Household Of Faith’s Vision & Process For New Church Planting

New church planting is the inevitable result of success in the Christian life. Whether by means of evangelistic success where large numbers of new believers must be constituted into new local churches, or by means of successful revival and reformation of existing believers who then gather in new local churches by means of transfer growth, or by means of healthy biological growth as believing families procreate over generations, new church planting is crucial to the purposes of God in His kingdom.

Not only is this so, but, because God is good and wise, new church planting is also healthy and advantageous for individual believers, for their households, for their existing local churches and for their neighborhood communities. Personal holiness surges, bold and effective evangelism rises, household unity increases, the sending church’s excitement multiplies, the sent church’s sense of adventure flourishes and the quality of the target neighborhood improves, all because a new church is being planted.

The highest and best, most loving and compassionate thing we can ever do for any community on earth is to plant a fully functional New Testament local church in its midst. We are told in Proverbs 3:13-18 that wisdom is far better than gold. One reason is because by means of wisdom all else that is worth having in this world can eventually be acquired. In the same way, a functioning local church is like wisdom. It is far superior to an orphanage, a school, a college, a seminary, a medical clinic, a hospital, a food bank, an agricultural training center or any other worthy institution, simply because by means of a strong local church all of these other pressing needs can be addressed effectively as needed. But without a local church, all of these good works leave the target community in spiritual death and darkness.  Such good works instead of the life-giving power that comes only be means of the Gospel of the Kingdom is like putting cosmetics on a corpse. But a living Bride can arise  and begin to adorn herself with good works for the glory of her Lord and by her good works she can also adorn the Gospel for the sake of others as yet unbelieving. It is a wonderful surprise in the Christian life that by our obedience of faith in Jesus we get to help bring into existence the kind of family, church and neighborhood we would hope to live in. The goodness and the wisdom of God is on display as we walk in the obedience of faith to plant new local churches in every neighborhood throughout the world.

By God’s grace, and in spite of all our flaws and imperfections, the Household of Faith churches in the Pacific Northwest now serve as prototypes for a new church planting movement. Like every local church we have been called of God to plant new churches locally and around the world. But because of our commitment to Reproductive Growth, new church planting is much more of a routine in our church culture. Like a husband and wife who are dedicated to becoming a large and godly family, Household of Faith is dedicated to being a prodigious church planting movement.  We labor to make it practical for any small group of truly converted, doctrinally sound, spiritually faithful, like-minded householders to gather, plant and constitute a new local church in their neighborhood in about the same amount of time that it takes to have a healthy baby — generally, around nine months.

The reason Household of Faith is able to plant a healthy new local church in such a relatively short period of time is because we have restored the elegantly simple model of the local church revealed in the New Testament. Stripped of all of its modern, labor-intensive, extra-biblical traditions, such as the nursery, the Sunday school, the various youth groups, a children’s church service, various singles groups and all other age-segregated, facilities-dependent church programs, our church planting target is drastically reduced to simply establishing one joyful weekly gathering.  There we pray together in full accord, worship God in Spirit and in Truth, edify one another through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God as sound, exegetical, Bible doctrine baptize new believers, celebrate our Lord’s Supper, pray for the sick and to enjoy ample time for fellowship over a family-reunion-style Shared Meal. All of this is intended to raise the love level of the congregation for God and one another to the point that the Body Life of the church begins to ignite through hospitality in one another’s homes throughout the week. When every member household is being managed by an Ambassador for Christ the home is in fact an embassy of the kingdom of God and an extension facility of the local church. This Body Life of hospitality-based evangelism and discipleship is the primary ministry of Christ’s church. It is the primary ministry for which gifted church leaders are given by God to equip God’s people.

It only takes one seasoned Christian household to plant a new local church like this. A weekly home Bible study eventually becomes a core group of three or more like-minded fellow enthusiasts. Giving increases. Available resources are more than adequate. Evangelism thrives on godly enthusiasm. The home meeting is outgrown and a weekly worship service is established in a suitable nearby rented facility. The pulpit ministry of the men of the church is strengthened by training, study, coaching and practice. The worship leadership improves overtime by dedication, training and practice. The Shared Meal becomes a weekly feast of fellowship and family-inclusive recreation. An initial Teaching Elder and a few Deacons are recognized and appointed. The church grows. Additional elders and deacons are appointed as the need requires. Eventually, a healthy combination of numerical and spiritual growth require a new local church to be planted nearby. And so the cycle continues.

Firm & Flexible

In order to be flexible, you have to have something to flex. In other words, structure must be firm enough to guide the process but flexible enough to accommodate local circumstances. In the process of planting new local churches there will be a wide variety of circumstances and several distinct stages of reproductive growth which require flexibility. At the same time, in order to maintain the clarity and unity of the faith, vision, culture and structure of our church planting movement everyone involved must maintain a firm adherence to our Essential Reforms. The following guidelines for church planting are provided for that purpose. In order for any new church plant to be affiliated as a Household of Faith Church (by whatever name), there must be an enthusiastic embrace of, and a cheerful adherence to, our vision. If you are interested in being a part of what God is doing among us, whether by planting a new HOF church, or by reforming your existing church along these lines, please contact us. We will be happy to serve you in any way we can.