Church Planting and Revitalization

Doesn’t church planting divert valuable time, money, and resources that could be used to revitalize the existing church?
Why would a church in need of revitalization expend resources on planting a church? Church planting is only for vital, healthy churches. Wouldn’t it be better to wait until the church has made more progress toward revitalization before it begins to plant? When is a church ready to plant another church?

Answer: What if church planting could propel church revitalization in the sponsor church?

Our core score, our mission, is reaching people who are unreached. To do that we need vital ministries happening throughout the community. That means revitalizing dying and declining churches; it means planting new vital ministries throughout the community. Revitalization is about putting a church back on mission. It is moving from an insular, survivalist, parish church culture to a ministry outside-the-walls, kingdom growth culture. It is a church-wide shift from insider to outsider. It communicates that the most important thing is reaching unreached people. It is about joining Jesus and His mission “seek and save the lost.”

Such a shift requires powerful systematic action—things that force us to become involved in new activities, namely activities that get the focus off us, those already on to inside to others, those outside our church in need of a relationship with their creator. The shift also requires powerful symbolic activities—something that grabs our attention, giving us something new and vivid on which to focus. (Marcus Buckingham, The One Thing You Need to Know, 182)

Planting a church may be the most powerful symbolic action a leader can take when trying to revitalize their own church. Planting a church says that nothing is sacred except the mission. The benefits of church planting for the sponsoring church are so counterintuitive that it unequivocally focuses the church’s attention on kingdom growth rather than self-preservation. It communicates that “we are so committed to kingdom growth we are committed to supporting something outside of ourselves, we are willing to sacrifice leaders, talent and money to see unreached people reached. It is one of the most powerful demonstrations of faith an organization can make to its congregation. It may be the most powerful tool in shifting the focus off ourselves and onto people outside the walls of our church.

In “The Effect of Church Planting on the Sponsor Church,” Jay Farmer writes:
Church planting involves a great deal of risk for the established church. Kevin Mannoia surmised that “it takes risk to keep the mission paramount — to witness for Christ and to plant new churches. Yet if we are serious about growth and making Him known, there is no more effective way to do so than to start new churches.” C. Peter Wagner gave five reasons why planting new churches is so important. These five reasons are:

1. Church planting is biblical. Church planting is the New Testament way of extending the gospel.

2. Church planting means denominational survival. One of the absolutely essential ingredients for reversing the decline is vigorously planting new churches.

3. Church planting develops new leadership. New churches open wide the doors of leadership and ministry challenges and the entire body of Christ subsequently benefits.

4. Church planting stimulates existing churches. In more cases than not, a new church in the community tends to raise the religious interest of the people in general and, if handled properly, can be of benefit to existing churches. That which blesses the Kingdom of God as a whole, also blesses the churches that truly are a part of the Kingdom.

5. Church planting is efficient. There is no more practical or cost-effective way of bringing unbelievers to Christ in a given geographical area than planting new churches.

In this list of reasons for church planting Wagner identified three key factors for how church planting aids in church revitalization. These factors are: (1) planting churches is biblical and obedience results in blessings, (2) planting churches raises the spiritual watertable of the community, and (3) planting churches stimulates existing churches toward evangelistic growth. (C. Peter Wagner, Church Planting for a Greater Harvest)

According to Jay Farmer, churches that do choose to take the risk do benefit tangibly from planting another church. Churches that plant see:
1. A significant increase in Sunday Morning Worship attendance over five years.
2. A Significant increase in annual baptisms over five years.
3. A significant increase in Sunday School attendance over five years.
(Click here to see the full report.)