“The single most effective evangelistic methodology under heaven is planting new churches.” C. Peter Wagner

The great need of the hour is to plant new local churches. It really is.

The local church is the hope of the world. It is the visible expression of Jesus. The hope of the world is not found in physical solutions, but in spiritual ones. The world needs Jesus. The way God has determined to change the world is one person at a time, one community at a time, through the communication of the gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed. This is the task of the local church. And so, the great need of the hour is to plant new local churches.

Called, gifted, and trained church planters are needed to plant new churches. The great need is to find them.

Right now, the PCA is only planting about 50 churches a year. While that is a commendable number, it is not near enough to make an impact on our culture. At the same time, the offices of Mission to North America get about five calls per week from churches and presbyteries asking for a church planter for their area. So we are not even keeping up with the demand from within our own denomination.

The PCA has deliberately moved into a phase strategically referred to as “saturation church planting.” MNA would rather plant hundreds of churches of 150-200 people each, than a few mega-churches. Smaller missional communities are the way to reach more people with the gospel and thus affect the cultural and spiritual state of North America.

The PCA needs more men to go into the various urban, suburban, exurban, and rural communities to start new churches, gather God’s chosen people, preach the gospel in word and deed, and extend his kingdom to the various geographic and demographic groups in North America. Two stories illustrate the need for me to be fully-funded and carrying out this role as soon as possible.

1. As Ted Powers and I began talking about this new position, Ted said something like this: “Alan, there are planters out there; we just have to find them. We believe that God has provided the men; we simply must identify them.” Then, with some frustration in his voice, he said: “I have a list of 50 names on my desk of men that could plant a church, and I simply have not had the time to follow up with them.”

2. I was the chairman of the Church Planting Committee for the Georgia Foothills Presbytery for six years. Our committee identified 15 areas in our presbytery that needed a new church. To my chagrin, we were unable to meet that need. None of us, as pastors or ruling elders, had the time to find the men to plant those churches.

It is time for the PCA to have someone dedicated full-time to finding and placing new church planters.