When a congregation begins to think about, pray for, and plan ahead concerning a church plant, a host of factors are involved. Whatever the circumstances that have pushed the congregation in this direction, this is good news! While there are many administrative details involved and lots of hard work, the real issue the congregation faces is not simply a church plant, but the spread of the gospel, the strengthening of the church, and the advance of God’s kingdom. That is good news indeed.

Since planting a church is similar in many ways to a woman giving birth, the idea and term of “daughter” church is a helpful one. When birthing a daughter, or a daughter church, there is labor involved, and the actual birthing process can be quite painful. In both cases, a new baby needs a huge amount of care. While an expectant mom would be foolish not to take all of these factors into account, nevertheless a good mother considers the problems to be small in comparison to the “glory” of the birth of the new child.

Compelling circumstances. The idea to develop a church plant will usually flow from two practical sources. In light of a congregation’s numeric growth, there seems to be a need—a need either to expand the congregation’s building facilities or to develop a geographically distant daughter church. Both problems, while “good,” need to be squarely faced.

Geographical distance. Having to drive a long way to the church building is sometimes a necessity. Some consider a long commute to attend worship to be a normal, acceptable part of their Christian life. I heard a story from an elder in one of our older urban churches about a woman who many years ago had complained to the session that the minister’s sermon was too short! She spent a long time traveling in her horse and buggy to get to worship, so she wanted a longer sermon. Longer sermons are probably not the answer to the distance problems.

Also, traveling great geographical distances makes church fellowship quite difficult. The problem can become acute for some, especially for families with a van full of kids. Commuting twice on Sunday can be exhausting. The day is no longer a “rest” or a “delight” for those families. Because of the distance from the church building, families that live nearer to each other, but still too far from the mother church, may want to develop their own congregation.

Congregation size. When is a congregation of God’s people “too big”? A classic book on pastoral ministry, Richard Baxter’s The Reformed Pastor, argues that a congregation of about 300 is the perfect size. It is not too big to receive good pastoral care (from one pastor), and the congregation is large enough to be able to fulfill all the biblical requirements of a living, active, ministering congregation.

The issue of “too big” is not simple. Many in the Reformed Presbyterian Church would say that a congregation of 300 is too much for a solo pastor. In the Dutch Reformed tradition in the U.S., it is not abnormal to have a solo pastor for a congregation of twice that many souls. Much of the debate depends on the view of the role of pastor, and the task of the elders and deacons of the congregation.

Methods for church planting. While there are many different methods available, for RPCNA congregations there seem to be two major issues that have to be answered. One concerns the size of the daughter church core group, and the other is the evangelistic target group.

While some may disagree, I have a strong opinion on the size (number of families) of the daughter church core group. The rule should be: “the bigger the better.”

The core group also has to have certain characteristics. For example, they have to be fairly musical to be an RPCNA church plant. The core group also has to have a good precenter. Of greater importance is that they be able, and have the desire, to show hospitality to those in the faith and those who are seeking. Depending upon the distance from the mother church, it may also be best for the core group to be large enough to tackle limited diaconal work.

Target group. It is easier to plant a church in an area where there is high literacy. Many congregations in the RPCNA have responsive readings. It is a painful experience to bring visitors to church who were not from a “reading” culture—who have real trouble following the readings and may be embarrassed.

Problems/Issues. There are tremendous stresses placed on the families of the daughter church core group. The physical stresses increase if there is not already a comfortable building for them to work with. Each week there might be setting up chairs and cleaning up. A solution that has been used to fix the problem is to rent a church building from a group like the Seventh Day Adventists. Daughter church plants can also be successful with church building sharing, too.

Failure. I am a failed church planter. Now that it has been a few years I can joke about it, but the experience is burned into my identity. While in Florida, knowing that the end of Cornerstone RP Mission Church was near, my wife and I confessed our deep sadness and disappointment to a colleague. The colleague rightly responded, “What is the worst-case scenario if the church plant fails? that for a time Jesus Christ was lifted up in the area, and that people were evangelized. Where is the down side to that?”

The colleague was correct and his words were a comfort. There is no down side to church planting, even when it fails to produce a permanent congregation.

Timing. Perhaps a daughter church should be careful not to start formal worship too early. This idea may be more controversial, because a church is meant to worship. However, before formal worship it seems that the members should have home Bible studies and the groups should start seeing each other as a particular “Christian family.” There should be inner urgings from within the group to be “born.”

Encouragement. Within most churches in the North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council (NAPARC), our worship style is thought to be a barrier to church planting. It is not a disadvantage! Worship services are not an evangelistic tool. Of course, people will become saved while at worship, but worship is for the people of God. It is thought that church planting should be “seeker sensitive” and thus the worship should be similar to going to the mall. Worship of the triune God in His holy presence is not like going to the mall! While “mall worship” is no temptation for us, nevertheless we are not immune from wanting to make worship easier.

There are two areas where we may want (wrongly) to worship differently in a church plant than in an established congregation. The first issue relates to the sermon. Preachers may think that they can deliver “sermon lite” in a church plant. While it is true that infants may become overweight, a congregation cannot be overfed. Thinking believers get tired of nutrition-less TV dinners. Shorter sermons and avoiding “difficult” sermonic issues (like sin, or covenant) are not the answer.

The other area is music. It is too easy to forget that our a cappella singing can even be attractive. I overheard an RP pastor’s son describe contemporary evangelical worship as: two words, three notes, and twenty repetitions. He was sadly on the mark. A typical response to singing God’s word without instrumental ornamentation is one that I heard often in Florida: “When I sing the Psalms I feel so clean.”

Stepping Forward. How can we keep the meat of our teaching and worship and still attract those who are seeking to know more about the gospel? A great way to do this is through network evangelism. Concentrate on your natural networks of people in your work, school, neighborhood, recreational activities, etc. When you already have a shared point of contact with someone, evangelistic work is much easier. We can then think and pray about how to share the gospel with individuals in those areas.

Every person reading this, whether involved in church planting or not, can pray about and work toward “thinking like an evangelist.” As you develop this gospel mindset, more opportunities for sharing Christ will unfold.

In conclusion, if the church is analogous in some ways to a living cell, then church growth is a normal part of that cell’s (church’s) life. We should be praying for such growth, and working toward it too.