Church Planting Crucial For Mission Of The Church

An Interview with Stuart Murray, Author of Planting Churches in the 21^st Century

A longtime editor of a church publication used to like to say that denominations always send out press releases when they launch an ambitious church planting strategy, or plant a new church, but they don’t say a word if it fails.

Why did you write this book?

I wrote it because I am convinced that church planting is crucial for the continuing mission of the church, and for the health of the Christian community. But I also wrote it because I believe that church planters—and those who send and support them—need to think more carefully about what they are doing than they have sometimes done.

What is the background for this book?

In 1992 churches in Britain launched a plan to plant 20,000 new churches by 2000. There was some success; several hundred new churches did result. But it was not the thousands that were hoped for. Of those churches that were planted, many struggled. Some never gelled and closed after a few years, while others persisted but did not thrive. Some that did grow rapidly did so through transfers from other churches, but made few inroads in the community they wanted to serve.

Looking back, some of us wondered what went wrong, and what could be done to avoid repeating those mistakes.

What went wrong?

I think the main problem is that people focused on speed and quantity rather than quality. We were more interested in how many churches we could plant, not what kind of church various communities needed. Other problems included superficial or nonexistent research; inadequate training and preparation; serious leadership deficiencies; unrealistic expectations; and insensitivity to the cultural context.

A significant strategic defect was that new churches tended mainly to be planted close to churches that had the personnel and resources to carry out such initiatives, rather than in communities that most needed new churches. Consequently, many under-churched areas remained seriously under-churched. We were planting in the wrong places.

As a result, some of us began to imagine new ways of planting churches. We were sure that church planting, if it was to be successful, required fresh expressions of faith, church and mission. This book is part of that re-imagining.

What are some of the new things church planters need to be mindful of today?

People who want to plant churches need to employ different strategies today than they did not that many years ago. To begin, an increasing number of people today don’t know the gospel story at all. In the past, we could assume that people we wanted to reach with the gospel knew the story. But we cannot make such an assumption today. Here in Britain the cut-off point for knowing the Christian story is about 35 or 40 years of age; I assume that something similar might be occurring in parts of North America.

Second, if people don’t know the Christian story, we need to tell them about it. This goes contrary to what many Mennonite church leaders in Europe and North America have told me—they say that talking about faith doesn’t come naturally to their members. Instead, people are more comfortable living faithfully and distinctively in the hope that others will be challenged by their example and drawn toward faith. While there is much in this that I affirm, living out faith only works where people actually know what that faith is actually all about.

Finally, if the gospel is to be relevant, we need to discover what aspects of the gospel connect with people today. For a long time, evangelists used guilt and death as the two things that most people were concerned about, with forgiveness and the hope of eternal life as the good news. But many people today don’t feel guilty, and many are not particularly interested in life after death. It’s no longer a starting point for a conversation about faith.

What are the new starting points? Some that come to mind for me include alienation, loneliness, a search for meaning and purpose, interest in spirituality, and resources for this life—rather than hope for the next. This does not mean that sin is unimportant or we should ignore eternal issues, but these may not be the starting points.

In the end, the most important thing is for Christians to listen; what people need will vary. The gospel can meet all human needs, of course, but we need to listen carefully to our postmodern and post-Christendom culture to learn what they are. We don’t want to give out answers to questions nobody is asking.

Are you optimistic about the future of church planting?

Yes! Even though the grand strategies of the past in Britain, Canada and the U.S. have not delivered on their promises, I remain convinced that church planting is a crucial component in any mission strategy today. It can be done in ways that are contextually sensitive, missionally attuned and ecclesially imaginative. It continues to represent a vital response to the missionary challenges of contemporary culture. In fact, I cannot imagine how we can even survive as a Christian community without the stimulus of church planting.

That said, church planting that is successful has to learn from the mistakes of the past, not just keep repeating them in the hope of a different result. It also has to work with people in the communities we are trying to reach—not impose models on them from the outside. And, importantly, we must incarnate the gospel among those we are trying to reach. We have to live with them, not parachute in people and ideas from other places.

Is there anything unique that Anabaptism can bring to church planting, witness and evangelism?

Indeed, there is. Anabaptism has historically emphasized the importance of telling the story. Anabaptism is a narrative tradition. Stories like the Martyrs Mirror have been crucial in shaping this tradition. Recovering the use of storytelling should not be alien to Anabaptist churches. Second, Anabaptism has insisted on the centrality of Jesus. I believe that the story of Jesus has great power, and can be deeply attractive to contemporary people. Anabaptist churches with their Jesus-centred approach should be well equipped to tell this story. Third, Anabaptists have also emphasized the importance of following Christ in life. Many people today want to know how they can make a difference and be fulfilled in this life—not just in the life to come. The Anabaptist emphasis on service and living the life of faith may prove to be an effective starting point. Fourth, Anabaptists have emphasized community. So many people today feel alienated and lonely, despite having many "friends" on Facebook. By providing authentic and caring communities Anabaptists today can create places where people can find a sense of belonging.

Let me close with this example. When the leaders of a national Christian organization in Britain some years ago sensed that the Holy Spirit was calling them to embrace radical change in order to grow and become more effective in mission, they adopted this challenge: "Let go of your traditions, but hold on to your heritage." That’s a good message for Mennonites today, too. Hold on to your core values—they have much to offer to a world that needs the message of God’s love through Jesus.

Click here to find out more about Planting Churches in the 21st Century: A Guide for Those Who Want Fresh Perspectives and New Ideas for Creating Congregations.