The Reality of Church Planting
VCF Clear Lake
The reality of the state of church planting in the Southwest Region is mixed. On one hand the future is bright and full of opportunities and the vision for church planting in the hearts of churches and planters is greater than ever. On the other hand we are seeing new plants struggle and fail and weaknesses in our church planting process. In this issue of the Southwest Connection, we are looking at church planting in our region from several angles and perspectives. We have attempted to do this with brutal honesty and realism. I would like to give a bird’s eye view of some of the opportunities as well as the challenges that stand before us.
At a recent gathering of Vineyard leaders in our region, we were discussing how we could inspire the planting of more Vineyards in our region. We discussed several barriers and reasons why more were not being planted and what we could possibly do about it. Then an awesome thing happened. We began hearing in the midst of the conversation references to plans for future church plants from the churches represented in the room. We passed around a piece of paper and asked everyone to write down their plans (only if they were real plans and not pipe dreams) with a planter and a place identified and a time frame in the next 2 years. To our amazement when the list made it around the group there were 15 church plants in the wings. For the most part, these church plants were not on the church planting radar yet, and this was just from those in the room. (The reason we did not know about many of these church plants was because they had not been announced yet in their own churches.) Although this points to a new area to develop in our communication, it moreover highlights that church planting is alive and well in our region. It really is who we are.
Opportunities
There are plenty of geographical opportunities to plant in the region. There are still many large cities without a Vineyard as well as major cities with room for many more Vineyards. (See side bar of CP Hot Spots on page 6). But there are opportunities other than geographical ones coming to the forefront—opportunities like church plants in urban areas, which have their own set of unique circumstances different than most of our previous church plants. There is also a great opportunity to plant churches led by and reaching our ever-increasing ethnic populations. All of our major cities provide opportunities for these. New Orleans right now provides a very unique opportunity for this as the city is totally rebuilding in many of its urban areas.
More than ever, there is a climate nationally in the Vineyard for young church planters to not only be developed in our churches with tools like VLI and local church based internships, but there is strong encouragement to “go for it.” The way is paved. It is encouraging to watch, as the pioneers of our movement grow older, to see the emergence of a younger generation who have the vision and DNA to plant and lead our movement in their own unique way.
Challenges
Even though there are many opportunities, there are equally as many challenges before us. One of the big challenges is in the area of coaching. Technically, every church plant sent out has a coach. The coach even signs their release form before a church is planted. However, if we are honest, most of us who coach do not feel like we are doing a good job. Likewise, many church planters do not feel as if they are getting adequate coaching. The problem does not lie in the desire to help one another, but in things like preparation and equipping of our coaches as well as providing some basic coaching tools.
We also have a good “new problem” we have not had before. In some cities which already have several Vineyards, we have more than one planter wanting to plant in the same place. Many of these are places where existing Vineyards have members or small groups. This is a great problem to have and it allows us to test the value of our relationships as we learn to work together for the Kingdom rather than resorting to more institutional methods like turf protection, etc.
One other challenge to note is the failure of some of our churches and specifically church plants. There are many reasons why churches do not continue, but there are some common threads we can learn from as we plant new churches. We are preparing a study of our closures so we can gain more insight. Two things worth mentioning (which we have already noticed in several churches that have not made it) are isolation and misapplied gifting. Isolation happens not so much from being geographically distant but more from a lack of relational connectedness. Church planters usually suffer from a shortage of time and money. What often gets cut out is participating in Vineyard gatherings and giving financially. At a minimum, this means joining with other Vineyard churches in giving our 3% to the Vineyard movement. Although this may seem hard at times, to not do these basic things is cutting off our very lifeline. After all, we are a Vineyard. Connectedness with Christ and one another is who we are. Misapplied gifting results from not having the basic mix of gifts needed to plant a healthy church as the lead pastor. This does not mean something is wrong or that a person is not gifted. Not everyone is called and equipped to plant churches. Sometimes it is in going through the planting process where we discover what we were really made for. To that end, it is a redeemable thing. However, if we could discover this earlier through our assessments, honest input, and feedback from others, it could save a lot of heartache in us, our families, and others.
Even though these challenges (as well as ones not mentioned) are real, they are not overpowering. We have a strong resolve as a family of churches to continue in our kingdom mandates. Planting churches, even with all the realities that come with it, is who we are and what we do. Our team of CPC’s, which is growing, (see map of CPC’s) is here to serve and help us plant churches together. Our job is not to do the task of church planting for all of us, rather it is to serve all of us as we all plant churches together.
Southwest Region Church Planting Hot Spots
| All of our cities over 1 million in population could use more Vineyards. | |
| Dallas/Ft. Worth | 5 mil+ |
| Houston/Galveston | 5 mil |
| Phoenix | 3 mil+ |
| San Antonio | 1.5 mil |
| Las Vegas | 1.5 mil |
| New Orleans | 1.3 mil (Pre Katrina) |
| Austin/San Marcos | 1.3 mil |
| Oklahoma City | 1.1 mil |
| Cities over 50K in population without a Vineyard | |
| McAllen, TX | 500k+ |
| Beaumont, TX | 385k |
| Lubbock, TX | 250k |
| Amarillo, TX | 100k+ |
| Waco, TX | 200k+ |
| Longview/Marshall, TX | 200k+ |
| Laredo, TX | 200k |
| Bryan/College Station, TX | 150k |
| Wichita Falls, TX | 140k |
| Texarkana, TX | 130k |
| Abilene, TX | 130k |
| Alexandria, La. | 130k |
| Sherman, TX | 110k |
| San Angelo, TX | 105k |
| Pine Bluff, AR | 85k |
| Victoria, TX | 85k |
| Jonesboro, AR | 82k |
This is not an all inclusive list of identified good places to plant a Vineyard. For more info contact your area CPC.