by Ron Myer and Jeff Hoglen
Not everyone has a vision or passion for church planting. In fact, many believers and even church leaders who sincerely love the Lord never thought of or considered church planting as a necessary part of church growth. It is therefore important that we speak the vision for church planting.
People often ask why we should plant more churches. They might say, “So many churches are closing down, so many churches are nowhere near full, and so many churches are struggling to stay afloat—why plant more?”
One of the primary responsibilities of the church planter is to address attitudes such as these and cast the vision for church planting. The following are reasons for church planting.
Start with “Why!”
The most important question you can ask yourself when you are contemplating planting a church is “Why am I planting this church?” There could be many reasons.
- To see people saved
- To better exercise the gift of leadership the Lord has given you
- To meet some of the spiritual needs in the community to which you feel called
- To develop other gifts in people the Lord brings
- To help people mature in Christ.
These are all wonderful and worthy reasons for planting a church, but there is only one reason that will take you the full distance to fulfillment: “The Lord is calling me to plant this church!” That is the only reason that will stand the test of time. In the life of every church plant there will probably come a time when the only reason you will continue on is because you know the Lord has called you.
You may encounter many setbacks, unmet expectations, disappointments when people do not keep their commitments, and personal discouragement. But this will carry you through: knowing that you are fulfilling God’s call! This is the one sustaining factor and mandate that will carry you through. God has not called you to failure. He has called you to success. When you have the “Why?” settled in your heart, you can discern the “How?” of planting the church!
MORE about Church Planting
Jesus came to earth with a mission to seek and save the lost. He established the church to carry out this mission He started. This inspiring and practical manual is based on the premise that planting churches is the single most effective way of fulfilling the Great Commission. This manual provides guidance on how you can implement your God-inspired vision to plant churches in a way that will effectively grow God’s Kingdom. Designed for future church planters as well as legacy churches multiplying.
