Why Plant Churches

Effective Evangelism: "The single most effective evangelistic methodology under heaven is planting new churches." C. Peter Wagner, Church Planting for a Greater Harvest:

Mission Opportunity: The US is the largest mission field in the western hemisphere, the 5th largest un-churched population in the world, (George Hunter)

Growth by Conversion, not shuffling sheep: 60+percent of the new adult members of new congregations…were not involved in the life of any worshipping congregation."
(Lyle Schaller)

Cost Effectiveness: New churches spend fewer dollars per convert than established churches due to mission focus, lean budgets and energized volunteers. New churches generate new mission dollars to reach more un-churched people

Extend our Reach: New churches reach generations and cultures that aren't responding to established churches. No one church can reach everyone in a community.

Reverse Current Trends:
Recent Church attendance figures are stagnant or in decline while the US population continues to grow.

The ratio of the number of churches per population is steadily dropping:
• 1900 27 Churches for every 10,000 Americans
• 1950 17 Churches for every 10,000 Americans
• 2004 11 Churches for every 10,000 Americans

Church attendance of each generation is dropping; we are an increasingly un-churched nation! (Barna 2000)
• Builders (born before 1946): 51%
• Boomers (born 1946 to 19640: 41%
• Busters (born 1965 to 1976): 34%
• Bridgers (born 1977 to 1994): 29%