Reflections from a Church Planter: Planning, Planting and Praying for a New Generation

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As a CRCNA church planter from 1984 to 2014, my colleagues and I asked the same question a thousand times: What went wrong that our churches failed to grow? We were trained, supported, motivated, and yet much of our work failed to cross the infamous 200 barrier, the benchmark of sustainability that’s associated with 200 members. The numbers are alarming: we experienced over 80% failure to plant sustainable churches.

After decades of reflection, I have come to believe we were often asking the wrong question. Instead of asking why the plants aren’t growing, maybe we should have asked what kind of soil we were planting in.

The Soil of Three Cities

When Peter stood in Jerusalem’s Temple on Pentecost Sunday, he declared the gospel in terms that a Jew could understand—the history of Israel from Abraham to Moses, David to Jesus. His sermon fell on prepared soil. Three thousand became followers of Jesus that day. Daily, people flocked to the budding church, joined household meals, broke bread, and found the salvation of God. A community was solidified within weeks.

Years later, Paul preached in Antioch’s synagogue (Acts 13), a near copy of Peter’s Pentecost message. The response was dramatic—Gentiles flocked to hear about Jesus. On the next Sabbath, when the Gentiles outnumbered the Jews, the synagogue split. Underlying divisions were revealed and not resolved.

Paul also delivered the same gospel message to the secular philosophers in Athens. They listened politely, but at the idea of “resurrection” they laughed and walked away. Only a few were interested in hearing more. No community was formed in Athens.

What changed between Jerusalem, Antioch, and Athens? Not the gospel. The gospel message was the same. The soil was different.

What I have Learned

Churches thrive in community. Churches, especially new plants, thrive in unified and supportive environments.

When Jerusalem’s believers repented of their sins to follow Jesus, they stepped into preexisting cohesive, supportive communities and synagogues. Their practices had a shared fabric—communal times of prayer, teaching, sharing, and belonging (Acts 2:42). The early chapters of Acts tell us the community was unified. This soil made growth possible.

The Dutch immigrants who shaped much of our denominational roots and early traditions had a word for this kind of communal strength: onze. It means “our.” Our Yearbooks and our Banner featured onze schools, onze churches, onze people. Onze implied that in the several kolonies where the immigrants settled there was a common culture, a common faith, and a guaranteed welcome.

At its best, onze described a kind of covenantal belonging: people sharing a common confession, liturgy, and songs (Psalms) with a shared mission for the future. In those environments, churches thrived. New congregations sprang up in the fertile soil, grew rapidly, built schools, and remained strong for at least a generation.

I have come to believe that healthy churches (and church planting) rarely begin with innovation. They begin with cultivating healthy soil.

Make Peace

If we in the CRC hope to plant for a new generation, reconciliation must precede multiplication. Jesus said that before you go to the Temple to offer your sacrifice, if you remember a neighbor who is angry with you, first go make peace with your neighbor as you are able.

We seek peace. We seek to establish uncompromised unity of heart and purpose, founded in the truth of Scripture.

There is no statute of limitations on hurt. Either hurts have been resolved or they lurk in the soil, poisoning the ground for the future.

We seek a softening of hardened hearts and a weeding of roots of bitterness (Heb. 12:15). Any new community is founded on a covenant in Christ that forgives as it has been forgiven. We must work the soil before planting the seed.

Plant Near Other Gardens

One of the strongest lessons many of us learned in church planting seems simple: new churches rarely thrive alone. We need others.

My own research into the data suggests a strong pattern. In the CRCNA, over 80% of new churches planted between 1980 and 1994 reached 200 members when planted near existing CRCs. If you can draw a 20-mile radius around a location, and inside that circle find 2,000 existing CRC members, the prospects for a strong new church are greatest. I call this a “cluster of churches.” (See David Snapper, “Examination and Evaluation of Environmental Factors Affecting Membership Growth of New Christian Reformed Churches,” 1970-1995.)

In contrast, isolation hurts a plant. When a church is planted outside of a cluster of 2,000 preexisting CRC members, it is an isolated church, and the chance of reaching 200 members drops below 20%. Most isolated churches remain small, and many eventually disband.

One region of the U.S. planted well over a dozen churches in the past 40 years. None have maintained or even reached 200 members. Most disbanded. The most recent successful plant dates to the 1970s, a congregation planted in the center of an existing cluster of CRC congregations.

This should not surprise us. A plant needs more than techniques. It needs a generous and supportive ecosystem. Established, healthy churches can train leaders, share resources, lend wisdom. They pray. They can trellis young plants rather than compete with them. No young new congregation should bear the burden of planting alone.

Today our denomination reports more than one-third of our congregations worship with fewer than 100 members. If we plant a new congregation, be aware it will need to be loved and nurtured and enfolded by a generous sponsoring cluster of churches coming together.

Recognize the Roots will be Tested

Church planting is hard work. It’s a stress test. It reveals what is really under the surface. It reveals our true foundations.

Despite our best efforts, the conflicted division of Antioch is common; church planting will expose any unresolved weaknesses in the spiritual fabric of your cluster. Pure motives are tested. Are we willing to open our homes and break bread with new converts? Every aspiration will be challenged. Plant wisely. Plant with unity. Plant because you believe Jesus is the center of your vision.

Here that Dutch word, Onze, the word for “our,” becomes a double-edged word. At its worst, onze can indicate a possessive sense of ownership, in-crowd, and control. Or, as we said earlier, onze can indicate a covenantal unity that invites the entire community to celebrate what the Lord is doing among us.

Antioch failed because the Gentile newcomers were tolerated only until they outnumbered the founding Jewish members. The newcomers became too numerous and too influential. There was no true onze in the rocky soil of the Antiochian church hearts.

Church planting is a covenant commitment in our Christian community. It’s not about Olympic gold medals for the few; it’s about a community so in love with Jesus that it sacrifices pride and prizes what God prizes. This is the root that goes deep enough when the pressure comes.

What kind of soil are we preparing?

What happened between Jerusalem, Antioch, and Athens still teaches us today.

When there is unity, the church thrives, even in adversity. When secret divisions lurk unresolved, they eventually surface, and the church suffers. When churches are planted in isolation, they will struggle.

The question is not whether we should plant churches. That’s what healthy churches do. The question is what kind of soil are we preparing for the planting of those churches and for generations that come after us.

Despite challenges, we have hundreds of churches that thrived. They declare the glory and grace of God to a needy world.

When done well, church planting is one of the most beautiful expressions of the gospel. A healthy community that sends its best leaders, shares its resources generously, and rejoices when the daughter church flourishes. All this reflects the generosity of Christ himself.

Our goal is to do everything possible to plant thriving churches to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. So we face our challenges with confidence, for the Lord of the church will prosper his church.

May the Lord grant us the wisdom and grace to cultivate healthy soil needed for healthy sowing.