Why Plant A Church?

I recently sat in a tavern with my friend Jim. I looked across the table and simply asked, “Am I crazy for thinking about planting a church?” Jim did not hesitate in his response. “Everyone who plants a church is a little crazy, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it.” My memory may not be exact but that was the general sense of the exchange.

Honestly, I have struggled to see myself as a church planter. My understanding has been that successful church planters were those ministers who had a strong marketing or entrepreneurial personality. Since these are not strengths I could claim, I ruled myself out of church planting. Despite my feelings of being unqualified, the prospect of planting has been a reoccurring question in ministry. At one time, I considered God might use us to plant a sister church, but our church leadership at the time did not share that vision. I took their response to be an external confirmation of my standing internal assumption that God did not plan to use me to plant a church.

So, why the change? What would cause me to accept the challenge at this time in my life? As I begin to form answers to those questions several ideas come to mind. First, we have felt compelled to move from the Seattle area to be closer to family in Arkansas. However, finding a church position close enough to have a significant impact in their lives has proven to be difficult. In eight months of searching, we had not found any opportunities within a reasonable distance of our family—even when extending our search through networking. Second, the churches with whom we had applied and interviewed revealed differences in theology, polity and philosophy of ministry. As a result, we determined, or it was determined for us, we were not a good fit. Even so, this began to give us a new perspective. We could be in a unique position to plant a church which is not being expressed in that area. Third, for the first time in my ministry career we have people and a church who are excited to support us in planting a new church. In previous churches, planting was not a priority that was being considered by church leadership. So, the church planting conversations or offers to partnership with financial support never happened. However, we now have a church that desires to send us out to establish a new kingdom outpost. This partnership has been life-giving for me. I feel propelled by a flood of energy and excitement coming from others who desire to see us plant. It is clear, God’s time for us to plant is now, in this crazy season. It is God who is shaping us on a very personal level and leading us to prayerfully pursue the amazing opportunity to plant a brand-new church.