Mark Selby asks us to consider an alternative model of church planting
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was a gospel-centred church within easy reach of everyone living in your city/town/village?
Wouldn’t that have such a significant impact on the advance of the gospel in your area? And now, just imagine if that were the case across the whole country. More and more churches planted, in areas where there is currently no compelling, gospel-witnessing, church, so that the glory of God, the kingship of Jesus and the wonderful news of God’s grace is made known to more and more communities across the UK.
Slow rate of planting
But, in reality, although many new church plants begin every year, the rate of planting compared to the huge need remains slow and small. As a result, many areas across the UK continue to lack any significant gospel witness. Think for example of the work the FIEC has recently undertaken, identifying 50 of the most needy places across the UK for planting.1
Why is the rate of planting so slow? Why do so many areas remain in need? Well, it seems that one of the big reasons is that churches only tend to plant when certain criteria are met – things like having a sufficient number of people to send, adequate finances in place to pay a salary for the new leader and a suitable venue being found. All this normally adds up to a lot of people and tens of thousands of pounds being needed before any new church plant gets off the ground, or is even considered!
Creative risk-taking is required
Of course, it’s great that plants do happen this way – it can be a very effective strategy for church planting. But if we really want to see significant growth in planting across the UK, if we want the rate of planting to increase, we can’t just depend on established churches planting when it seems there is enough enthusiasm, people and finances to do so. We have to take more risks and be more creative than simply relying on the traditional formula for planting. In short, we need to be creative risk-takers for the sake of the gospel advancing in the UK. One of the ways we could do this is to think smaller scale and work for easily repeatable planting initiatives.
So here’s what we have been doing in a small way, in a small part of the UK, for the advance of the gospel and fame of our King, Jesus.
Our story...
Although you may recognise the name ‘Hilton’ from the hotel chain and celebrity family, Hilton is also a large commuter village just south of Derby, with a population of around 9,000 people. The reason this Hilton grabbed our attention was the need for a compelling, gospel-centred church to be established in that village to help reach the thousands of lost people living there.
As a result, back in 2013, a small group of us took the plunge to move in to this gospel-needy area to start a church. After saying goodbye to our previous churches, we started meeting together as a new church in September 2013. There were four adults and one child at the time. Two of us (Chris and Mark) had undertaken theological training with Porterbrook seminary and would lead the church together. In order to be able to do this, we had to cover our own financial needs, either by taking on part-time work, or juggling family arrangements and raising a small amount of funds through the support of friends and local churches. We were also joined by Mark’s wife and daughter and one of Chris’s friends.
The vision
Our vision was to become a loving, joyful, church known for our commitment to growing in our knowledge of God through his Word, caring for each other and the wider community in which we lived and where talk of our Saviour, Jesus, was never far from our lips.
And although that was our vision, it’s fair to say we felt a whole mix of emotions as we started out! Excitement about the prospects ahead, fear about how we’d be received in the village, nervousness as to how things would work out, uncertainty as to whether what we were doing was really viable, whether we’d grow and how we’d ever begin to make a gospel impact amongst the thousands of people around us.
Two years on
Now, nearly two years on, we’ve seen God’s abundant grace towards us: he’s added people to the church family, he’s helped us to get to know lots of people in the village through the friendships we’ve been forming and the community groups in which we’ve been involved. People are getting to know about us in the village and some are beginning to explore the news of the gospel with us. God has addressed us, time and time again, through the regular teaching and preaching of his Word.
But it’s not always easy. There have been times of great sorrow in the church family; people we’ve been getting to know have died before we’ve even had the chance to share the life-changing news of the gospel with them. Growth is slow and hard work – both as a church and in spreading the gospel to those on the outside too. It will be a long-term project, with gradual progress and lots of hard work and patience needed as we work for the gospel to advance across Hilton.
What can you do?
This is the small work we’ve been doing to try and reach one of the many gospel-needy areas of our country. What could you be doing to join in so that more places are reached?
We’d really benefit from more workers joining us here in Hilton. So if you (or others you know) are moving to the Derby area, why not consider moving to Hilton and becoming part of this new gospel initiative? But even if that’s not for you, what can you be doing, in your own situation, to work for the greater advance of the gospel across the UK? Where could risks be taken? How could you and your church be more creative at getting the gospel out to these needy areas?
Could you get equipped yourself to become a more effective gospel worker, even being able to lead a new work yourself, or could you join a small group of others who have the same aim? Porterbrook Network 2, or regional ministry training courses provide some really great training in these areas, without having to move away or have the expense of residential courses.
What can you be doing so that more and more gospel-needy areas are reached with the wonderful news of God’s grace? How can you be a creative risk-taker for the sake of the gospel and glory of God? It’s not trying and failing that displeases God, it’s just simply not trying.3
Grace Church Hilton is affiliated to the FIEC. More information can be found at their website: www.gracechurchhilton.org.uk, or by contacting Mark Selby 01283 329848.
FOOTNOTES
1. www.fiec.org.uk/what-we-do/article/go-into 2. Porterbrooknetwork.org 3. See, for example, Matthew 25.14–30
