Some of us here at Crossroads Church Aspen just returned from the official launch of one of our partner churches, Sandbox Church in Houston, Texas. It was such a joy to sit back and see so many “marketplace” people organizing, serving and leading. It was an amazing morning and an amazing gathering of people all about being a unique expression of God’s family – His church. Brent and Daniela Phillips are leading this exciting new church alongside an awesome group of elders and leaders. But here is the thing – not one of them is a full-time vocational pastor. They are just like You!!

Most Christians today when they hear “church planting” begin to tune out. Maybe not completely, but they think that it only applies to a special group of people and is not really relevant to their life and work in the marketplace. I hope to help change that perception or at least get a conversation started with this blog. Read carefully what pastor Tim Keller has stated after a lot of experience and research:

“The vigorous, continual planting of new congregations is the single most crucial strategy for 1) the numerical growth of the Body of Christ in any city, and 2) the continual corporate renewal and revival of the existing churches in a city. Nothing else –not crusades, outreach programs, para-church ministries, growing mega-churches, congregational consulting, nor church renewal processes – will have the consistent impact of dynamic, extensive church planting. This is an eyebrow raising statement. But to those who have done any study at all, it is not even controversial.”

But you still might be saying, “Isn’t the great commission and the main thing about making disciples, not church planting?” Read what Keller says about that:

“Jesus’ essential call was to plant churches. Virtually all the great evangelistic challenges of the New Testament are basically calls to plant churches, not simply to share the faith. The Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) is not just a call to ‘make disciples’ but to ‘baptize’. In Acts and elsewhere, it is clear that baptism means incorporation into a worshiping community with accountability and boundaries (Acts 2:41-47). The only way to be truly sure you are increasing the number of Christians in a town is to increase the number of churches. Why? Much traditional evangelism aims to get a ‘decision’ for Christ. Experience, however, shows us that many of these ‘decisions’ disappear and never result in changed lives. Why? Many, many decisions are not really conversations, but often only the beginning of a journey of seeking God. (Other decisions are very definitely the moment of a new birth, but this differs from person to person.) Only a person who is being ‘evangelized’ in the context of an ongoing worshiping and shepherding community can be sure of finally coming home into vital, saving faith. This is why a leading missiologist like C. Peter Wagner can say, ‘Planting new churches is the most effective evangelistic methodology known under heaven.”

So, you say ok, but you might still have more questions:

“The normal response to discussions about church planting is something like this:

A) “We already have plenty of churches that have lots and lots of room for all the new people who have come to the area. Lets get them filled before we go off building any new ones. This “assumes that older congregations can reach newcomers as well as new congregations. But to reach new generations and people groups will require both renewed older churches and lots of new churches.”

B) “Every church in this community used to be more full than it is now. The churchgoing public is a ‘shrinking pie’. A new church here will just take people from churches already hurting and weaken everyone.” This “assumes that new congregations will only reach current active churchgoers. But new churches do far better at reaching the unchurched, and thus they are the only way to increase the ‘churchgoing pie’.

C) “Help the churches that are struggling first. A new church doesn’t help the ones we have that are just keeping their nose above water. We need better churches, not more churches. This “assumes that new church planting will only discourage older churches. There is a prospect of this, but new churches for a variety of ways, are one of the best ways to renew and revitalize older churches. Also, new churches don’t only work where the population is growing. Actually, they reach people wherever the population is changing. If new people are coming in to replace former residents, or new groups of people are coming in – even though the net pop figure is stagnant – new churches are needed.”

We are excited about what God is doing in Aspen, Glenwood, Houston, Africa and India through church planting – and we want You to be more involved with your unique calling and gifts. We are praying about where the next church plant will be – let us know if you want to play a part!

If you are reading this and you are a part of another church somewhere, I encourage you to talk with your leaders and ask them how you can be a part of planting churches. It is the glorious mission our Lord has called us to – every nation!

(Picture – Sandboxchurch.com Houston TX launch Sunday)