Five Church Situations Which Benefit from Outside Resources, Part 5

Planting a New Church

A local church may find itself by God’s grace in a position of growth, spiritual health, and stability in which it may be able to focus some efforts on multiplying the spread of the Gospel through a church plant. This may be an intentionally planned effort, or it may simply be the result of a providential opportunity which has crossed their path. Before engaging in a church-plant project, a local church ought to educate itself on the best ways forward for their particular situation. Let me suggest some important components to moving forward on a church-planting project.

• The key to a church plant is a qualified shepherd. If you don’t have a particular man in mind, then a plan should be formulated to find or qualify one. I know of one church leadership team that took it upon itself to train one man start to finish for several years and then to send him out with both spiritual and financial support. This took tremendous commitment and is now bearing spiritual fruit to the glory of God. But for some churches, finding this qualified shepherd might require some outside networking or assistance.
• “Moving Quickly” and “Church Plant” do not usually go together well. In some cases, several years of planning and preparation may be required, but the effort and patience is definitely worth the endeavor. I suggest assigning a leader or two in the church to be the lead church-planting elders or point-men. They can give more concerted focus and can educate themselves and others on the process and where they are in the process.
• Receiving instruction and guidance from more experienced church-planting ministries or individual shepherds may accelerate progress. I have had the privilege individually of assisting several churches involved in a church-planting push. Our church leadership team is active currently in assisting in a couple of different similar situations. But beyond an informal local church partnership, perhaps a dedicated church-planting ministry may be useful to engage. While space does not permit an analysis of the many church-planting ministries, any partnership should be with a ministry which shares your theological convictions at a reasonable level. But I will mention one ministry: Grace Advance (www.graceadvance.org). Their primary ministry involves a church-planting academy. I have both been through this academy personally and have had the privilege of being an instructor for the past decade as well. The academy is well worth the time and investment and may be attended by pastors or lay leaders involved in a church-planting endeavor.

This short series is devoted to the local church that might derive some benefit for outside resources. Scripture teaches that the ultimate authority in the local church is the body of elders/leaders God has raised up (1 Timothy 3, Titus 1). But sometimes the better part of wisdom with this body of leaders is to utilize the help of outside resources with specific knowledge. This series suggests five situations which might benefit from an outside resource.