There has been a dramatic increase in energy and activity around church planting in the U.S. over the past 5-10 years, which is a good thing. The number of churches being planted in the U.S. has more than doubled in that time, which is also a good thing. Many people are talking about church planting today who would not have entertained the conversation 10 years ago, and there is an abundance of resources available today that were not available a decade ago, which is a VERY good thing! There is a lot to be greatful for as it relates to church planting in the U.S. today.
However, I do have a growing concern. It is appearing to me that an increasing number of new churches are closing. This may or may not be a bad thing. It does cause me to pause and ask the question "What are we doing?"
My hope is that the churches we work with will be sustainable beyond 2-3 years! My hope is that the churches we plant will thrive for at least one generation, and hopefully many more. The biggest challenge I see planters facing is the challenge to achieve the necessary critical mass for sustainability. This is a major focus of our coaching and consulting work. Let me know what you are seeing!
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4 comments:
Glenn, we are seeing the same things and asking the same questions. I am also seeing an enormous increase in dissatisfaction among church staff and members all over the country. It's as though we are breathing a collective "is this all there is?" sigh.
I wonder if our love affair with American pragmatism is finally catching up with us. The NT church seems amazingly simple (and effective) when one compares it to the North American alternatives.
Most of the church plant autopsies I've attended seem to indicate that the guy (or couple) were misplaced in the first place. They did not seem to understand their role or how the community where they were planting would respond to their plan. In some cases it was a bad assessment, in others a bad strategy. The results are the same: crash!
Glad you're out in the field helping.
Jack Allen
I think there are a number of contributing factors with this:
1) Certainly planter mismatches, bad assessments, etc.
2) American church plants still labor under bad definitions of success (if we don't have two hundred in a couple years, maybe we should close).
3) American church plants are still often dependent on heavy funding. When the initial money runs out, and the church is not self-sustaining, the planter concludes that it has not worked.
This is where Jack's comments on the simplicity of the N.T. church seem to fit. What drives the church is being captivated by Jesus and passionate about his mission. All other considerations, including size and money need to be secondary. Is it possible that we are also still reaping the results of 30 years of "church growth movement" thinking, planting churches that are going to entertain people into the faith with our bands and skits, etc., when the culture may actually have moved on to looking for greater spiritual substance, and even greater care for the world (mission)?
I get frustrated when conversation about church planting sounds like "Yep, we've got all this figured out", because I think we are still groping around for the perspectives on planting that we really need right now in America. I appreciate your honesty, Glenn, in bringing this up, because we have to admit the treatment isn't working if we are going to find better ones.
Glenn, Jack and Fran I couldn't agree with you more. I guess we all have the same spirit because everything you mentioned is so true. There is an increase in church's, but I believe that those that are starting these new church's are disgruntled with their own denomination, therefore starting their own ministries. Certainly this is the wrong reason to start a church. Clearly this is an assignment that has to be endorsed and ordained by God to go into a community where there is unchurched and unsaved folk and try to lead them to Christ.What I have seen is that people are just tired of all the drama and entertainment. That competituive spirit that's in church circles. I started my church Perfecting Ministres 4 years ago with two people and growth was almost non-existent. Theonly people I seem to attract were people wheo were either made at the Pastor, or the Church and was just looking for an alternative. I have soundly preached the Gospel for 4-years like I was preaching it to thousands. People really want to have a love affair with Jesus but they are not seeing it inthe ones who's leading. There is a misplaced priority and a misplaced emphasis on Christ, Cause and the Church which is resulting a church's closing rather than opening. I clearly understand the NT Church, but I also understand that we are now living in a new environment where ther is a clasing of cultures etc. and the messages that we preach have to be therapudic in nature so people can really truely understand that God really do love them. That he truly understand everything we go through in life. I've never worried about numbers and I've trusted God completely and my church has grown to 70 or 80 people. When I first started I heavily depended on funding in which there was none, but when I started trusting God completely, the funding just came. This is a business that you can't be in for the notoriority or money. You have to really want to see people saved and their lives changed. We have forsaken our first love and if we do not Repent, remember, and start repeating what God has called us to do which is in the great commission, we will continue to see the rise and fall of start up churches. Posted by Gordon Thomas, Pastor of Perfecting Church in Sugar Land, Texas
Thanks everyone for your input! Keep pressing forward! You're doing the right things.
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