1.    Mission Awakens Diversity
In the past ten years, Cumberland Presbyterians have moved the tent pegs in order to include an amazing variety of new church expressions. A multi-lingual chorus reminiscent of the Day of Pentecost sings praise to God in our new churches every week. Guitars, cymbals and drums join pianos and organs. People proclaim the word of God from pulpit and barstool. Youngsters learn the truths of the Bible from interactive computer games and from dedicated volunteer teachers who use time-tested methods. Worshipers may arrive in vehicles equipped with wheelchair lifts or on motorbikes. Again and again the new church asks itself, “What is God calling us to do? To whom is God sending us?” Answers to these questions push the fellowship toward exploration, experimentation, trial and error. 

Church planting is a little like Joseph’s coat of many colors. There’s no cookie-cutter approach that is effective in every community. New churches may offer traditional or contemporary worship. They may meet in a storefront, a dance studio, or a school. They may have a bi-vocational minister, a clergy team, or a solo pastor. They may be broad-based in appeal or specifically targeting a segment of the population, mono-cultural or multi-ethnic. Yet there is a common thread among them: the commitment to serve God’s redemptive mission in the world. God’s mission multiplies and unifies the great diversity in new church development today.

 

2.    Vision Is Better From One’s Knees
E.M. Bounds, a Methodist preacher from an earlier generation, is credited with saying, “Prayer is not preparation for the battle; prayer is the battle.” It is hard to imagine any enterprise where that statement is more true than in the new church setting. Whether it’s discerning God’s vision for the new congregation, asking divine guidance in preparing ministries to reach new people, seeking God’s reconciliation in a difficult interpersonal situation within the fellowship, or remembering the needs of the community, the new congregation must be a praying congregation.

 

3.    Evangelism Is Not Optional
With so many congregations already in place in practically any community in the U.S., it is legitimate to ask, “Why start a new church?” The best answer is still that we must share the good news with those who have not made a commitment to Christ or to the church. A new congregation has a unique opportunity to reach people who are not presently participating in any of the existing churches of the area. Christ spoke of the need for new wineskins, and in some ways that can describe a church plant. New church development is, according to church growth authority C. Peter Wagner, the most effective evangelism methodology available.

 

4.    If We Build It, They May Not Come
It’s true that the church is not a building, but the gathered fellowship does need a place from which to offer its ministries of worship, Christian nurture, fellowship, and outreach. Our experience is that while a new fellowship can tolerate a temporary meeting place for a considerable period of time, eventually doing so will take its toll. Sometimes before the church is really strong enough numerically, it has to begin thinking about a permanent facility. Unfortunately, we have seen several of our new congregations struggle under the weight of a full-time program and huge monthly building payments. Even more disheartening, we have noticed that just because we build a lovely church facility to serve the needs of a growing congregation, it does not mean the people of the community will flock in. The building, important as it is, is no substitute for continuing outreach and evangelism.

 

5.    Relationships Trump Direct Mail
Not so long ago, new churches cropped up almost overnight after conducting major telephoning campaigns in their communities. Cumberland Presbyterians “launched” new congregations using this approach throughout the ‘90s. But with the turn of the new century, things changed. People became increasingly suspicious of “telemarketers,” and soon that method of gathering a large crowd for an initial worship service lost its effectiveness. Direct mail appeals were then used, along with other forms of publicity. But again it became clear that the relatively impersonal marketing strategy, while raising awareness of the community to the existence of the church, usually did not result in large numbers of new visitors in worship. Experts in the church planting field began to realize once again that solid friendships create the best environment for inviting folks to church or sharing faith. The number one challenge with this approach is motivating our church members to invite others! Yet the new church tries to create a warm climate of relational evangelism, encouraging congregation members to share the love of God in practical ways.