Calling #2: Get the Word Out, Part 2
October 31, 2024 | by: Dale Thiele | 0 Comments
Posted in: Pastoral Encouragement
For the last couple of weeks, I have been sharing about my sense of God’s calling on my life. The first is to shepherd the flock of Oak Hills to faithfully follow Christ and live for his kingdom. The second is to proclaim the riches of God’s grace, especially to those unfamiliar with the concept of grace. For the kingdom. Get the Word out.
Before I share about the third and final calling, I want to use this space to talk specifically about church planting. A couple weeks ago the elders invited Ted Powers to visit Oak Hills for the weekend. For over four decades, Ted has been involved with church planting. He has served as the coordinator for church planting with Mission to North America and presently serves as the Director of the Midwest Alliance, a group focused on supporting church planting. Ted met with the elders on Friday evening and Saturday morning to lead us through a Primer on Church Planting seminar.
Church planting is one avenue to live “for the kingdom” and “get the Word out.” Ever since I arrived thirteen years ago, I have desired to see Oak Hills involved in church planting. The elders have shared that desire with the congregation over the years as a long-term goal. To be honest, however, we have done nothing over the years to move that goal from the “long-term” category to an actuality. Furthermore, we have not had any clear idea of what it would look like for Oak Hills to be involved with church planting. Therefore, we decided to invite Ted, who has extensive experience in church planting, to meet with us and walk us through the process of church planting.
What did we learn from our weekend with Ted?
- Church Planting is highly effective means for evangelism. In its first five years, a church plant is eight times more likely to see conversion growth than an established church. This means that unbelievers are more likely to hear the gospel and profess faith through the ministry efforts of a church plant than an established church. Why is that? For one thing, those who initiate a church plant (i.e. the planting pastor) typically feel a sense of urgency for evangelism. Also, a church plant needs to draw more people in order to form a critical mass. If the church plant does not want to “steal sheep” from other churches, it must be proactive in evangelism. This does not mean, however, that an established church does not need to care about evangelism. At Oak Hills, we pray that God would use us in and for evangelistic efforts. As an established church, however, our ministry attention is divided among other, important ministry endeavors.
- Church Planting can be approached in a variety of ways. People plant churches for a variety of reasons. The “why” for church planting will shape the “how” of church planting. Some church plants seek to provide a gospel-proclaiming, Bible-believing church in a community closer to where current members live. In this model, a group of people leave the “mother church” to form the core group of the church plant in the new community. Another model of church planting is motivated by a desire to share the gospel in a community where there is little or no gospel presence. The church planter, and perhaps a handful of like-minded believers, move into that community and begin the long work of building relationships and sharing the gospel. There are other models of church planting, but these two are examples of how different a church plant can look.
- Church Planting is more like a marathon than a sprint. Church planting is hard work and requires a lot of prayer, planning, prayer, fundraising, prayer, and preparation. Oak Hills has barely taken the first step by inviting Ted to provide the seminar for the elders. We are taking what we have learned and are praying about how God might want to use Oak Hills for church planting. This does correspond with Pastor John’s desire to church plant. When the Session called John three years ago to serve as our Assistant Pastor, he openly talked about wanting to church plant, if the Lord wills. That desire remains today, and John is taking some steps to explore what opportunities God might open up for him. Still, all of this is in the earliest stages of the process that can and will take years.
- Church Planting must spring from a church culture that has a heart and passion for the harvest. This springs from Ted’s sermon on Sunday morning. We hear from Matthew 9:36-38, “When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’” When we see people as Jesus saw people, “harassed and helpless,” we will also be moved with compassion. It is a heart, moved with compassion, for this harvest that leads disciples to pray and operate with a sense of urgency for evangelism.
So, I invite you to join the elders in prayer. Pray that Christ would send out laborers into his harvest. Pray that God would use Oak Hills in the harvest. Pray that God will provide clear direction for us and Pastor John regarding church planting.
