Do churches have a mission or does the mission of God have churches? The short answer would be yes, but the subject deserves more explanation. Craig Van Gelder wrote, “Rather than the church having a mission, it is God who has a mission in the world, and it is God who calls and sends the church to participate in the mission. This introduces the perspective that the church is missionary by nature” (Van Gelder, The Missional Church in Context, p. 10)
Leith Anderson wrote a chapter in the book Created and Led by the Spirit: Planting Missional Congregations pp. 73-85). In it he suggested consideration of specific proposals for starting new churches.
1. New Churches Tend to Be Evangelistic and Entrepreneurial
They reach what he refers to as those who are “unbelieving, unchurched, or underchurched.”
2. Established Churches Are Reluctant to Change
If traditions and practices are not already missional, they are less likely to become missional.
3. New Churches Influence Established Churches
When another church changes to reach out, serve God, bless others, and grow internally, the church that wouldn’t change has permission to try initiatives that would have been otherwise forbidden by tradition.
4. New Churches are Needed
If churches are going to minister for God and for the world, we need many more churches.
5. The Spirit is Starting New Churches
It is not a question of whether to start more new churches. The Holy Spirit is already doing it.
6. The Future Belongs to Those Who Start New Churches
The ecclesiastical future belongs to denominations that birth new churches, or, more precisely, the future belongs to new churches.
Effective church planting requires more than simply reproducing existing congregations in new locations. Church plants must be intentionally shaped for the people and communities they are called to reach. This requires careful attention to leadership, mission, context, relationships, resources, and the work of the Holy Spirit.
There is no single formula for planting a healthy church. Methods and models may vary, but the mission remains constant. New churches should be biblically grounded, spiritually dependent, culturally aware, and intentionally missional.
The success of a church plant, therefore, should not be measured merely by whether a congregation is launched, but by whether a sustainable, reproducing, Christ-centered community is established. Church planting is ultimately not about creating another institution. It is about participating in God’s mission by establishing churches that faithfully reach people, make disciples, and reproduce the mission in others.