Growing a new church is much like growing a crop. It takes time, work, and patience. In short, it is an organic process. Crops are not manufactured; they are grown. The church is more than an organization; it is an organism. In Natural Church Development , Christian Schwarz observes, “The organizational realm of church ministry can be ‘manufactured’—the organic level can’t.” We have been working for about a year to start a new church in a growing part of our city. What do we have to show for it? We still don't have regular weekly worship and the monthly gatherings we hold are not as large as they were six months ago. We have had one successful outreach event that was led by about 30 folks from First Baptist, our sponsor church, and drew about as many uninvolved folks, but we have not been able to integrate these new folks into the groups that are meeting on a regular basis. We do have three home Bible study fellowships meeting that involve about 25 people. They are not as...
Comments from a Christ-follower on things that matter to him