Why Church Plant?

Why Start A New Church?

10 years ago on a ridiculously hot, Sydney summers day, at a youth event called Soul Survivor, I sat on the edge of my seat, listening intently to what I was hearing.

You see, I had just had a massive turn around in my life. I was an atheist and now ….. not.
I had come to an intellectual decision, after 3 years of study that God was real and the Bible was true.

So I gave my life to Jesus and the rest, as they say, is history.

I was so new to this whole thing and so aware of how God, was what I was looking for all those years.

Because of all this, I was just so pumped to share the gospel with anyone who would half listen. I knew people needed Jesus and the cross was the only way to receive forgiveness and eternal life.

So at this event, Mike Frost (a little less known back then) was speaking and he said words to the effect that 85% of people come to know Jesus through new churches. He went on to talk about church planting.

I had never heard of it, yet, at that moment I was sold on the idea. My question was simple ‘Ok, so when do we start?’

Since then, I’ve gone to Bible college and worked as the youth pastor in two different churches here in Oz.
10 years later, God is saying now.

As to the veracity of Mike’s statement, I’ve heard some variations, but the point is clear.
People come to faith in new churches!

Tim Keller writes “Dozens of denominational studies have confirmed that the average new church gains most of its new members (60-80%) from the ranks of people who are not attending any worshipping body, while churches over 10-15 years of age gain 80-90% of new members by transfer from other congregations. This means that the average new congregation will bring 6-8 times more new people into the life of the Body of Christ than an older congregation of the same size.” You can read more from Tim here.

Why should we (the Church) be planting new churches?

Because people matter and strategically more people come to faith in Jesus through church plants!

Why should you plant a church?

Well that’s a different story. The only good reason to personally plant a church is because God wants you to.

If you are thinking about planting a church, but you’re not sure yet???? Pray, read, think, get good advice and most importantly, make every effort to hear what God is saying to you. From all I’ve heard and read, church planting is not easy and some people are not meant to be church planters. Knowing you are ‘called’ will be invaluable to you when the going gets tough.

Interested in church planting? Come back soon. As I start this crazy adventure, I will post my revelations, thoughts and findings on all things ‘church planting’.

Bless you heaps!

Love to hear your thoughts.

Glenn