Why Plant A Church?

A question on a lot of people’s minds when they hear about people going church planting is, “Why plant a church?” In a lot of places there are plenty of churches around. Even where there aren’t that many – especially in North America, why not just concentrate on growing the ones that are there? Wouldn’t that be more efficient?

We look around us and see that production, plenty comes from large companies mass producing. It would seem that this would apply to organizations as well. Want to serve a lot of people the religion you’ve got? Go big! Serve it up cheap and serve it up in plenty! Standardize! Mechanize! Find a system and mass-produce it!

If the goal were to make Christians into cheaply made, disposable people who are easier to break and replace than repair, that might make sense. But Jesus calls us to do more than brand people with the “Christian” label and consider our job finished.

What are we here to do? Before Jesus ascended into heaven, he gave us a command, prefaced by a declaration of authority. He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them…” The job he gave us was to make disciples. Us, his followers. All those who claim the name of “Christian”. And we’re failing at it.

Some statistics:

• Only 7% of Canadians are part of evangelical churches.
• Only 23% of Canadians attend church regularly.
• 13% of Canadians claim to have “no religion”.
• 20% of Canadians believe they will go to heaven when they die.  In contrast, 27% believe, without any reason for it at all, that they will be reincarnated.
• 85% of churches are plateaued or declining (in Canada and the USA).
• Studies show new churches are the most effective way to engage the unchurched & re-energize existing churches.

C. Peter Wagner stated, “Planting new churches is the most effective evangelistic methodology known under heaven.”  It’s not that other churches are doing it wrong – it’s simply that church plants are more effective at reaching those who do not attend church.  The numbers speak for themselves.

Why are we doing it in Alberta?  Alberta as a province has had one of the highest rates of growth in Canada.  When you look at the population trends of cities and towns all over the province, they are going up.  Not just in Edmonton and Calgary but in many other cities.  Many towns have doubled or tripled in size in the last 20 years, but still only have a handful of churches.  The church has not kept up.  To rip off Abraham Lincoln, ask not what your God can do for you, but what you can do for God.  We want to be used by God to further his plans, which we know culminates in the preaching to every tribe and nation around the world.  One of the neatest things about Canada is we don’t have to travel to the corners of the world to reach every tribe and nation.  They are coming to Canada, and because of the oil, they are coming to Alberta.  Oil will continue to be the main fuel of the world for the foreseeable future, and Alberta has more than most places.  People will continue to come, and the Lord’s church must be there to tell them about him.

Tim Keller wrote a very good article on the subject of why.  Read on for more.  It’s in PDF format.

Thanks to Matt Sweetman for many good links.