AEC2001
The 2000 Anabaptist Church
Planting Survey:
Reflections and Practical Implications
Part 3
Steve Clapp
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Some reflections
In his talks to us and in his very fine book, Church
Planting: Laying Foundations, Stuart Murray has urged us to think carefully
about the kinds of churches we are planting and about the ways in which we are
doing so. Here are a few reflections that seem important for us to consider as
we look to the future of Anabaptist church planting in North America:
1. It is very important that we think carefully about the
link between our denominations and the new churches that are planted, whether
that planting is initiated by the denomination or at another level.
Angela and I were somewhat perplexed by the fact that so many survey packages
were initially returned to us by the postal systems because of incorrect
addresses. We got all the addresses from denominational offices! Twenty-one
percent of the addresses proved wrong. To give you a point of comparison, when
Christian Community rents a mailing list from a commercial list service for a
research project or for the promotion of a resource, we are disappointed with
the quality of the list if we have as high as a 5% return rate. This observation
is not intended as a criticism of denominational staff. Denominational staff
members carry huge portfolios of responsibility; and new churches, often renting
facilities initially, may have several changes of address. There appears to be a
problem in the relationship, however, if the new churches themselves are not
taking the initiative to be sure the denomination has the most current address.
Are we doing enough to strengthen bonds between our
denominations and the new churches? While 61% of the pastors in this study did
feel supported and encouraged by their denomination or regional judicatory body,
31% would like more support and encouragement, and 6% did not feel they were
supported or encouraged. While all fifty-one churches were identified through
denominational lists, some of them did not indicate any denominational
affiliation on the surveys!
The link between the denomination and the congregation
likewise becomes important as the new church reaches many persons who have no
previous church background. Many of those responding to the survey indicated to
us that they have difficulty helping people with no past denominational
connection understand what it means to be "Brethren" or
"Mennonite" or "Anabaptist." Many new people are being
reached, but their bonds with the local congregation do not necessarily bond
them to the denomination. While our primary mission in church plants is not to
bond people to the denomination but to Christ and the kingdom of God, we surely
want people to positively identify with the tradition responsible for the church
in which they are involved. We need to think carefully about what the core
beliefs and values of our denominational traditions are and about how those can
be most helpfully communicated to new persons. We also need to recognize that,
for persons who are truly unchurched, basic elements of the faith are
understandably a greater focus of initial study than denominational heritage.
2. We need to think carefully about the target size of the
churches that we are planting. Anabaptist
congregations in North America tend to be small; and as denominations, we
strongly affirm the worth and importance of small congregations. While I was a
seminary student, I had the privilege of pastoring two neighboring
congregations, each of which had about fifty members. I had wonderful
experiences in those churches, and the churches were mission-centered and
exciting.
We want to be careful, however, that we do not move from
saying "small churches are good" to the implication that "large
churches are bad." Larger congregations can in fact embody all of the best
of the Anabaptist heritage and also make available substantial resources for the
broader mission of the church. I would submit, for example, that the Ohio church
(average attendance of 500) pastored by my friend Fred Bernhard and the Maryland
church (average attendance of 700) pastored by my friend Paul Mundey are both
thoroughly faithful to the Anabaptist heritage and give impressive support to a
wide range of causes. Because the congregation pastored by Fred is located not
far from where I live, I have had opportunity to become acquainted with a large
number of the people in that church; and I have been deeply impressed by the
number of lives which are transformed through the outreach of that congregation.
Our
study suggests that church plants tend to become as large as we intend for them
to be. There is a very close link among the expected attendance at the first
worship service, the actual attendance at that service, and the future rate of
growth of the congregation. Figure 11 below shows the hoped-for initial
attendance for the churches in our study. Over half of them anticipated 50 or
fewer persons at the first worship service. Those which targeted a larger number
for the first worship service generally had a larger number and also had more
persons year-after-year. Waiting long enough for the first worship service to
build a larger core of people results in a church with more volunteer strength,
a better core size for attracting new people, more options in class groupings
for Christian education, and stronger financial support.
As denominations, we have many congregations that are
small, unable to grow, and at times almost overwhelmed by the volunteer and
financial cost of institutional maintenance, making it difficult to find the
necessary resources for mission. As we think about the things that we want to
characterize church plants, we should seriously consider the possibility of
planning for larger congregations. This does not diminish the importance of what
healthy small congregations can accomplish but rather recognizes that there are
strengths of different kinds in larger congregations.
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