Church Planting

I've been knee-deep in planting a church now since this last summer. My sending church, Oregon City Christian Church, is supporting me to expand the Gospel. It's pretty awesome and something I've been wanting to do for a long time. We're actually coming upon the start of our weekend service beginning. That is what this post will be about.

Part of what I've been spending time doing is looking at how churches operate and how well those churches are reaching people. It's been really good and something that I love doing. I've seen some really cool things where people are engaging the culture and effectively sharing Jesus. One church in particular is about two-and-a-half years old and has grown to about 800, with well over half of those being new believers. Awesome.

There has also been some things that are troubling to me. One church I was looking at online offered people to join them in worship "if they could find them." I get that that can make it seem cool and really locally focused on a particular neighborhood. My issue is what if someone heard about that church and wanted to find where it met to visit without sending them an email? This seems to miss a big part of how churches can reach out to their community.

Going into this church plant, I was really anti-buying a building. Part of that was coming from a church where 1/3 to 1/4 of the tithes had to go to pay a mortgage. That is too much to pay and I saw how it hindered the church. So that made me reject buildings and think how cool it'll be to be completely mobile, working in coffee shops, pubs, and my living room. There is a very big advantage to that. I'm in the community a lot. I support local businesses this way. I get to see my kids more. We save a lot by not having rent or a mortgage.

My thinking got rocked on this one day while listening to the great wise Ken Swatman. He was preaching about why OCCC has a building and how it's a reminder to the local community that the church is present and that we're committed to serving it. That made me really think about things and buildings and how to proceed.

I still don't like the idea of making payments, however I am fully for having a building, so long as it doesn't hinder the growth and opportunities of the church. That will come through God's provision and our patience, the latter of which is the hard part.

We will be launching a worship service at another local church on a Sunday evening next month. The goal is to proclaim the Gospel so as many can hear, repent, and believe as possible.