First of all, the joy of seeing a new church created by God’s grace in a region where there is little or no witness. My wife and I can remember the thrill of starting a new church in the growing city of St. Quentin-en-Yvelines—a city of over 100,000 with no evangelical church at all (note: here I am not playing a semantic game saying there was no evangelical church like ours). There was simply no evangelical church of any kind. And this city was growing at the rate of almost 1,000 people moving in each month. After some beginning struggles, the church was planted, grew, saw two new daughter churches planted and was turned over to a godly pastor who ably continued the ministry. Now there is a goal of seeing a third daughter church planted by collaboration between the mother church and one of the daughter churches previously planted. What a joy it is to see God at work multiplying churches.
Second, there is the joy of seeing God do unusual things to open doors. Although there are discouragements in church planting, there is the “up” of seeing God do special things when a new church is planted. It is thrilling to stand back and see the Lord “plant” his church. 1 Cor 3:6 states in the original Greek “I planted (at a certain moment), Apollos watered (at a certain moment), but all the time (force of the verb here) God was making it grow.” What a joy to see God at work bringing people to himself in his wonderful sovereignty. In every church plant we have been involved in we have seen God give us divine rendezvous opportunities that we could have never finagled ourselves.
Third, there is that joyful word “sovereignty” I just used—seeing the wonderful hand of God at work. At Corinth, perhaps in a moment of church planter “down” time, God says to Paul, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you for I have many people in this city who are my people.” (ESV). Lean hard on that. God is at work before you ever got there and he will lead you to prepared hearts by opening new doors.
Fourth, there is the joy of starting a new church that can be free from the baggage that older churches tend to carry. It has been said that “it is easier to have a baby than to raise the dead.” Now we now that God can raise the dead but what a joy it is to be able to use creativity to see a new church with new ideas (always faithful to the Word of God) that fits better in a new context. So a church planted in 2005 can be a church that fits the 2005 context better (without compromise) than a church that is having a hard time coping with needed change.
Fifth, there is the joy of empowering leadership in a new church that is not always possible in an older church. I remember the joy of seeing God use people who would normally not be used in an older or larger church because others were doing the ministry and they were “pew-sitting.” What a joy to see them discover their gifting and learn to pray, evangelize, serve, preach, and teach others. Did you know that most Christian workers come from small churches? I believe that is because they are pioneering their gifts in a pioneer situation. In an Australian church plant, my wife and I watched in amazement as a man who said he could not pray in public led the Lord’s Supper and shared the meaning of Christ’s death. He had blossomed in an atmosphere of church planting.
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