Recent Thoughts about Church Planting from Ed Stetzer

Last week Sun Valley Community Church (the church I have the privilege of serving at) hosted Ignite, the national church planting conference for Converge, which is one of the most successful church planting movements in the country.

While there Ed Stetzer, who among other things serves as the Executive Director of LifeWay Research had the following to say about church planting.

• There is no biblical mandate to plant churches. The bible never says to plant churches. But it is implied. The whole New Testament is about church planting.
• Most church plants don’t cross the 100-person threshold until year 4.
• If we are not careful, church conferences can become “ministry porn” because of the unrealistic expectations it creates about reality.
• Church planting is becoming increasingly more expensive.
• As a church planter if your answer is “if the money doesn’t come through then I won’t plant the church,” then you probably shouldn’t plant the church if the money comes through.
• If God calls you to do a thing you do a thing because Jesus calls you to do it.
• Don’t be so committed to getting people out of the community you’re planting in that you forget to bless the community.
• You need to know more about your city than anyone else…you can’t love a people if you don’t know a people
• One of the modern dangers of church planting is that it’s possible to plant a church in a “non-relational way” today in a way you couldn’t years ago. That’s not what Jesus had in mind when He talked about the discipleship/relationship building movement He died for.
• Plant a church that actually reflects true religion. Jesus came to serve and to save (true religion as defined in the book of James).
• Serving the hurting is not Gospel proclamation it’s Gospel demonstration.
• Today we are planting more churches than we are closing in the U.S.
• I care more about Church Planters than I do about church planting.