Perhaps your answer is, “We haven’t thought about it much.”
That would be understandable. One pastor recently observed that people at the church he serves are not against planting new churches. But they don’t seem to be for it to any great extent, either. They simply have not been thinking about church planting, and they have not been talking about it. Well, it’s hard to think as a group about any subject if no one is talking about it.
Let’s think about church planting. So let’s talk about it.
Here is some help to get your conversation started.
"Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest." (John 4:35 ESV)
A first resource is a two-part brochure, “Church Planting and Your Congregation.” It was written by CID Mission Executive Ken Schurb to instigate conversation at a Bible class, church meeting, or an informal discussion group. Church members can also read it on their own. Remember, though, that our purpose here is to begin conversation about church planting in congregations.
Each of the brochure’s two parts can be printed out on a standard sheet of paper – both sides, folded once. So, to print the entire brochure you will need to print on both sides of two sheets of paper.
For part one of the brochure, “Church Planting,” click here.
For part two, “Your Congregation’s Involvement,” click here.
Below are links to a 4-part video with Dr. Ken Schurb, “Exploring Church Planting.” Taken together, these segments tell the story of a church plant. Each segment ends with two questions suitable for group discussion. Use these segments at a Bible class, in meetings, in small group discussions, etc.
Note: If you are using Firefox as your web browser, you may have difficulty playing the videos. Switching to the Google Chrome web browser should solve the problem. You may also use the link provided to go directly to Vimeo to view the videos.
https://vimeo.com/710889840/9b7fb4a332
https://vimeo.com/710892102/f034c4f6a4
https://vimeo.com/710892607/5786c70007
https://vimeo.com/710893052/8c57d86380
Dr. Ken Schurb, Evangelism Executive
LCMS Central Illinois District
1850 N. Grand Avenue West
Springfield, IL 62702-1626
(217) 793-1802
kschurb@cidlcms.org