Church Planting Principles
I certainly don't pretend to be an expert or to have all
the answers on church planting but as the Lord has
opened the doors for us to establish five new works
over the past two years here in Costa Rica, I have
learned a few things along the journey. I understand
that the strategy for planting a church in Vancouver,
BC, Canada will be different from starting a new work
on someones porch in rural Costa Rica but most of
these following principles apply in what ever country or city or village that you
live in.
1). Principle one: Vision We need to be convinced that we have a call from
God to plant new churches. Like a healthy couple, a healthy church should be
able to reproduce itself. A lot of congregations do well with the call to make
disciples and so much of our resources and time are spent in discipleship
programs. I believe that many churches are full of people who are well trained
up, like fishermen, who know all there is about fishing but simply need an
opportunity to release the anchor and head out to the fishing grounds.
2). Principle two: Available Make yourself available to God. Leaders who have
the most success at church planting are those who make themselves available
to go and begin even though they don't have all the answers. Debbie and I
have simply been available for the Lord to direct our steps and we have
learned about church planting along the journey or process of doing it.
3).Principle three: Faith You need to venture out by faith like Abraham, as it
says in Hebrews 11:8 "And he went out, not knowing where he was going." The
revelation will come when you have taken your first steps. The heart of God
for missions impacted my life not when I heard about it, or watched missionary
videos but when I walked for the first time among the poor in Mexico. We will
never learn to establish new works while sitting in church. We will learn as we
leave the building.
4). Principle four: The church is not the building. A common conception is that
to start a new church you have to first find a building. We have the mentality
that if we simply build it they will come. When I came to Costa Rica I didnt have
the resources to build or rent anything and so I went looking for people, who
in reality are the church.
5). Principle five: Go ye Go to where the people are rather than waiting for
them to come to you. We can find this principle of taking the initiative in Luke
10, Luke 9, and Matthew 10. A very important ingredient is meeting the right
person. Look for the person of peace in the community and start there. The
Person of Peace principle is looking for the individual who is the key for
opening the door to the community. Go to the smallest units in our society, the
individual and the family, and allow these to be the blocks that you use to build
the church. In Latin America this is especiallyeffective because the family is
very integrated. Usually if you start with one family, the brothers and uncles
and nephews are close by, if not living in the same house.
I have discovered that starting a new church doesn't have to be that
complicated. Here in costa Rica you just need a handful of people hungry for
the things of God and a porch. That's how we began our first church in a little
community called La Isleta. I found a family that was willing to have meetings on
their porch every Sunday and over time the Lord started to provide chairs, a
roof, a sound system, sunday school teachers and other leaders. When we
walk by faith, God will supply our needs each step of the way, not before but
along the journey.
6). Principle six: Love and humilty. This world is not looking for more religion
but is looking for disciples of Jesus who have genuine love and humility.
Debbie and I, with our limited spanish, were not the best communicators when
we started the church in La Isleta, but we did know how to show the love of the
Lord. I am convinced that the love and humility of God are the two most
important ingredients needed to see a new church grow. When Jesus came to
earth He was born in a very humble place. As followers of Jesus we need to
visit new places with the love of God in an attitude of humility.
7). Principle seven: The sacrifice Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not
come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. To serve
means to put the needs of others before yours. The sacrifice of Jesus gave
birth to the church of Jesus Christ and, as His followers, we need to recognize
that sacrifice is necessary to birth new churches. We can not plant new
churches without sacrifice: your time, your energy, your schedule, your money,
your leaders (Are you ready to sow your leaders...your best leaders?) your
gasoline...your car etc.
8). Principle eight: Committment It is important that the members of the
church are involved in the process. Anything less than complete involvement
will not produce fruit. As a leader, you can not do it alone. You need to
incorporate church planting as an integral and vital part of the mission of the
church. It needs to be seen as a team responsibility. As well, planting new
churches will not succeed without the full support of the church leadership
team.
9). Principle nine: Effective evangelism Church planting is a very effective
means to bring people into the family of God. In his book "Church Planting For
a Greater Harvest, Peter Wagner writes, "I begin this book with a categorical
statement that will seem bold and brash to some at first sight, even though it
has been well substantiated by research over the past two or three decades:
The single most effective evangelistic methodology under heaven is planting
new churches."
Christian Schwarz in Natural Church Development surveyed over 1,000
churches from 32 countries and 6 continents. He discovered that new
churches of 100 were 16 times more effective in winning new converts to
Christ than megachurches.
These are some of the basic principles that I have learned so far along the
missionary road here in Central America. I hope to add to this list as we
continue on with our journey of learning how to "begat" churches.
