Church planting

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A church planting is the beginning of a new church , congregation or denomination in Protestant free churches . Establishment refers to the process from preparation, gathering and initiation to the independence of a community. The result is a self-reliant religious community with its own name, budget, leadership, events and mission. This can be integrated into an association or work independently.

Approaches to startups

A distinction can be made between different types of foundation, which mainly consist in the starting point of the foundation. The start-up phase of start-ups can vary from one person to groups of several hundred participants.

Subsidiary establishment

When a subsidiary is founded, an existing church sponsors a new foundation. This happens when there is a group in the existing church (mother church) that wants to initiate a foundation in a certain environment or milieu. This can be because the way to the church services of the mother church is too far, another social environment needs to be addressed or a certain part of the city is inhabited by a group. In this case, the mother church supports the group on the path of church planting through advice, financing and / or personal support.

broadcast

Similar to missionaries, a single person or a group of people can be sent to areas with the goal of planting a church there. The target area was selected more strategically. The broadcast can be made by a parent community or by an association. The support can be similar to that of the mother church (advice, money, personnel services) or only consist of encouraging the broadcast.

adoption

An existing group joins a community or an association with the aim of planting a community. If this group was already an existing church, one would not speak of foundation. However, there may be groups who play with the idea of ​​founding a company and enter the start-up phase through the alliance with a partner. Or a group is in the process of founding and is affiliated to an association or a community. Here the different path of development up to now and the mutual knowledge is a danger for the foundation of the church and the stability of the partnership.

Pioneering work

In contrast to the other types, the initiative here comes from one person or a few people. These start the path of founding without being linked to a parent church or association and without the associated advantages.

Motivation to start up

The motivation for founding a company can be found in many sources. The following motivators are often mentioned, one or more of which may be present:

renovation

Foundation is propagated in associations and communities as a way to spread the faith. The reasoning often follows the following logic: A start-up must, like a technical innovation and a new business, draw attention to its advantages and is therefore more motivated and flexible in responding to the needs of the target group. Foundations live from energy and thus enrich the community landscape. In addition, a start-up requires a lot of commitment from mainly volunteer employees. This leads to increased energy, enthusiasm and the conviction that commitment is worthwhile.

vocation

People in the founding team often speak of a personal career experience as a decisive factor when considering a start-up. This can be done through role models, encountering adversity, prophetic speaking, reading the Bible, or inspiration from God. Reference is made to Jesus' mandate to go and make disciples, and to the example of Paul, who formed new churches in cities based on the preaching of the gospel.

Strategic considerations

Through studies or personal considerations, groups can come to the conclusion that they should plant a church in a place or in an (urban) area because there are too few churches there. The assessment of “too little” can also be related to the style of piety, the style of worship or the social class. Examples of strategic considerations include founding a Vineyard congregation in the Ruhr area , founding a Protestant youth church in Calw or founding an ICF in Berlin .

Natural growth

If an existing congregation grows, a new one can be established for practical or content-related reasons: The church service hall has too little space, the journeys are too long, there are enough potential leaders, there are enough groups within the congregation who already have a large part of the Share church life. In these cases, the congregation may be founded or multiplied.

Discipleship

Church growth expert Peter C. Wagner spoke of church planting as "the most effective method of discipleship under heaven". He emphasized that the reduced size of a foundation, the intensity of the process and the possibilities of participation lead to an increased willingness to change, to deal with the contents of the Bible and to motivate the cultivation of spiritual life.

Financing start-ups

Church planting can be funded in different ways. A characteristic feature is always the voluntary work of the founding teams, so that the financial requirements are limited. The following financing models can generally be found:

Start-up funding

A sending community or a community association provides a budget for the foundation. This can be based on a fixed amount or cover the costs for 2-3 years in the initial phase.

Foundations

A number of foundations provide money for start-up activities. Funds are allocated to the projects on request, usually for a limited time and with certain conditions to develop your own budget.

Participation by the founding members

The members of the foundation donate regularly for the establishment of the project. Many groups use 10% of income ( tithe ) as a benchmark for self-financing for self-employment projects.

criticism

The start-up approach can be criticized or questioned from various angles. The following aspects are often mentioned:

saturation

It is assumed that there are already enough communities and that no further projects are necessary. This is mainly based on a territorial understanding of the community (one community per place or district) or on the observation that many churches attract few visitors.

Quality control

The content and practices of the new projects can be questioned. According to this, free projects (without an association) in particular cannot be controlled in terms of doctrinal opinion or community activities.

competitor

Increased competitive pressures lead to fears and real loss for existing communities.

Spin-off

With reference to Jesus' word that the world will believe in him because of the love of the disciples for one another (John 13:35), independent groups and contrasting doctrines are judged to be harmful. According to this, there should ideally only be one congregation per place, and the Christian witness is best served through organizational unity.

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