Church plants again

Dear Sir,

I think it’s a good thing that there’s an ongoing conversation about church planting into our unreached areas via your letters page. I know that, from time to time, en puts the spotlight on church planting and on gospel work in tough areas. Maybe another spotlight on the great work happening in needy areas would be timely.

It may be that there is sometimes pragmatism and that planting in student/graduate areas may appear easier to some (I suspect it isn’t really ‘easier’ just ‘different’). However, I would suggest that often there is nothing really sinister behind why some people plant among students and graduates. It is simply that a lot of people become Christians at university or become more involved in church life and then graduate and remain linked to the church. Some of our ‘student churches’ have become increasingly generous at sending people out to plant. However, naturally, those plants are going to follow the normal migration paths of students/ gradu-ates/young professional families. Our unreached estates are off those migration paths and so will need a different type of intentional choice to plant.