Reflections on Church Planting - 4 Years On

Last week was the fourth anniversary of the start of Rochdale Evangelical Church. As I said in my last post, it's a time for anniversaries.

My overriding reflection over that 4 years has been that it's hard, but important, to trust the following verse from Romans:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Rom. 8:28 ESV)

It's been a truth that is hard to hold onto, because I think in my mind things working together for good must surely mean a steadily growing church and therefore Bible witness in Rochdale, but it's been rather harder than that (yes I know the context is about conforming me to the image of the Son). But because it's been harder than that it's been all the more important to cling to God and his sovereign purposes for our good.

Here are few of our experiences to try and explain why.

Things are up and down

I think it can be true in any ministry that things ebb and flow somewhat, but when you are little church plant the implications of small things are much larger. A falling out, an illness or a death can be very hard on the church. On the other hand someone joining or someone becoming a believer are a huge encouragement.

Such things are significant practically. For example, an extra person or the loss of a person can be difference between something being possible or not. Even if it's not quite as extreme as that, it is often the difference between the load being spread in a way where people can serve with joy or the load falling on people in a way that is a burden that is hard to bear.

They are also significant emotionally. We seem much more susceptible to whether things are "going well" or not. We had a period of gradual growth when we started. It wasn't that things were especially secure, but it felt like we were going the right way and so the church felt positive. When a few things went wrong and people left, we had weeks of feeling flat and wondering why we were there.

However, there's a sense in which we need them not to be significant spiritually, by which I mean Jesus hasn't changed, the gospel is still the power of God for all who believe and, despite how it feels, God is working things out for my good.

You're not established

I don't mean this in the Church of England sense of "establishment". I mean that a church plant has very shallow roots in terms of history and geography. You're a newcomer to the area, probably don't have a building and don't have anything much to build on.

People often talk about how exciting it is to be a church plant with a blank sheet of paper. You get to decide how you're going to do everything and build things from the bottom up. In some ways that is great - although it's harder work than people made it sound! But it also means you're starting from scratch as an "institution" in the community.

For example, we've met in two rented buildings. We take all the stuff each week in the back of the car and have to carry, clean and set up before you start, only to do it all in reverse before you can go home. We're not sure how many people really know we're there, let alone care. If anything being new and not having a building seems to make people more suspicious or less interested. We seem transient, despite believing a gospel of eternal significance.

And that lack of roots can make you feel like a strong gust of wind of some sort could blow you over. That insecurity can be scary and it's a challenge to trust God is working for your good in that. I know it's not right, but I tend to think I could trust better if my church was bigger and more securely founded!

People are still people

In my mind, planting a church was gathering a group of keen Christians on mission to build a gospel outpost in a new place. I hoped, maybe assumed, that we would be a band of brothers watching each others' back.

But of course the reality is that we are a group of fallible and sinful human beings. People have different ideas about what to do and disagree. People who seemed 100% committed walk away and like in any ministry they have the capacity to do it in hurtful and destructive ways.

In fact, I think church plants are at most risk from destructive people. There are lots of reasons to come to a church plant and many of them are not particularly good. People can want to be a big fish in a small pond.

I've had most of these experiences in other churches, but the impact of us being sinners in a church plant can feel more traumatic. And it challenges me to trust that God is working for my good and for the good of the others in the church.

My weaknesses are exposed

There are aspects of ministry that I'm pretty good at and there's stuff that I'm not. For example, I'm not the best evangelist and it was always something that concerned me about planting a church. I simply haven't seen that many people come to faith in my ministry. Some, but not loads. On the other hand, I think my discipling of believers is OK, I seem to be able to teach the Bible well in that way.

Now I think, along with the character qualities, I'm OK in terms of being qualified as an elder. More than that, nobody is gifted in everything. But in larger more established setups there are ways to deal with your strengths and weaknesses, which are harder to manage in a smaller context.

At times it's tempting to think "why me?" and "why a church plant?" Is God really working all things together for my good in this?

But here's the thing: In these things and lots of others, that is exactly what God is doing. I don't know his plans for the church or for me, but I know that ultimately they are all working for my good and for the good of all his people. It might be hard to believe, but it's critical. It's critical because otherwise I'm left with the ups and downs of how it feels. And when I feel weak, or hurt, or insecure, or small then there's nothing to hold me here if I'm relying on how it feels. I suspect if that's what we relied on, nothing would ever be done, because most things worth doing have hardship and frustration along the way.

So it's hard to hold on to verses like Romans 8:28 and other that speak of God's sovereign and good plans for us and his church. But it is vital, not so as we convince ourselves that God must work in the way that I want and that would make me happy, but so as to convince ourselves that whatever happens we seek to serve him trust he is in control and working to conform me to the image of his Son.