Supporting church planters as missionaries.
“Our name doesn’t have to be on the building for us to reach people for the gospel.”
I sat in my pastors office in Texas with a slew of ideas. Each one got shot down.
I suggested a way to reach our WHOLE community for the gospel as our community was self-segregated Hispanic and Caucasian, which is often the case in small Texas towns.
“Tried that. It didn’t work,” came the response from across the desk.
I made a 2nd suggestion. “Tried that, it didn’t work either.”
I made a 3rd suggestion. “The board wouldn’t let me try that,” came the reply.
My pastor had been in our community for 13 years. He loved our community longer than I had and more than I did. He had come about his tenacious patience honestly through the oilfield boom and busts of the economy, expressing the calm conversational tone of a native Texan, but in actuality was “just a Pentecostal kid from Arkansas.” He was direct and to the point when he needed to be. When it came to ministry he was right almost every single time.
The church wasn’t more than 50 folks when he got there. But now was 500-800 attendees in an 8,000 person rural town. But still a large portion of our community were not churchgoers even though there were 38 churches in the community. “The ground is pretty well plowed here,” he would say.
I made another suggestion. What about multi site, or church planting? Turns out a courageous Sunday School leader was already in the process of leading a Sunday School class to begin a process of launching a church. In Booker 20 minutes away? No. Borger, 1 hour away? No. In Amarillo 2 hours away?…No….In Chipata Zambia, Africa.
Where?…Yeah. Zambia Africa.
My pastor said, “Joe, sometimes the best thing a pastor can do is get out of the way as people respond to God.”
We began to look into the Association of Related Churches, (ARC). Pastor liked the idea. And so did the board.
Shortly after that our church launched Community Worship Center, Zambia.
Zambia eventually launched a church in Malawi, Africa, the country next door.
Then a church in Denton Texas was launched.
Three churches in 3 years. In a small rural community. Our church grew from 500 to 800 in attendance to over 1,200 in 4 locations. I know, as Christian Education Director I managed the database, and wrote the curriculum for our membership classes. My Senior Pastor and I registered and co-taught over 264 new members through our 3 part new membership classes during that time. Some were long time attendees who had never become members. Some were new people. It felt like a real time Acts 16:5 moment, “So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.”
But it all really started with a Hispanic Foursquare Church in our community. Our theological beliefs aligned well and there was mutual understanding. Their elementary kids came over to our VBS and about 30 of the adults stayed to help. Even though not all of them spoke English, they helped with snack and cleaning for 200-300 kids at VBS, and the bilingual adults came and helped in every grade level and with registration for non english speaking parents. It was a healthy relationship. Then they needed a new sound system at their church. They came over, looked at ours and then our IT guy, myself, and our Senior Pastor went over there and looked at theirs and they decided they needed the exact same system. “You show us the way!” Pastor Cano exclaimed to us as we were discussing the options. Our IT Director ordered it for them, and our church may have also paid for it and installed it.
We partnered again with them through the Jirah Food Bank, located in an old retired grocery store. Both Hispanic and White folks were in need in our community. So we had a church service and gave out food afterward. Messages preached were done in English and Spanish through translation. Afterward we walked the attendees to their cars, carrying two bags of groceries for each vehicle, prepared ahead of time by the “white church” while the Hispanic Church led in worship and helped with translation. I would often preach for 10-15 minutes at these services along with other associate pastors from the “white church” while Pastor Cano translated. My Senior Pastor noted that I was good at those messages and I worked well with Pastor Cano throgh translation. I was happy to have found a way to contribute healing in some way to the brokenness of our community.
Later my Senior Pastor and I talked about the partnership with VBS, the sound system, and the food bank.
“Our name doesn’t need to be on their building for us to reach people for Jesus,” my pastor again pointed out.
And it stuck with me.
This would make 5 churches my wife and I were able to be a part of helping to see planted. 2 in Washington State, and 3 through Community Worship Center.
Now here we are in rural Wisconsin and I remember my pastors words, “Our name doesn’t have to be on the building for us to reach people for Jesus.”
In the last 3 years as of this post we have partnered with:
“The Gathering Place” a church specifically reaching out to Native Americans in the Milwaukee area.
Celebracion Vida Cristiana, a Hispanic Assemblies of God fellowship with 3 locations and a Christian school. We became their 4th location as we had them set up a branch of their Hispanic church that meets on Saturdays in our church.
And Arise Church, A church plant coming to the growing rural community of Denmark Wisconsin in September 2024.
3 churches in 3 years.
How does a rural church in the middle of nowhere accomplish this?
Partnership: We partner with church planters as if they are missionaries, supporting them in prayer, inviting them to come and share their vision at our church, and praying over them. After they launch we offer moral support, an experienced listening ear, and financial support at the same level we would support a foreign missionary.
And we do this for the first 5 years of their existence.
When they share of baptisms, through newsletters, and phone calls or emails we celebrate alongside them. If they struggle we pray with them. If spiritual attack comes we stand with them And pray for them and with them! When we take up an offering we remind our church of their existence and transparently thank them for their support because without their support we could not support these church plants.
We are church willing to invest in other new churches. 3:16 Church had already helped restart River of Hope Church in Medford Wisconsin, which just celebrated 10 years of existence, and another Hispanic church was launched out of 3:16 Church the same year that we became a sovereign church in 2010.
We don’t have to have our name on their building to see the gospel moving forward in their communities.
But we can pray with them, morally support them, and give.
We can even bring people from our church to come help them with launch events within their communities. We hope to partner with a church a year. go through a 5 years cycle and then and then as churches continue to be able to become sovereign and thrive past year five we pick up another church.
But we are just one church.
What if other churches treated church planters as if they were missionaries? Our denomination has over 200 churches in our network of Wisconsin and Northern Michigan. What if every church supported every church planter like they were a missionary with monthly support, prayer support and moral support as a source of comfort and strength when church planting gets tough.
It’s amazing how much you can do for the gospel when you don’t care who gets the credit.
As we all take out next steps with God, remember, your church’s name placard doesn’t come with you to heaven. But the souls reached for the Kingdom will.