United States Church Planting - Gospel Fellowship Association

Ministries

United States Church Planting

Preachers, if you:

Have an evangelistic heart
Have a pioneer spirit
Have a self-starting personality
Have a "stick to it" attitude
Have a delight in starting something from scratch and watching it grow
Have adequate spiritual and academic preparation
Have church ministry experience
Have a burden to see the Lord raise up new churches

Then church planting may be God's will for you. Let's talk about it.

Contact Bud Bierman at the GFA home office.

There are at least seven good reasons to plant more churches:

Church planting is God's way of spreading the gospel and establishing a community-based discipling agency. The driving issue in church planting is fulfilling the Great Commission.
Church planting is an "open door opportunity," especially for the entry-level pastor.
Church planting expands the personnel and financial base for foreign missions.
Church planting is needed during this time of doctrinal defection, ecclesiastical compromise, sinking standards, and spiritual lethargy.
Church planting provides an opportunity to establish a Christ-centered, Bible-based ministry independent of mainline denominational entanglements.
Church planting is the Lord's will for some men.
Church planting is desperately needed in many American communities.

Is This Day a Day of Golden Opportunity?

Our best efforts have determined that there appear to be approximately 10,000 Fundamental churches in the U.S.A. There are many fine young people from these churches being educated in Christian schools or home schools and eagerly training in the Fundamental colleges and seminaries to serve the Lord. I believe that God is stirring many toward missions and church planting. I sense a growing desire among pastors to plant churches both nationally and internationally. In short, I believe that we are in a day of golden opportunity for the advancement of the Gospel through church planting.

Are We Staying Even with the Population Growth?

The 2000 U.S.A. Census reports that the overall population increased by 13.2% (32.7 million people) since 1990. The 2000 U.S.A. population was 281 million and today we have surpassed the 300 million mark. Are new Fundamental churches being planted at a rate which even begins to keep up with the demands of population growth, not to mention the already existing population? Unfortunately, the answer is obvious. Churches should be planting churches! Pastors should be leading their churches to plant more churches regionally, nationally, and internationally. Young men studying for the ministry should open their hearts to the call of church planting. Laymen should be challenged to team up with church planters and to relocate to assist in this great task.

Where Is the Primary Need for Churches to Be Planted?

Smaller, western towns - We have identified almost 1,200 communities in the U.S.A. with no known Fundamental churches within a 30-mile radius.

Cities - Many American cities have Fundamental churches, but still have a great need for church planting. We have identified 73 important cities that appear to be in need of more Fundamental churches.

Major metropolitan areas - Eighty percent of the American people live in metropolitan areas of more than 250,000! We have done extensive research on America's major metropolitan areas and identified 37 specific sections that appear to have few, if any, known Fundamental churches.

The GFA church planting program is seeking to meet that need.

Written by Dr. Bruce McAllister, Director of Ministerial Training and Extension, Bob Jones University. Dr. McAllister has taught church planting at BJU for many years. The original article has been edited and condensed for the GFA web page.