The "Why?" series. Part 1 Why Church planting?

For the last three years Tim has been studying and preparing to work in full-time Christian Ministry.  And over that time (and before it) we have been discussing what kind of ministry we might do.  While we loved our time working with students, Tim's heart was really in pastoral ministry.  But the where, who with, and what format were still up in the air.  And through that time people were asking us about what we might do.

And now we have the answer: that we will (God willing) be church planting in 2012 in Box Hill, Victoria.

But there are still lots of questions.  And most of those questions are "why" questions.  So I thought I'd take the time over the next few posts to go through some of the why questions that we commonly get asked when we talk about our plans.  Why Church Planting?, Why Us?, and Why Box Hill?

So...
Why Church Planting?
There are all over Australia existing churches with buildings and resources who don't have pastors.  In Australia, most Suburbs have a church in them.  So why create more?

Because there are not enough. 
The truth is all the people of Australia need to hear about Jesus, and the churches that we have are not enough to reach them all.  And with the new people arriving in Melbourne each year we need many new churches to cover them anyway.

Our existing churches do not appeal or reach everyone.
New churches reach new people and they do it in new ways. Some people are naturally attracted to traditional churches.  Just a few days ago I had a man ring our office at the Baptist Church we currently attend, wanting to find out if he could come along so his daughter could get "Christian values".  That's a wonderful thing, that he was seeking something and thought a church could offer it.  But there are also people who naturally shy away from existing denominations or church buildings, because of bad experiences in the past, or because those churches are just very alien to their world.  So new churches can have a powerful role to reach out to those in the community who are not interested in joining a "mainstream" church.

Flexibility and the power to create a culture. 
All churches will have a culture, a set of priorities and principals that drive them.  The great strength of church planting is that with the clean slate, you can create a culture that puts evangelism at it's very heart.  You also have a bit more flexibility to try things and experiment.  It is possible to take this too far and be so interested in 'attracting' the lost that you forget what the Bible says about what is necessary and effective for a Christian Gathering and Evangelism. But provided you have Biblical principals guiding what you should do, church planting can open up the possibilities of what you "can" do.

Because church planting is an excellent avenue for Evangelism. 
New churches tend to do more evangelism.  I don't know why.  Maybe it's a survival thing- if you don't grow, you won't survive.  Perhaps it's a passion thing; often Christians who are drawn to church planting are those who are passionate about the lost.  But whatever the reason, in the history of the church in Australia, it has been the denominations that have church planted which have seen the most growth and conversions. For example in the 1970's the AOG denomination declared its intention to plant a church in every Australian town over 1000 people. They did not achieve this, but in the 20 years that followed they grew by 2,500% accross the nation and planted thousands of churches. Sadly it's the denominations who stop seeking growth and multiplication who find themselves in decline.

My story
Now, on a personal level, this question and these answers have been quite pertinent to me.  You see, when Tim first starting thinking about Church Planting, I was not on board.  I was keen to support Tim in whatever ministry was the best use of what God had given him, but was also keen that that ministry would not be church planting ;P  Church planting to me was a scary thing!  It didn't hold the security or even the respectability of an existing, denominational church.  I knew that it would be hard work, and I knew that it would involve suffering.  And so I prayed, I pray that God would either change Tim's mind or change my mind so that whatever we did, we could do it on the same page.

In March last year we were down in Melbourne for Tim's brother's engagement party.  And while we were down I was overcome with a love for Melbourne.  It was my home, and I loved it.  And I wanted the lost of Melbourne to know Jesus.  And I began to realise that church planting was a wonderful way to see that happen.

I had also been leading Bible studies on Philippians at that time, and had been reminded again of Paul and his willingness to joyfully suffer, to the point of being arrested, so that people could hear of Jesus.  And I was reminded again that I had a saviour who was worth suffering for.

And finally I realised that I would rather have no security and see people become Christian, than have lots of security, but no one reached for the kingdom.

And so now, despite still being afraid, I am really excited to be church planting.  And while I think it is not the only effective, important ministry, I think it is the best ministry for us.  But more of that in my next post.
Cheers,
Belinda