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I hope you were able to attend our Parish Forum on Church Planting on January 16. Chris Pope did an excellent job unpacking the journey the Church Planting Catalyst Team has been on for the last six months. You can always listen to his presentation online at our church website, under sermons. Some of the highpoints include the following:

  • All Saints already has the core “DNA” for a church planting culture, we just haven’t activated it lately (remember that All Saints is a 15-year-old church plant!). We don’t need to change who we are; we just need to begin taking steps toward planting churches.

  • We need to go slow to go fast. We intend to create a planting program designed to support our long-term goals as well as our short-term goals. We are not trying to plant just one church; we are looking to become a Parish that plants churches. We feel the Mission Abbey will be critical to our success.

  • Our vision is that All Saints becomes a hub (mothership) for Anglican church planting throughout our region (West Tennessee, parts of Kentucky and Mississippi).

  • Our intention is to implement a two-phase approach: (1) establish one or more home groups hosted by parishioners with the express intent of reaching the unchurched so that a new church might take root; and (2) establish a Church Planting Care Team that supports these groups with training, resources, and logistics, a team that would develop the groundwork for the establishment of the future church planting program of our Mission Abbey. 

Remember that planting churches in the best way to make disciples. We don’t simply plant churches because a few people want to experience a different flavor of Anglicanism, but rather because we are passionate about reaching our neighbors and the unchurched around us, to draw them into God’s life through acts of hospitality, and ultimately build a new Jesus-following church community.

With this kind of missional mindset, there is no need to worry about the math involved in planting churches. We will not be subtracting personnel and resources from the mother church, but instead, because we are reaching out, the math changes from subtraction to multiplication. Churches that plant churches are continually renewed because they are not focused on self-preservation, but kingdom expansion!

Everyone has a role to play in our church planting efforts. We invite you to stay informed, to pray, and to consider how the Spirit might lead you and your family to get more involved. Please share your thoughts, your concerns, and your interest level with Chris Pope or any member of the Church Planting Catalyst Team (Scott Huelin, Ali Knack, Barbara Reed, Jim Warmbrod, Carrie Whaley). The next few months will be devoted to prayer, identifying those willing to help, and developing a strategy for our initial home groups.

Church Planting Statistics

  • The average church plant gains most of its members (60–80%) from the ranks of people who are not attending any worshiping body.

  • Churches over ten to fifteen years of age gain 80– 90% of new members by transfer from other congregations.

  • No matter their size, churches typically say they’ll be ready to plant another church when their budget and average Sunday attendance increases by 20%.

  • New churches best reach new generations, new residents, and new people groups.