Why Church Planting

(Subtitle – Why I Want to Church Plant)

Drew Goodmanson posted a video that compiled some of the common stats used in the discussion on the need to plant churches. Since I assume that most of you won’t go to his site and sit through the whole thing, here are some of the highlights:

• Between 1991 and 2004 the number of unchurched people in the US almost doubled
• In 1900 there were 28 churches for every 10,000 people in the US… In 2004 there were 11
• From 1900 to 2000 the US population increased by 269 percent. The number of churches increased by only 65% in the same time period
• 3,500 to 4,000 churches close every year in the US
• 1/2 of all churches in the US saw NO growth thru conversion
• In the US there are 98 million people under the age of 25. Those under the age of 25 are the least likely to attend church
• Between 2000 and 2004 every state experienced a decline in people attending church except Hawaii
• The increase in the number of churches in the US is only about 1/4 what it needs to be to keep up with population growth
• “Dozens of denominational studies have confirmed that the average new church gains most of its new members (60-80%) from the ranks of people who are not attending any worshipping body, while churches over 10- 15 years of age gain 80-90% of new members by transfer from other congregations. This means that the average new congregation will bring 6-8 times more new people into the life of the Body of Christ than an older congregation of the same size.” Why Plant Churches – Tim Keller, Redeemer Presbyterian Church
• “Planting new churches is the most effective evangelistic methodology known under heaven.” C. Peter Wagner

The stats are sobering… at least for me they are. What do you think?