Recently, I was given a really good book to read from my pastor on what makes or breaks a church before it launches entitled: Church in the Making by Ben Arment. Arment is a church planter and researcher who has experience and credibility in the field. A good summary of his book can be found on pages 142-3 which I quote here:
Mysterious transplants are a fascinating study. The trouble is, we carry this same fascination over to the idea of transplanted church planters. We hear stories about ambitious, young visionaries who prayed over a map until God revealed their target city like an epiphany from Gabriel. We hear about them packing up their cars without a plan an moving to strange cities to take them by storm...They give us hope that all we need is enough faith and determination, and we too can succeed...A church planter may, in fact, accidentally land on the perfect context for his vision. But it's not the most likely scenario.
According to Arment's research, parachute drop church plants simply do not survive. An alternative, and better church planting strategy is to plant from within:
Most successful church plants are not the product of imported visions. They were the deliberate effort of a local leader to meet the need in his own community. They were started by leaders who had a deep understanding of their own towns...They were started by people who understood what kind of church was needed in a particular community...A transplanted church planter cannot do this...He doesn't have the deep relationships...he doesn't know what churches are already thriving...He's never considered the ecclesiographics.
Here's the climax:
The most effective church plants were not imported; they were homegrown.
For a while now, I have been wrestling with God, much like Jacob at the Jabbok about His call for us to plant a church right here in Zeeland, MI. When I write this and verbalize this - it seems absurd to me. Zeeland is probably the last place on earth that needs another church, but when I look around my neighborhood I know there are people around me who are not connected to the churches already here. Why? I think quite frankly, because they would not feel welcomed in those churches. And it takes all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people.
I've seen church plants begin and fail here. Which is scarry, to be honest. But I'll continue to pursue this in prayer and pray you join me.
