To date we have recorded 11 new churches/missions and 1 Bible group having been started since June of 2007. If there are more out there we would love to hear about them.
We have also heard of three works that have closed their doors this last year. But all of that information is not in yet since we only started that research a couple of months ago.
If 11 new works is all that we can determine for 2007/08 then that's all there is! Out of over 1200 churches this is less than a one per-cent increase in the last year. Then subtract the three that closed their doors and you see where we are.
The obvious conclusion will be that we are not starting new churches nor starting new missions to an acceptable level. Where is all the mission money going to in the USA through our ABA work? If we have received over two million dollars for missions surely we would be seeing more new works started than what we have seen.
From my understanding (someone straighten me out if I am wrong) we added new interstate missionaries but not one went out to start a new work but instead took over existing works. How long can we do this and expect an increase in new churches being started?
Please understand, my desire is to see our fellowship start more churches/missions. What are we going to do about this matter? We would love to hear what your solution would be to this really big problem.
David
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When,door be closed,we must pray to God that I want to use your new rooms,so please provide me people.
Any more new church?Please hear the voice over the sea from Japan,too.
It's so nice to share same vision of church planting here with you,David.
The first answer would be that we cut the double standard. We put one guy on salary and we tell another one to get a job. Next would be that we offer limited funding to existing missions/churches (based on some criteria) and that we offer more funding for startups. The third thing would be to develop a proactive training program that would get the men interested trained with the essentials and out on the field DOING! We seem to be all about "educating" but little about doing. The only real thing that will change this is a change of FOCUS! We must focus on helping the DOING!!!
BE YE DOERS OF THE WORD AND NOT HEARERS ONLY!!!
John Skipworth
Instead of paying 80% salaries to a handful of guys to "pastor" churches/missions, most of the $2M/yr could be used to support full time missionary trainers.
For example: These "trainers" could be sent out into spacific regions of the U.S. (and world) to diagnose the need for additional churches within their given area. They could then recruit and train men to go into these particular areas, get jobs, and start churches. If need be, these men could draw a gradually decreasing partial salary over a two to three year period.
Also, churches shouldn't be asked to pay for other churches buildings. If a church wants to buy land and build a building, that is GREAT, but the expense should be born by that particular church, not any association.
This type of change would help ensure that more money would actually go toward church planting, and not trying to keep dying churches on life support.
There are certainly other factors to consider, but this could be a starting point. BTW, this concept is NOT new.
Just a thought.
It seems to me that this issue is about "meeting needs." And, when it comes to meeting needs, its my observation that folks are inwardly focused on themselves. Casting vision for an outward focus on the "needs of others" takes some kind of ingenuity and genius that I simply don't have. Especially in these times of increased living expenses, folks tell me that they are only interested in meeting "their own" needs day by day. Faith in the power of God is getting harder and harder to preach to people whose income is smaller and weaker than it used to be, while their gasoline and food costs are ever increasing.
My prayers continue for XSTREAM Global Missions and all the work associated therewith. Your battle is as "uphill" as mine.
In Christ,
Gene
Jeff has some great thoughts!
Bro Suzuki in Japan...
Praise God for your vision for church planting. My prayer is that you and all of our brothers in Japan will be passionate about evangelizing! Evangelizing works in Japan. Unfortunately, very few do it with enthusiasm. Many are fearful to do this even though your Japanese society will permit it. Go for it brother, you have nothing to lose by trying.
David
Jeff you are on target but to change the direction in which we are going will probably take an earthquake of 8.5 magnitude. I would love to join with a group of men who would put your concept together in a productive and actual way. Maybe we need to form our own church planting fellowship.
I don't think it's really a good idea to divert the support from missionaries to trainers. Support the men going to the front lines to do the work, not the ones who will sit back in offices and tell them what they think.
The problem is a lack of men answering the call to go to the mission fields, not a lack of research and coaches. Once that problem is resolved, the number of new works will flourish.
Leland,
Thanks for your thoughts. However, most serious trainers and coaches are often on the field walking alongside of church planters. Mike Prince has done this in many places he has gone for Reach America.
Some of our missionaries/church planters don't recognize the need of training or coaching. So it would appear that the need is for more church planters and not trainers. Nonetheless,funding men who have had church planting experience to go train young men to better plant churches is a concept that works very well. It has been very successful in the SBC work.
Some of us think that we just need a Bible and a passion for souls and then lets go! All too often these men give up in despair and frustration because they didn't have the church planting tools that would have helped them when their passion died.
Our track record in the ABA speaks for itself: 12 new works in one year and not one new work started by our interstate missionaries!
Yes, we do need more church planters, but this will not solve the problem. We need men who know what they are dong! They need training and mentoring desperately.
Believe it or not, the SBC is struggling to get new works started as well, at least so is the case in Colorado.
I'm not totally against church planting coaches, but I do object to taking the majority of the $2M missions budget to fund coaches or "trainers", as Jeff suggested. I also object to requiring missionaries to utilize "trainers" or coaches in order to be eligible for associational support, as has been casually mentioned during the last two Texas state meetings. Any missionary with common sense will realize that he needs a mentor for strength and encouragement. My guess is that some of these men are turning to other missionaries. In my case, I turn to my pastor and a former missionary who planted five churches across the state of Texas, some of which are in the very region where I am working, and I get the pleasure of associating with them.
Our track record of 12 new works in the ABA over one year may speak for itself, but we have to figure out the cause for so few works being started. I doubt the cause is a lack of church planting coaches. According to Reach America's Web site, there are 15 coaches, compared to the 12 new works in the ABA. Yourself included, there are 16 coaches. So the lack of coaches is not the issue.
My guess is, the lack of vision, the enormous task of moving to a new place and the expenses associated therewith, and the lack of knowledge of how to sponsor a missionary are the key discouraging factors in starting new works. Ministries that spread the vision of starting new works, along with how-to workshops for sponsoring missionaries would go a lot further than diverting limited missions funds to trainers, coaches and researchers. Such vision casting has been behind what success the SBC has enjoyed, not an abundance of coaches.
Leland, I could not agree with you more regarding the need for vision and the other important things you mentioned.
I am really not for taking the 2m from our associational budget for sending out trainers exclusively. Perhaps Jeff may have overstated his position somewhat (I can't speak for him).
Nonetheless, we have a real need for vision to be established among our people. But what does vision entail?
Reach America and XSTREAM are such ministries as you described. We are doing what we can do to cast a vision for church planting. We just need a lot more to get on board with us and help us facilitate the vision.
Unfortunately, so many of our well intentioned, God-called missionaries, are not trained well enough to do the work.They have great theology and doctrine, but little or no practicalities. Many are not suited for the field that they have gone to, and many others lack the knowledge or direction to go from point A to point B in church planting.
Planting churches today is very different from what it was 30 years ago. The principles are the same but the methodology has changed out of necessity.
Our prayer is that you will succeed by the Grace of God and plant another church within 3 years of having launched (organized).
Did you purchase the "church planter's toolkit"? Let me know if we can help.
David
I see your point, but a lot of the problems you mention can be fixed with common sense. I can think of works right off hand that fell into the pitfalls you mentioned.
Rest assured, Mission: Brownwood has good guidence. I am utilizing some tools I have been able to acquire (Ed Stetzer books, churchplantingvillage.net, etc), but have not purchased the toolkit or signed up with Reach America, and I really don't have a desire to right now.
I am getting personal guidence from my pastor, missionary friend, and grandfather-in-law who has recently planted a church in suburban Colorado Springs.
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