Why We Plant Churches

Though many Christian activities and agencies are worthwhile, only local churches can completely fulfill the holistic functions of the kingdom found in the Great Commission: Therefore, claiming His inheritance of the nations as Christ commanded demands the planting of new churches through the length and breath of that inheritance.

The Apostles were abundantly clear on Jesus’ instruction to extend His kingdom through the planting of new churches. Paul and the other pastors were not itinerant evangelists but itinerant church planters, starting congregations of worship wherever they went, churches which clearly displayed the three marks of a biblical church: true biblical proclamation, the right use of the sacraments, and discipline/church government.  We see gospel preaching in all the churches in all different cultures: “I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). We see the sacraments: “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). We see biblical discipline and government as well: “Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust” (Acts 14:23). 

What is a Church?

When Jesus Christ gave us the Great Commission, He very intentionally embedded those three biblical marks of the church within it. When planting churches, we must keep these in mind so that we properly follow the Commission by planting healthy churches.  

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

Consider the first mark, true biblical preaching. Jesus said, “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” While Christ gives His word to all believers, the authority to proclaim the whole counsel of God is uniquely handed to His church. We are to have His duly ordained ministers of the gospel proclaiming for all, “Thus says the Lord.”

The second mark of the church, the right use of the sacraments, is represented by the command to baptize new disciples. Baptism along with the Lord’s Supper, while available to all believers, is again uniquely given to the local church to administer in accordance with the regulations contained within the New Testament, by those rightly ordained to do so (see 1 Corinthians 11).

The third mark of the church, church discipline and government, is also contained in the Great Commission. Christ proclaiming His authority, delegates it to His Church, giving the church leaders the keys of the kingdom as outlined in Matthew 16:18. This authority is used to govern and discipline the people of God. Jesus orders the Church to make disciples. Making disciples requires the authority to discipline, to say “No,” and make it stick. The Church, and not an individual, has the biblical authority to finally excommunicate from the fellowship. (Matthew 18: 17, “tell it to the church”).

We are commanded to go to all nations, bringing them to Christ. To do this, we are to faithfully plant churches, churches that are biblical, keeping in mind the three marks so that we might have healthy churches that then can plant more churches.

The History of Church Planting in Missions

Historically, the Church has understood the necessity of church planting to extend God’s kingdom in the world. Patrick of Ireland (389-461) is reported to have established as many as 200 churches across the country. Augustine of Canterbury in 597 came to evangelize England, sending workers across the country to establish churches and entire districts of churches.

After the first Reformed Church was established in Paris in 1555, the movement of church planting exploded across France, growing to about 2150 congregations by 1562, with more than two million members. Many of the pastors for these new churches were supplied by the new reformed seminaries, such as the Genevan Academy. The need for new church planting pastors prompted John Calvin to write: “From all quarters demands for ministers are addressed to us, and though we have no more to send, yet such is the importunity of those who ask, that we must choose certain ministers from the lower ranks of the people.”
The Moravians, after experiencing a revival in their congregation with a 24/7 prayer watch, began sending church-planting missionaries around the world. Between 1732 and 1760, 226 Moravians entered ten foreign countries, including the American Colonies. At its peak, 1 out of 60 local church members was sent as a missionary. The average evangelical church in the US today, by contrast, may send only 1 out of 1000.

The Modern Practice of Church Planting in Missions

Many modern mission agencies and denominations also recognize that church planting is the most effective way to extend the kingdom of God in our age. C. Peter Wagner, then the Dean of the Fuller Theological School of World Mission said, “The single most effective evangelistic strategy under heaven is the planting of new churches.” 

The Presbyterian Church in America has set this as its mission statement to plant churches: “The PCA aims to fill the world with churches that are continually growing in vital worship, in theological depth, in true fellowship, in assertive evangelism, and in deeds of compassion.”

Amsterdam 2000, which Dr. Billy Graham convened to fulfill the Great Commission, set as its first priority for world evangelism the planting of new churches. “To work toward the planting of churches within every remaining people group as we seek to evangelize and make disciples.” 

The Health of Churches in Church Planting Missions

Given the biblical mandate within the Great Commission, the apostolic ministry of church planting, the historical application of church planting, and the modern missions practice, it should come as no surprise that every local church today, in order to be both obedient to Christ and blessed by Him, should plant churches and do so with vigor.

Clearly we have seen that churches which engage in church planting are blessed by God. According to Ed Stetzer, research demonstrates that: “Churches which sponsor church plants are positively affected in Sunday morning worship attendance, baptisms, and Sunday school attendance. Furthermore, churches which sponsor a new church plant every three to five years have the potential to sustain growth for an extended period.”

Jesus not only supplied the concept of church planting to His people, but He also supplied a geographic strategy for us. “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Just as the Apostles were to follow this basic pattern, so are we to minister in our town, our region, and across the entire world. This is not to say that any one church should reach the entire world by themselves or even their entire city. But each church can reach some locally and globally through church planting. Even when the church is quite small they can team up with other churches to help plant churches.

The Results of Church Planting in Missions

I’ve experienced this personally, planting a church in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina, where my family served for 26 years. Having helped plant numerous local churches, which began in our first year while having just 30 or 40 members, our congregation eventually expanded our church planting internationally to cities like Prague, Athens, and Kuala Lumpur.

The excitement of sending a church planting team of our own people to Prague, and then developing a relational connection between Charlotte and Prague, positively impacted everyone in our church. Over the decades, we saw a flow of team members as new missionaries, short-term mission teams, financial support, prayer support, constant communication, and heartfelt prayer passed through this relational pipeline between Charlotte and Prague.

Multiply the many local daughter churches by the several international church plants and our congregation was transformed into a leadership greenhouse for the kingdom of God. We were, by God’s grace, able to send out more than 100 planters, missionaries, and pastors. All the while our church continued to grow in numbers and vitality.

This has been the most effective form of missions throughout the history of the church: build healthy local churches and these can spread around the world reaching new peoples and communities. Faithfully practice the three main marks of a church so that it might be healthy: preach the Bible, administer the sacraments, and disciple and discipline the members. Then help to reproduce healthy churches with these same strengths. Healthy churches are not merely focused on survival. They grow and spread like a healthy plant. 

Why should your local church be deeply committed to planting churches locally and internationally? Christ gave us these marching orders in the Great Commission. Biblical history and church history have affirmed this as the healthiest way for the local church to extend Christ’s rule. Modern mission practices affirm this, while research and experience demonstrate that those churches which plant churches thrive. There is, as Dr. Wagner said, simply no better way under heaven to grow God’s kingdom and His church, than through healthy churches planting new churches.