Kentucky District C.P.R.

Workshop
(Church Planting & Revitalization)

Why Plant Churches?

Terry Crigger, CPR Director & Pastor of Christs Chapel

The Battle Within: A Personal Devotion by Terry Crigger

Im both a pastor and an evangelist at heart. And as much as I know both callings are to coexist peacefully together, thats not what often happens, especially when it comes to church planting. Let me explain. As a pastor I am called to shepherd the people of God under my care. Its a responsibility I give my whole heart to fulfill. It requires my time and energy, as well as my devotion. Long days and frequent interruptions into an already busy schedule is the norm. All pastors know the routine and we give ourselves fully to it. Why? Because we love Gods people and embrace caring for them as a high priority for our lives. I also love the lost and the evangelist in me makes that an equally important part of my calling. I love lost folks visiting and attending my church, hanging out with the saints and hopefully making a decision of faith. We are blessed to have unsaved folks in our congregation all the time. But heres the rub I know the statistics. I know that new churches are statistically some of the best soil for lost folks to find Jesus. And new church plants in my community will essentially be a large part of how Gods answer my prayer to save the lost in my Jerusalem. The evangelist in me rejoices when new church plants come into my community. But the pastor in me doesnt get nearly as excited. Why? Because new church plants always bring about a transition in my own congregation. Folks I have invested in and loved and cared about for years occasionally have a desire to help in the establishment of new church plants and I dont easily let go of folks I have been called to pastor. Thus the battle within me rages. Its happened before and its happening in me again, right now. So today I pray Lord, give me grace and calm the storm within me. Help me to remember that my calling and my control of things is not the same thing. Help me to discover once again that the church, even my church, belongs to you more than it does to me. The pastor and evangelist in me seem to constantly be at war with one another. Today, I confess the struggle and ask for a truce. I am so grateful that you use these moments to remind me once again that your kingdom is so much bigger than me. Make the pastor and evangelist inside of me drop their individual swords to become lifetime friends and ministry partners. Jesus, give me peace. In your name I pray, Amen.

Part 1: Numbers Dont Lie

Weve all heard the saying, Numbers Dont Lie. That statement is usually true but how numbers get used can sometimes misrepresent the facts or lead to conclusions that are not altogether accurate. Either way, the purpose of this session is to look at the real attendance numbers of the Assemblies of God fellowship during the past several years globally, nationally, and in the state of Kentucky. Having looked at those numbers, the question must be asked if we are at a place where considering a different attitude and approach to church planting and reaching the un-churched is necessary for substantial strides to be made, especially in our state of Kentucky. Since 1987, the number of Assembly of God churches in the United States has grown from 11,004 to 12,457, and increase during those 23 years of 1453 (13.2%). During that same time, our worship service attendance has grown from 1,474,156 to 1,886,785, an increase of 412,629 (28%). When considering adherents to our Assembly of God churches, those numbers expand from 2,160,667 to 3,030,944, an increase of 870,277 (40.3%) Globally since 1987, the number of Assembly of God churches has grown from 126,627 to 350,929, an increase of 224,302 (177.1%) and total adherents grew from 17,977,102 to 58,730,450, an increase of 40,753,348 (226.7%). During the past decade (2000 2010) the numbers are as follows Number of U.S. churches increased from 12,084 to 12,457 (3.1%) Number of U.S. attendance increased from 1,637,665 to 1,886,785 (15.2%) Number of U.S. adherents increased from 2,557,560 to 3,030,944 (18.5%) Number of Global churches increased from 222,519 to 350,929 (57.7%) Number of Global adherents increased from 38,229,266 to 58,730,450 (53.6%) In Kentucky, since the year 2000, the total number of churches has decreased from 158 to 153. The total adherents have also decreased from 28,665 to 21,474. These numbers reflect a sizeable decrease between 2007 (27,930) and 2008 (21,556) when a handful of our churches transitioned out of the Assemblies of God. Since that time (2008 to 2010), Kentucky adherents remain about the same (21,474). In 2010, when compared to other states of comparable populations (and geographically), Kentucky ranked as follows
State

Ohio Indiana Tennessee Minnesota Alabama South Carolina Louisiana Kentucky

Population Ranking

7th

14th 16th 21st 23rd 24th 25th 26th

11,536,000 6,438,000 6,346,000 5,266,000 4,708,000 4,560,000 4,492,000 4,314,000

Population

A/G Adherents

60,707 53,576 48,447 77,111 54,800 19,687 54,730 21,474

% of population

.5 .8 .7 1.5 1.2 .4 1.2 .5

Oregon Oklahoma Iowa Mississippi Arkansas Kansas New Mexico Nebraska Hawaii Montana North Dakota

27th 28th 30th 31st 32nd 33rd 36th 38th 41st 45th 49th

3,825,000 3,678,000 3,007,000 2,951,000 2,889,000 2,818,000 2,009,000 1,796,000 1,300,000 975,000 646,000

43,382 85,692 28,380 21,355 66,049 28,869 22,039 20,102 23,382 16,756 10,807

1.1 2.3 .9 .7 2.3 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.8 1.7 1.7

What the Numbers Tell Us...

The Assemblies of God has a tremendous record of church growth during the past 25 years. Although the past ten years have witnessed continuous church growth in the United States, the percentage rate of increase is about one-half of what it was over the entire 25 year history. Our most rapid growth remains in the area of foreign missions. Kentucky has about the same number of churches as it did nearly ten years ago and has experienced a significant decrease in overall adherents. This is largely due to a few larger churches transitioning our of the A/G. Compared to states like Ohio, Kentucky has a similar percentage of population attending its A/G churches. Compared to most other states, Kentucky has a smaller percentage of population attending its A/G churches.

United States Statistics

Increases in Assembly of God Churches 1987 to 2010

3,030,944 3,500,000

3,000,000

2,160,667

2,500,000 1,886,785 2,000,000 1,474,156

1,500,000

1,000,000

Adherents

500,000 11,004 0 1987 1987 12,457

WorshipA3endance

#AGChurchesinUS

2010

Part 2: WHY PLANT CHURCHES?

Introduction
The vigorous, continual planting of new congregations is the single most crucial strategy for 1) the numerical growth of the Body of Christ in any city, and 2) the continual corporate renewal and revival of the existing churches in a city. Nothing else--not crusades, outreach programs, para-church ministries, growing megachurches, congregational consulting, or church renewal processes, will have the consistent impact of dynamic, extensive church planting. This is an eyebrow raising statement. But to those who have done any study at all, it is not even controversial. The normal response to discussions about church planting is something like this: a. We already have plenty of churches that have lots of room for all the new people who have come to the area. Let's get them filled before we go off building any new ones. b. Every church in this community used to be more full than it is now. The church going public is a 'shrinking pie'. A new church here will just take people from churches already hurting and weaken everyone. c. Help the churches that are struggling first. A new church doesn't help the ones we have that are just keeping their heads above water. We need better churches, not more churches. These statements appear to be 'common sense' to many people, but they rest on several wrong assumptions. The error of this thinking will become clear if we ask 'Why is church planting so crucially important?' Because--

I. We want to be true to THE BIBLICAL MANDATE

A. Jesus' essential call was to plant churches. Virtually all the great evangelistic challenges of the New Testament are basically calls to plant churches, not simply to share the faith. The 'Great Commission' (Matt. 28:8-20) is not just a call to 'make disciples' but to 'baptize'. In Acts and elsewhere, it is clear that baptism means incorporation into a worshipping community with accountability and boundaries (Acts 2:41-47). The only way to be truly sure that you are increasing the number of Christians in a town is to increase the number of churches. Why? Because most traditional evangelism aims to get a decision for Christ. Experience, however, shows us that many of these 'decisions' disappear and never result in changed lives. Why? Many, many decisions are not really conversions, but often only the beginning of a journey of seeking God. (Other decisions are very definitely the moment of a 'new birth', but this differs from person to person.) Only a person who is being 'evangelized' in the context of an on-going worshipping and shepherding community can be sure of finally coming into vital, saving faith. This is why a leading 6

missiologist like C.Peter Wagner can say, "Planting new churches is the most effective evangelistic methodology known under heaven." Wager continues Once Paul had done that, he could say that he had 'fully preached' the gospel in a region and that he had 'no more work' to do there (Romans 15:19,23). This means Paul had two controlling assumptions: 1) that the way to most permanently influence a country was through its chief cities, and 2) the way to most permanently influence a city was to plant churches in it. Once he had accomplished this in a city, he moved on. He knew that the rest that needed to happen would follow. B. Paul's whole strategy was to plant urban churches. The greatest missionary in history, The Apostle Paul, had a rather simple, two-fold strategy. First, he went into the largest city of the region ( Acts 16:9,12), and second, he planted churches in each city (Titus 1:5) Response: 'But,' many people say, 'that was in the beginning. Now the country (at least our country) is filled with churches. Why is church planting important now?" We also plant churches because--

II. We want to be true to THE GREAT COMMISSION. Some facts-A. New churches best reach 1) new generations, 2) new residents, and 3) new people groups. First of all, (a) younger adults have always been disproportionately found in newer congregations. Long-established congregations develop traditions (such as time of worship, length of service, emotional responsiveness, sermon topics, leadership-style, emotional atmosphere, and many other tiny customs), which reflect the sensibilities of long-time leaders from the older generations who have the influence and money to control the church life. This does not reach younger generations. Secondly, (b) new residents are almost always reached better by new congregations. In older congregations, it may require tenure of 10 years before you are allowed into places of leadership and influence, but in a new church, new residents tend to have equal power with long-time area residents. Thirdly, (c) new socio-cultural groups in a community are always reached better by new congregations. For example, if new white-collar commuters move into an area where the older residents were farmers, it is likely that a new church will be more receptive to the myriad of needs of the new residents, while the older churches will continue to be oriented to the original social group. Also, new racial groups in a community are best reached by a new church that is intentionally multi-ethnic from the start. For example: if an all-Anglo neighborhood becomes 33% Hispanic, a new, deliberately bi-racial church will be far more likely to create 'cultural space' for newcomers than will an older church in town. Finally, brand new immigrant groups can nearly always and only be reached by churches ministering in their own language. If we wait until a new group is assimilated into American culture enough to come to our church, we will wait for years without reaching out to them. 7

[Note: Often, a new congregation for a new people-group can be planted within the overall structure of an existing church. It may be a new Sunday service at another time, or a new network of house churches that are connected to a larger, already existing congregation. Nevertheless, though it may technically not be a new independent congregation, it serves the same function.] In summary, new congregations empower new people and new groups of people much more quickly and readily than can older churches. Thus, they always have and always will reach them with greater aptitude than long-established bodies. This means, of course, that church planting is not only for 'frontier regions' or 'pagan' countries that we are trying to see become Christian. Christian countries will have to maintain vigorous, extensive church planting simply to stay Christian! B. New churches best reach the unchurched - period. Dozens of denominational studies have confirmed that the average new church gains most of its new members (60-80%) from the ranks of people who are not attending any worshipping body, while churches over 10-15 years of age gain 80-90% of their new members by transfer from other congregations. This means that the average new congregation will bring 6-8 times more new people into the life of the Body of Christ, than an older congregation of the same size. So, though established congregations provide many things that newer churches often cannot, older churches in general will never be able to match the effectiveness of new bodies in reaching people for the kingdom. Why would this be? As a congregation ages, powerful internal, institutional pressures lead it to allocate most of its resources and energy toward the concerns of its members and constituents, rather than toward those outside its walls. This is natural and to a great degree desirable. Older congregations therefore have a stability and steadiness on which many people thrive and need. This does not mean that established churches cannot win new people. In fact, many non-Christians will only be reached by churches with long roots in the community and the accompaniment of stability and respectability. However, new congregations, in general, are forced to focus on the needs of its nonmembers, simply in order to get off the ground. So many of its leaders have come very recently from the ranks of the un-churched, that the congregation is far more sensitive to the concerns of the non-believer. Also, in the first two years of our Christian walk, we have far more close, face-to- face relationships with nonChristians than we do later. Thus a congregation filled with people fresh from the ranks of the un-churched will have the power to invite and attract many more nonbelievers into the events and life of the church than will the members of the typical established body. What does this mean practically? If we want to reach our city, should we try to renew older congregations to make them more evangelistic, or should we plant lots of new churches? Obviously, we should do both! Nevertheless, all the facts remind us that, despite the occasional exceptions, the only wide scale way to bring new Christians to the Body of Christ in a permanent way is to plant new churches. 8

Response: Some people say, What about all the existing churches that need help? You seem to be ignoring them. Thats not completely true. We also plant churches because--

III. We want to continually RENEW THE WHOLE BODY OF CHRIST.

It is a great mistake to think that we have to choose between church planting and church renewal. Strange as it may seem, the planting of new churches in a city is one of the very best ways to revitalize many older churches in the vicinity and renew the whole Body of Christ. Why? A. First, the new churches bring new ideas to the whole Body. There is plenty of resistance to the idea that we need to plant new churches to reach the constant stream of 'new' groups and generations and residents. Many congregations insist that all available resources should be used in order to find ways of helping existing churches reach people. However, there is no better way to teach older congregations about new skills and methods for reaching new people groups than by planting new churches. It is the new churches that will have freedom to be innovative and in turn, become the 'Research and Development' department for the whole Body in the city. Often the older congregations are too timid to try a particular approach or are absolutely sure that it will 'not work here'. But when the new church in town succeeds wildly with some new method, the other churches eventually take notice and get the courage to try it as well. B. Second, new churches are one of the best ways to surface creative, strong leaders for the whole Body. In older congregations, leaders emphasize tradition, tenure, routine, and kinship ties. New congregations, on the other hand, attract a higher percentage of venturesome people who value creativity, risk, innovation and future orientation. Many of these men and women would never be attracted or compelled into significant ministry apart from the appearance of these new bodies. Often older churches 'box out' many people with strong leadership skills who cannot work in more traditional settings. New churches thus attract and harness many people in the city whose gifts would otherwise not be utilized in the work of the Body. These new leaders benefit the whole city eventually. C. Third, the new churches challenge other churches to self-examination. The "success" of new churches often challenges older congregations in general to evaluate themselves in substantial ways. Sometimes it is only in contrast with a new church that older churches can finally define their own vision, specialties, and identity. Often the growth of the new congregation gives the older churches hope that 'it can be done', and may even bring about humility and repentance for defeatist and pessimistic attitudes. Sometimes, new congregations can partner with older churches to mount ministries that neither could do by themselves. Summary: Vigorous church planting is one of the best ways to renew the existing churches of a city, as well as the best single way to grow the whole Body of Christ in a 9

city. There is one more reason why it is good for the existing churches of the region to initiate or at least support the planting of churches in a given area. We plant churches--

IV. As an exercise in KINGDOM-MINDEDNESS

All in all, church planting helps an existing church the best when the new congregation is voluntarily 'birthed' by an older 'mother' congregation. Often the excitement, new leaders and ministries as well as additional members and income 'washes back' into the mother church in various ways to strengthen and renew it. Though there is some pain in seeing good friends and some leaders go away to form a new church, the mother church usually experiences a surge of high self-esteem and an influx of new enthusiastic leaders and members. However, a new church in the community usually confronts churches with a major issue--the issue of 'kingdom-mindedness'. New churches, as we have seen, draw most of their new members (up to 80%) from the ranks of the unchurched, but they will always attract some people out of existing churches. That is inevitable. At this point, the existing churches, in a sense, have a question posed to them: "Are we going to rejoice in the 80%--the new people that the kingdom has gained through this new church, or are we going to bemoan and resent the three families we lost to it?" In other words, our attitude to new church development is a test of whether our mindset is geared to our own institutional turf, or to the overall health and prosperity of the kingdom of God in the city. Any church that is more upset by their own small losses rather than the kingdoms large gains reveals its narrow interests. Yet, as we have seen, the benefits of new church planting to older congregations is very great, even if that may not be obvious initially. SUMMARY If we briefly glance at the objections to church planting in the introduction, we can now see the false premises beneath the statements. A. Assumes that older congregations can reach newcomers as well as new congregations. But to reach new generations and people groups will require both renewed older churches and lots of new churches. B. Assumes that new congregations will only reach current active churchgoers. But new churches do far better at reaching the unchurched, and thus they are the only way to increase the 'churchgoing pie'. C. Assumes that new church planting will only discourage older churches. There is a possibility of this, but new churches for a variety of ways, are one of the best ways to renew and revitalize older churches. D. Assumes that new churches only work where the population is growing. Actually, they reach people wherever the population is changing. If new people are coming in to replace former residents, or new groups of people are coming in--even though the net population figure is stagnant--new churches are needed. New church planting is the only way that we can be sure we are going to increase the number of believers in a city and one of the best ways to renew the whole Body of Christ. The evidence for this statement is strong--biblically, sociologically, and historically. In the end, a lack of kingdom-mindedness may simply blind us to all this evidence. 10

Overview of Older Churches and New Church Plants

Older Churches The older churches will continue to be oriented to the original social group. New Church Plants Best to reach New Generations, New Residents, New People Groups. A new church will be more receptive to the myriad of needs of the new residents. In a new church, new people tend to have equal power with long-time members.

Deep in traditions which reflect the sensibilities of long-time leaders from the older generations who have the influence and money to control the church life. In older congregations, it may require tenure of 10 years before you are allowed into places of leadership and influence. Churches over 10-15 years of age gain 80-90% of their new members by transfer from other congregations. Powerful internal, institutional pressures lead it to allocate most of its resources and energy toward the concerns of its members and constituents, rather than toward those outside its walls.

New congregations empower new people and new groups of people much more quickly and readily than can older churches. The average new church gains most of its new members (60-80%) from the ranks of people who are not attending any worshipping body. Are forced to focus on the needs of its non-members, simply in order to get off the ground. So many of its leaders have come very recently from the ranks of the un-churched, that the congregation is far more sensitive to the concerns of the non-believer. People fresh from the ranks of the un-churched will have the power to invite and attract many more nonbelievers into the events and life of the church than will the members of the typical established body.

Have a stability and steadiness on which many people thrive and need.

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Older Churches Often the older congregations are too timid to try a particular approach or are absolutely sure that it will 'not work here'. Leaders emphasize tradition, tenure, routine, and kinship ties.

New Church Plants Have freedom to be innovative and in turn, become the 'Research and Development' department for the whole Body. Attract a higher percentage of venturesome people who value creativity, risk, innovation and future orientation. New churches attract and harness many people whose gifts would otherwise not be utilized. Sometimes the new church is very exciting and outward facing but is also very unstable or immature in its leadership. Ordinarily, the new churches of a city produce new people not only for themselves, but for the older bodies as well.

Often older churches 'box out' many people with strong leadership skills who cannot work in more traditional settings. Some converts cannot stand the tumultuous changes that regularly come through the new church and they move to an existing church. Sometimes the new church reaches a person for Christ, but the new convert quickly discovers that he or she does not 'fit' the socio-economic make up of the new congregation, and gravitates to an established congregation where the customs and culture feels more familiar.

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Part 3: A Kentucky Analysis

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Part 4: Church Planting and Revitalization: Vision, Strategy, Philosophy & Goals
Our Vision:
To create a structure whereby church planters are recognized, equipped and released to pioneer healthy churches in Kentucky and to assist current pastors and church leaders in overcoming the barriers of numerical growth and common ministry plateaus.

Our Strategy:
* Building pastoral relationships within the Kentucky District committed to the journey of establishing a network of trust and friendship as ideas and vision are shared that expand the kingdom of God within the framework of local churches. * Participating in an aggressive journey of prayer and planning that results in a high percentage of involvement from our Kentucky ministries and churches in order to accomplish our stated goals.

Our Philosophy and Goals:

The local church is Gods idea and remains the primary witness of Jesus Christ upon this planet. The Great Commission is our mandate for evangelism that begins in each local church and expands first to our communities and then to the nations of the world. Church Planting and Revitalization is the biblical and primary strategy for enlarging the Kingdom of God. Cooperating with that strategy will assure success by increasing both the number of people coming to Christ and in believers maturing in the faith. Our Superintendent, Joe Girdler, has stated our collective goal to significantly increase the number of churches in our district, which currently numbers approximately 150. Three specific goals for Church Planting between the years of 2010 and 2020 are Goal #1: Every county in Kentucky should have an Assembly of God witness. There are 120 counties in Kentucky and currently (2011) 35 counties without an Assembly of God church. It is the goal of the Kentucky District to assure each of those counties has at least one Assembly of God church by the year 2020.

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Goal #2: That by the year 2020, each of the 12 Kentucky District sections pray, prepare and plant three additional Assembly of God churches that focuses on counties with no Assembly of God witness or strategic areas where population growth warrants more attention. Goal #3: That the areas in Kentucky with more aggressive population growth such as Northern Kentucky, Louisville and Lexington plant a minimum of five additional Assembly of God churches by 2020.

Accomplishing these goals within the decade of 2010 to 2020 seems challenging, yet realistic and visionary. With clarity of spiritual insight, our primary challenge is in moving beyond the business as usual mentality and choosing to believe God for something miraculous in our lifetime. Having an ending goal of establishing nearly 50 church plants in one decade eliminates the pressure of creating something too quickly that will be short lived, and it also gives us adequate time to create strategy and foundational structure to build for lasting success. Reaching this goal will result in the total of approximately 200 churches by the end of this decade (2020). Revitalization is a key ingredient to our overall success as well; in fact, it is usually a prerequisite for church planting. All churches experience the numerical and spiritual barriers that cause a degree of stagnation and plateau. Therefore, our collective goal is that all of our pastors, ministers and churches will commit to the journey of revitalization. No longer will revitalization simply define the one or two congregations in each section that have seen no measurable growth in recent years or those specific churches with facilities needing repair. Revitalization will more appropriately define pastors and congregations that will invest in the journey of discovery and action necessary for ongoing and sustainable growth. It is a common church fact that a revitalizing congregation is also a planting congregation. This does not always translate specifically into a specific church plant but it does usually find expression in life-giving/fruit bearing ministry.

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