The recent interest in planting new churches in North America has raised some controversy among some churchmen. The United States has been considered one of the most completely "church" countries in the world. Administrative leaders thought that the proliferation of denominational churches had actually produced a state of saturation. But more careful and scientific studies of North American church growth have proven this to be a false assumption. New churches are desperately needed in North America. There are many reasons for church planting, but for this issue we have chosen two major reasons why new churches should be planted.
CHURCH PLANTING IS A NEW TESTAMENT NORM
The Lord Jesus Christ is building His church during this age. The church is the whole body of Christ, both in Heaven and on earth. It is both visible and invisible. While the mystical perception of the church is valid, this teaching must always be held with a doctrine of visible local churches. This is the New Testament norm. Planting local churches is the divine plan. The very language of the Great Commission infers the local church. The method for making disciples prescribed by Christ can occur in none other context than that of a local church.
The Acts of the Apostles preserves the history of the spread of the Gospel in the generation that followed Pentecost. This remarkable record is focused on church planting. The Apostles considered no other option for expansion than to establish church everywhere they preached. Evangelism seems never to be divorced from church planting in the apostolic times. No other structures emerged for gathering the faithful than the church.
CHURCH PLANTING IS ESSENTIAL TO EVANGELISM
The tendency in western countries to lose sight of the evangelism potential has often redirected the church's energies into institutionalism or into the comfort and maintenance of the saints. When a movement stops planting new assemblies, it declines in evangelistic outreach.
Every new church planted enlarges the cutting edge of evangelism. It means that more people will have a direct confrontation with the Gospel than if the church had not been planted. If a denomination maintains only one central church in a city, that fact will limit its evangelistic impact on that city. If, over two decades, five churches are established, the measurable harvest of souls will be greatly increased.
The fact that churches have personalities is often overlooked. The philosophy of ministry, the style of worship or the homogeneous makeup can produce distinctives for each congregation that contribute in a positive way to evangelism. By constantly increasing the number of assemblies, more options are open to people. Since neighborhoods tend to be largely of one homogeneous group, the planting of many neighborhood churches open doors of opportunity that far exceed the super-church designed to reach a whole city. That is not to say that neighborhood churches may not legitimately become super-churches if they are successful. What we are addressing here is a principle. Multiple churches are better than one church as far as outreach evangelism is concerned.
New Bible-believing churches need to be started everywhere, but especially in the black community. By God's grace let's do the job.
HI BROTHER, I AM NEW REBORN CHRISTIAN , I WANT U TO ASK U THAT AT OUR CHURCH FEW CHRISTIAN GROUPS APPLIED TO THE ELDERS GROUP OF OUR CHURCH WANTING TO PLANT A NEW CHURCH, WE ARE IN KHARTOUM,SUDAN (REFFUGEE), ETHIOPIAN! BUT THE PROBLEM IS THEIER ARE ALMOST SEVEN PENTCOST CHURCH IN KHARTOUM AND THE GROUP WHO THEY WAN TO BE APART FROM OUR CHURCH FOR NEEDING TO PLAN NEAR TO US. NOT BEING NEW PLACE! SECONDELY THEY HAVE SOME CONTRADICTION WITH THE LEADERS.. AND THEY REFUSED TO AGREE AND OLSO TO CONTINUE WITH THIER SERVICE IN OUR CHURCH . THE DESCION OF OUR ELDERS IS TO LET THEM GO AHEAD WITHOUT ANY RECOMENDATION TO ANNOUNCE FOR THE MEMBERS SO AS NOT TO COOPERATE OR JOIN TO THEM...AND IT WILL CONFIRMED AND REVEALED TO ALL AFTER ONE WEEK..
MAY I NEED UR OPINION ON THIS CONCEPT SINCE I WANT TO LEARN FROM YOU..
GOD BLESS YOU
TOM IN CHRIST.