From 2003 – 2007, God worked among us to plant 98 new churches in 26 countries. Another 32 churches were formed from existing churches. Read the entire report, rejoice and renew your vision.
Planting Seeds Among the Nations
Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christthere.Acts 8:4-5
He will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth. Isaiah 11:12
The church planting torch never touched the ground. Having come through a time of turmoil unlike any in our history as a movement, we look back in thankfulness and amazement at what God has done.
As 2007 came to a close we compiled a list of all the churches among us which first reported membership in 2004 or later. Of these over 140 churches, we knew several were not church plantings but rather had been formed from the reorganization of large metropolitan churches in places like Atlanta and Washington, D.C. For the others, we surveyed church leaders and administrators around the world by phone and e-mail, and even published the rough list on Mission Memo and Disciples Today so that any member anywhere with firsthand knowledge could help us confirm which new churches were bona fide church plantings.
As e-mails poured in from around the world, a sharper picture came into focus: we found some had been sent out before 2003, some had failed in the field or had to be recalled, and one had even been relocated due to civil unrest!
After sorting out all the responses, we’ve been able to confirm that from 2003 to 2007, at least 98 new churches have been planted among us, from Auburn, Alabama to Rawalpindi, Pakistan and scores of places in between.
Our brothers and sisters in India led the way, with 22 new plantings. There are now over 50 churches in India and another 9 in Nepal, Sri Lanka, and other nations in the region that are descended from the Bombay (now Mumbai) Church of Christ, planted in 1987.
Several of the 18 new church plantings in the U.S. have been fueled by a gathering revival among campus ministries. New churches in places such Roanoke, Virginia and State College, Pennsylvania, and Auburn, Alabama, have either seen growth fueled by strong campus ministries or have been sent expressly to evangelize in towns with large student populations. We can imagine by faith the future evangelists and church leaders that will come from these new church plantings.
In Africa, with churches planted in all the major population centers, the African leaders are sending teams of disciples to a growing list of smaller and more remote cities such as Niablé, Ivory Coast and Kara, Togo. Hundreds have been baptized on campuses in Abidjan.
At least a half-dozen new churches have been planted in two countries in Asia where disciples still aren’t free to openly organize churches and evangelize. To protect these disciples, we don’t name the cities in which they are located, but we’ve confirmed all six plantings with leaders in the region who are in regular contact with them.
To be sure, these 98 plantings are a bright spot in what would otherwise be a gloomy picture. God blessed us with explosive growth in 1980’s and early 1990’s. ,In the mid-1990’s, our growth rate declined precipitously. Overall membership plateaued in 2002. With the crisis that hit our churches in 2003, our membership fell sharply in 2003 and 2004. Losses in the past two years have been fewer, but still painful. (Here’s a more detailed statistical report.) (Click here for the complete Church Directory.)
By God’s grace, we won’t surrender His dream to reach our generation with the gospel of Jesus. We have only just begun. There are literally thousands of places to plant new churches. Let’s pray, give, and go into all nations together relying on His power!
NEW 2003-2006 PLANTINGS:
