Starting New Churches

One of Storyline’s values is reproducibility. We acknowledge that healthy things reproduce: healthy plants drop seeds that create new plants; healthy animals mate and give life to new animals; healthy humans reproduce and give birth to babies.

That healthy things reproduce is true all throughout God’s kingdom, particularly in the church. Healthy followers of Jesus make new followers, and healthy churches start new churches.

I think the opposite is also true: unhealthy followers don’t attract new followers, and unhealthy churches don’t start new churches.

I did not become a church planter to start one church. I became a church planter to be part of a church planting movement. One practical expression of this conviction is Storyline’s commitment to give 10% of its offerings to the Harvest Fund for future church planting through Mission Alive. As of May, Storyline had given more than $7,000 to the Harvest Fund, which has helped four new churches get up off the ground so far this year. It’s a small start, but we know what God can do with small things…like mustard seeds.

Storyline has also made a commitment to invite church planters in-training into our midst – we call them “church planters in residence.”

One of my dreams for church planting has now come true: last month, we sent the Lewis family out to start a new church. They’re partnering with Mission Alive (our resource organization) and the Riverwalk Church in Wichita, KS to start a church in in the downtown area of that city. Watch this short video to hear the Lewises’ story.

My prayer is that this is the first of many churches Storyline will help to start either by offering itself as a training ground for future church planters or by providing financial support for new projects.

Pray with us, also, for the Lewises: that their house will sell; that they’ll find good teammates; that they’ll raise the rest of their financial support; and that the church they plant will bring more life to Wichita, KS.

Why do we plant churches? Because churches – when they’re healthy – bless people and the neighborhoods in which they live. That’s really all that God has ever wanted for the world that he made – so much so that God’s call to Abraham, the father of Israel and the grandfather of the church, was to be a blessing to all the people of the earth. More churches means more blessing for the world, and that’s a good thing.