Christ Community Church

As you have probably heard by now, Oak Mountain, in partnership with Altadena Valley PCA, is going to be planting a new congregation in the Pelham / Helena area. Or as a friend put it, we are looking to plant a church in the greater “Pelhenabaster” region.

Why in the world do we feel like the South needs another church? Phil Chambers, our current Missions pastor and the church planter for this new congregation has some great answers to that very question. I would encourage you to contact Phil and buy him a cup of coffee. Get ready though. If you ask, he WILL talk. You will leave with absolutely no doubts as to his passion for Christ and the expansion of Christ’s kingdom.

In addition to taking Phil to coffee, the following is a recent blog post with some good thoughts on the issue. It kind of challenges our assumptions regarding America’s long term prospects of remaining the center of the evangelical world.

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The Need for American Church Planting
by Doug Roman

Here are two statistical reasons why American churches need to be concerned with planting churches in the United States:

The US population continues to grow rapidly.

David T. Olson’s writes in his 2008 book, The American Church in Crisis,

Alyzandra, or ‘Aly’ as her parents nicknamed her, was born in Chicago on October 18, 2006, just before six o’clock in the morning—near the exact time the Census Bureau predicted that the U.S. population would reach 300 million . . . Whoever was the 300 millionth America, his or her arrival made one thing perfectly clear—at a time when the populations of most developed nations were stagnant or declining, the United States was growing at unprecedented numbers (David T. Olson, The American Church in Crisis, 34).

As the population increases, we need to be more committed—not less committed—to establishing gospel-preaching churches in the United States.

The number of churches in America is not keeping up with the need.

4,009 churches are started every year but when churches that closed are factored in (3,700 every year!), we are simply not keeping up. Again from Olson’s book,

Unfortunately, the 3,700 churches that close per year reduce the impact of the 4,000 new churches that start, leaving a net yearly gain of 300 churches in the United States. A net gain of 3,205 churches is needed each year for the American church to keep up with the population growth (David T. Olson, The American Church in Crisis, 146).

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We often wrongly assume that if we can maintain what we have, if we are not loosing members, then we are doing well. Or even if (praise God) we are in a particular church that is growing, then we assume we are doing all we can for the Kingdom. Yet there are many individuals and families that, for fear of size or possibly lack of identification with an established churches perceived socio-economic status, will never consider walking into a larger, established church. Church planting is an incredible opportunity for reaching out to those in our communities who may not be comfortable with what is being offered at a larger church, or also for reaching those who may not be churched at all.

Redeemer PCA in Manhattan has the following response to the question of why they are committed to planting multiple churches throughout the city.

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Why does Redeemer put a priority on church planting?

The Biblical Mandate

Jesus' Great Commission was not simply a call to "teach" and "make disciples" but also to "baptize". Baptism in the New Testament meant incorporation into the worshipping community where there would be teaching, administration of the sacraments and accountability. (Acts 2:41-47)

Practical Wisdom

New churches best reach the unchurched.

Dozens of denominational studies have confirmed that the average new church gains most of its members (60-80%) from among people outside any worshipping community, while churches over 20 years old gain most of their new member (0-20%) from people moving from other congregations. Therefore new churches are 5-10 times better at drawing new people into the Body of Christ.

New churches best reach new residents, new generations and new people groups.

New residents are disproportionately found in new congregations because newcomers do not need years of tenure before their voices are heard or before they can gain real leadership and influence in the church. New and younger generations are found in large numbers in new churches, because there is greater openness to new ministry approaches and to new leadership. Newly arrived groups of people are found in new congregations because of a contextualized approach in evangelism, worship and discipleship. (Language, cultural sensitivity, worship styles).