To adequately make a case for church planting, we need to define our terms. Some people think of church planting in terms of establishing a church in a far-flung place where there is no witness to the gospel. Others think of church planting as planting a church where there are other churches in the area, but without the presence of a strong Reformed and confessional witness. Yet others think of church planting as taking a group of families from a large, established church and forming another church because of church size, pastoral workload, and oversight. This also has the effect of doubling a biblical, Reformed witness in a specific geo­graphical area. Yet others think of church planting, not in terms of starting an entirely new church, but revitalizing a church that is in all respects dying and in need of reforming. What all these legitimate scenarios prove is that there is no set model that a church must follow to plant a church.

A New Testament Command⤒🔗

The Great Commission is the starting point for all forms of church planting. Before the Lord Jesus Christ left this earth, He spoke clearly about the church’s mission to the world. These words were not only for His disciples, but for the church throughout all ages and places, “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, ‘All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.’” We often take these words for granted or use them simply to justify involvement in foreign, overseas missions, but these words also hit closer to home and emphasize the need for churches to be faithful witnesses where God has planted them.

Three things come to the foreground of these verses that encourage our churches to reevaluate and carefully consider the work of planting new churches. The first thing is Christ’s power in verse 18: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Behind the commission to teach and baptize the nations stands the powerful Christ, the King of the church, who will continue to plant and grow His church. Church planting or any evangelistic work is never done with the church’s power or with individual power alone. But here we have an encouragement to lift our sails and have them filled with the divine power of Christ as we navigate previously uncharted territory. He will ably guide the ship as we sail out of the harbor of comfort and uniformity and seek to be challenged in bringing the gospel to those who have never heard or desperately need to hear it again in our local communities.

The second thing to notice is the precept of Christ: He commands His disciples to go out into all the world teaching and baptizing in the name of the triune God. The methods of the apostles are telling; they did not send anyone overseas. At Pentecost, the world gathered on their doorstep and they preached the gospel in obedience to this command of Christ. The Book of Acts further gives this pattern of fanning outwards in concentric circles: Jerusalem, then Judea, then Samaria, and then all the regions of the world. The gospel began to move out from the “mother church” in Jerusalem. This abiding precept and method still holds true for churches today. We need to maintain our focus on foreign missions but also renew our focus on the nations that are gathered on the doorsteps of our churches in faithful obedience to the precept of Christ.

The final thing to notice about these words of Christ is the presence of Christ. Christ did not send His disciples alone. He promised to be with them: “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” Church planting and evan­gelism is challenging work for a host of reasons. We are often too aware of ourselves rather than having this awareness of the presence of Christ with us through His Holy Spirit, empowering His people to faithfully preach and teach the gospel. We face a host of challenges as churches in church planting: instilling vision in an existing church for planting another, facing internal and external opposition, self-consciousness when it comes to cultural identities that do not mesh well with other cultures, wrestling with articulating distinctives that do not translate well to the postmodern mind, or simply spiritual sluggishness and disobedience in carrying out the command of Christ. It is time to reexamine the resources that we as churches have at our disposal — the divine power of Christ and the divine presence of Christ.

A Contemporary Challenge←⤒🔗

It is on this basis that we are challenged as churches in the work of church planting. Many churches in our federation began some twenty-five years ago. They were fledgling churches, taking what they had learned from being part of another denomination and seeking to forge a new identity. These churches have existed for the better part of one generation. Most of them are spiritually mature enough and have the spiritual and material resources necessary for the important work of church planting. Admittedly, our small federation has not had much success in planting churches, but should past failures determine present inertia? Many churches in the North American context look for numbers to be successful, but perhaps it is time to change our metrics for success. Could it be that faithfulness is a far more important metric for success — a metric that Christ uses to measure success? Could it be that faithfulness with smaller churches is more conducive to living out the New Testament “one-another” statements? Efforts are underway to support small churches in our federation and this is commendable and necessary, but is it time to start looking for new ways to plant new churches in obedience to the command of Christ, with the power and presence of Christ?

We have the power and presence of Christ to encourage us to this important work. We have the examples of “older brothers” in other federations who are planting churches (an example of which is included in this issue). We have a plethora of resources that are now available from a Reformed and Presbyterian perspective. It is our prayer that this special section on “Church Planting” will be a spur in our collective side, as well as an encouragement to engage in the work of planting churches and to support those who work in the spiritual wastelands of our culture. This is definitely not an exhaustive resource, but simply a beginning to encourage us to greater obedience, to greater prayerfulness, and to greater faithfulness to Christ who gives His power, His precept, and His presence to fulfill His Great Commission to face this contemporary challenge.