because humanity needs to meet the Savior.

To read the rest of Tim Keller post on church planting here is the link;

https://www.acts29.com/why-church-planting/

41.8466125-87.9011318
8 thoughts on “Why The Church Should Invest More Time, Energy, and Resources In Church Planting?”
  1. Pastor Randy – I have been a life-long pastor but recently God has kindled a fire in me about His calling for my life. For nearly 40 years my life and this ministry was centered on "the church". God has set me on a journey to become more than a "church" pastor, but to be a "Kingdom Pastor". Join me in this new journey of God's plans and purposes for HIS Kingdom
    Pastor Randy says:

    Thanks Keith for taking this on. I am facing another defining moment in my life, that at 62, God is calling me to plant a new church here–not another “religious” building, but the true body of Christ. I’m looking forward to your insights as I pursue this new journey! Prayers appreciated from you!

      1. Pastor Randy – I have been a life-long pastor but recently God has kindled a fire in me about His calling for my life. For nearly 40 years my life and this ministry was centered on "the church". God has set me on a journey to become more than a "church" pastor, but to be a "Kingdom Pastor". Join me in this new journey of God's plans and purposes for HIS Kingdom
        Pastor Randy says:

        It’s good knowing that another is on this journey as well, you are and will continue to be in my prayers!

Comments are closed.