Sending churches
N.C. BAPTIST PODCASTThis podcast was recorded at the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina’s 2017 Annual Meeting. With a church on every corner, so to speak, is there really a need for more? The answer is yes, because different kinds of churches reach different kinds of people. Churches that partner with new churches often experience increases in attendance, tithes and offerings, and mission giving. Any size church can become a “sending church,” and this is one of the most effective ways to make an impact on communities of lostness through disciple-making. Mark Gray discusses steps to partner with a new church to positively influence both the sending church and the new church so that many are won to Christ.
Here is an excerpt from this podcast:
Why should we multiply anyway? We have 4,300 churches in our convention. We have a church on every corner, so to speak, and we do have a lot of Baptist churches. On the other hand, we have a lot of people in North Carolina. A lot of people that need Jesus. Our studies are indicating that on any given weekend, only 21 percent of people in North Carolina are in any church. We believe there are 5.8 million who are lost in North Carolina out of a population of a little over 10 million. The need, again, is significant. The Lord Jesus has called us to be fishers of men. We’ve done some research and some studies and discovered the pockets of lostness all across our state. We’ve identified the top 250 pockets of lostness using an algorithm and as you can see, they’re broadly scattered. Most of these that you see here are in a three-mile radius, depending on population density; some are a little larger, and there’s some that are a mile and a half based upon density. So we’re not talking about just in the big cities. We have pockets of lostness all across our state and we believe that church planting, as you’ll see in a moment, is one of the most effective ways to reach them. Every church has a niche, an area they’re good at reaching. In your area, if you’re an evangelistic church and impacting lostness in a great way in your community, then we don’t need another church just like yours in that community. We need different kinds of churches to reach the folks you’re not the best at reaching in your particular context.
by Mark Gray / Church Planting / Baptist State Convention of North Carolina
