Dear Sir,
As a church planter myself it might seem very strange to be in any way negative about contemporary church planting.
However I have become increasingly uneasy about the agenda behind at least some of this work. My disquiet concerns the increasing disconnect between planting and mission. By mission I mean reaching unbelievers with the gospel and pushing into new areas that as yet have no faithful gospel witness. In my own city there have been a cluster of church plants in a relatively small area where students live, while vast suburban estates have virtually no witness. Just recently yet another proposed church plant has stated that its aims are to reach students and professionals who commute into our city centre. Virtually no one is planting into the huge council estates where hundreds of thousands live.
All this causes me to ask questions. Are we really about planting new churches or is it more about planting denominations or networks? Are we about extending the kingdom of God or just our brand? Are we seeking to grow a work by winning souls or by attracting Christians who are looking for a new church to attend? Please don’t misunderstand me, I believe in church planting. If we are going to reach the 95% of our population who don’t regularly attend any church, let alone believe, we are going to need thousands of churches to be planted up and down this land. But let’s put mission at the very heart of church planting.
Yours sincerely,
