Reformed Pastoral Ministry, Preaching, and Missions — Unit 8: Church Planting and Presbyterian Multiplication

Key Verse

"And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18, NKJV)

Learning Objectives

When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

1. Explain the biblical basis for planting churches, using the pattern of Paul in Acts and Titus.

2. Name the marks of a true church and explain why a planting work aims at a fully organized congregation.

3. Describe the usual Presbyterian stages from prayer group to organized church, and the roles of the mother church and the presbytery.

4. State three objections to the Presbyterian way of planting, concerning oversight, speed and the need for new churches, and give the Reformed answers.

5. Explain how elders are trained and how a young church becomes self-supporting and then plants others.

The Voice of This Unit

This unit is written from inside the Presbyterian and Reformed tradition for Reformed students. It assumes the teaching of Course 4, "Presbyterian Polity, Worship, and Sacraments," especially Unit 2, "Government by Elders," and Unit 3, "Session, Presbytery, Synod, and General Assembly." Presbyterian practice varies somewhat from one denomination to another, so the stages described here are a common pattern, not a rule for every church. Other Christians, including Baptists and independent churches, plant churches in other ways, and we state their concerns fairly.

The Lord Builds, We Plant

Our key verse is a promise before it is a command. Christ says, "I will build My church." The church belongs to Him, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. A church planter is not a founder of his own work. He is a servant whom the Lord uses. Paul said it in this way: "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase" (1 Corinthians 3:6). This truth gives courage. It also gives humility, since no planter's cleverness can create a living church.

Yet Christ builds His church by means. He builds it through the preached Word, the sacraments, and the labor of sent men and women. The Reformed tradition has always held that the Lord uses ordinary means, and one of the chief means is the planting of new congregations.

The Pattern of Paul

Scripture does not give a full manual for church planting, but it shows a pattern in Paul's work.

A church sends. In Antioch, as the church worshiped and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, "Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them" (Acts 13:2). The church laid hands on them and sent them. A planter is sent by a church, not by himself.

The Word is preached. On the first journey Paul and Barnabas preached the gospel in city after city and made disciples (Acts 14:21).

Believers are gathered and strengthened. They returned to the new congregations "strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith" (Acts 14:22).

Elders are appointed. "So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed" (Acts 14:23). Later Paul wrote to Titus, "For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you" (Titus 1:5).

Planters go where Christ is not named. Paul said it was his ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not already named, so that he would not build on another man's foundation (Romans 15:20).

Churches are connected. When a dispute arose about Gentile believers, the apostles and elders of the churches met together in a council at Jerusalem, and their decision was carried to the churches (Acts 15). Presbyterians find in this the root of our connectional government. The new churches were not islands.

These six features, sending, preaching, gathering, elders, new ground and connection, give the shape of Presbyterian church planting.

What a Planted Church Must Have

What are we trying to plant? The Reformed answer is not simply a meeting or a Bible study. It is a church.

The Reformers taught that a true church can be known by certain marks. Calvin, in the Institutes (Book 4, chapter 1, section 9), teaches that where the Word of God is purely preached and heard, and the sacraments are administered according to Christ's institution, we may be sure the church of God exists. The Belgic Confession (1561), Article 29, names three marks: the pure preaching of the gospel, the pure administration of the sacraments, and the exercise of church discipline in correcting sin. The Scots Confession (1560) names the same three marks.

So the planter has a clear goal. He aims to gather a people who hear the Word faithfully preached, who receive baptism and the Lord's Supper, and who live under the care and discipline of elders. A warm group of friends that meets for worship, but has no sacraments and no oversight, is not yet what the Reformed mean by a church. Such a group is a good beginning, and we call it a mission, but it must grow to be organized.

In Presbyterian practice the sacraments are administered by a minister of the Word lawfully ordained. The Westminster Confession, chapter 27, section 4, says this. Therefore a young work must stay in relationship with ordained men who can serve it until it has its own.

The Usual Stages

Presbyterian churches commonly plant in these stages. The names differ, but the order is often similar.

First, prayer and a core group. A mother church, its session, or a small team prays for a place and gathers a few believers who are willing to start. The work begins on the knees and with relationships.

Second, outreach and teaching. The group opens Bible studies, visits neighbors, helps with real needs, and holds meetings for the Word. A preaching point may be started in a home or rented room.

Third, a mission under oversight. When regular worship begins, the work is placed under the care of a mother church's session or of the presbytery. An ordained minister preaches, and baptizes and serves the Supper when needed. The mother church gives people, prayer and money.

Fourth, organization. When there are enough believers, and men who meet the biblical standards, the congregation elects elders and deacons, who are examined and ordained, and members are formally received. The mission becomes an organized church, with its own session and place in the presbytery.

Fifth, maturity and multiplication. The young church supports its own pastor and work, sends gifts to others, and in time becomes a mother church.

Why do we do it this way? First, because the Word and the sacraments are protected by an overseeing body. Second, because the new church is joined to the larger church from the first day, with help from elders who have gone before. Third, because the order matches the pattern of Acts: preach, gather, then appoint elders.

Training Elders for Multiplication

Presbyterian multiplication depends on elders. If the work waits until a foreign pastor is available for every congregation, it will not multiply. Paul's instruction to Timothy describes the chain: "And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also" (2 Timothy 2:2). There are four links here: Paul, Timothy, faithful men, and others.

Scripture gives the qualifications. Paul lists them in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9. An elder must be above reproach, faithful in marriage, self-controlled, hospitable, able to teach, and not a new convert. He must hold the faithful word as taught, so that he can encourage with sound doctrine and refute those who contradict. A planter must therefore teach, not merely recruit.

This is where the Reformed emphasis on teaching shows itself. The tradition produced the Genevan Academy, catechisms for ordinary believers, and in later times seminaries and presbytery training programs. Course 5, Unit 3, "Catechizing and Discipleship," shows how the catechism forms men and women who can serve as officers. Many leaders in young churches are workers with other jobs. Paul himself worked at tentmaking among the Corinthians (Acts 18:3), and a congregation can often have faithful elders who earn their living by other work while a few are set apart for full-time preaching and teaching.

Self-Support and Daughter Churches

The Nevius principles taught in Unit 7 apply here: a church should be self-propagating, self-governing and self-supporting. A planting work may need outside help in the early years, but the aim is to reduce it year by year. A church that depends forever on foreign money often loses initiative, and its members may feel the church is not theirs. Scripture teaches that those who preach the gospel should be supported by those they serve (1 Corinthians 9:14), and a young congregation can learn to give from the first month, even if the gifts are small.

When a church is well rooted, it should itself send. The congregation in Antioch sent Paul and Barnabas and did not wait to be large. A church of fifty that supports a planter or prays for a new work learns that the church exists for the world.

Objections and Answers

Objection 1: Presbytery oversight slows the work and weakens the local church.

Baptist and independent friends hold that each local church is self-governing under Christ, and that a church should plant without outside oversight. Some also fear that a presbytery will control a small group.

Our answer. We agree that every local church has real elders and real responsibility. But Scripture shows churches connected in Acts 15, and elders appointed in every church in Acts 14:23, and not left to themselves. Oversight protects against false teaching, protects the planter from loneliness and pride, and protects the church from a strong man who rules alone. In practice the best presbyteries serve their new churches with training and help, not with control. Many independent churches also join voluntary fellowships, which shows the same need.

Objection 2: The Presbyterian way is too slow. Rapid multiplication matters more.

Some modern planting movements stress speed, house churches and quick appointment of local leaders. They say that waiting for educated elders and organized sessions leaves the lost unreached.

Our answer. We accept part of this. Paul appointed elders within a short time on his first journey (Acts 14:21-23), so speed is not unbiblical, and a church that cannot multiply without a seminary graduate has set the bar higher than the Bible does. But Paul also warned, "Do not lay hands on anyone hastily" (1 Timothy 5:22), and he told Titus to appoint men who met the qualifications. A quick church without sound teaching can spread error as fast as truth. The Reformed way seeks both: urgency, and order.

Objection 3: There are already many churches. Why plant another?

Some say we should plant only among the unreached, and that new churches in places with existing churches divide God's people.

Our answer. Romans 15:20 gives priority to places where Christ is not named. In Latin America, however, many people are nominal in their faith or have never heard a clear gospel, and a church that preaches the Word and is faithful to the sacraments is a genuine need. At the same time, we must plant by evangelism, not by drawing members from other faithful churches. Where Christ is truly preached by others, we rejoice (Philippians 1:18). A planter should visit neighboring pastors and seek peace with all who hold the gospel (Ephesians 4:3).

Pastoral Application

A Presbyterian church of eighty members in a city of Jalisco learns that many families have moved into a new neighborhood across the city, where there is no evangelical church. The pastor brings the matter to the session. The elders do not decide at once to start a church. They pray together for a month. Then two families volunteer to move closer or to host a weekly Bible study. A retired schoolteacher in the congregation offers to lead a children's class. The session writes to the presbytery for advice and receives a visit from a minister of the presbytery.

After a year the group has twenty-five people who meet for worship each Sunday. The pastor preaches there twice a month, and the session arranges the Lord's Supper under its care. Two men in the group who are growing in faith begin a study of the catechism with the pastor on Saturdays. The mother church pays the rent for a room but asks the new group to give something each month. In the third year, the congregation elects its first elders and deacons and is organized as a church. The pastor tells the mother church that the day has come to pray for another work.

Summary

The Lord builds His church, but He does so by planting through sent servants. Paul's pattern in Acts and Titus includes a sending church, preaching, gathering believers, appointing elders, going to new ground and connection among churches. A true church has the marks of the pure preaching of the Word, the right administration of the sacraments and discipline (Belgic Confession, Article 29). The usual Presbyterian stages are prayer and a core group, outreach and teaching, a mission under oversight, organization with elders and deacons, and then maturity and multiplication. Elders are trained according to 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, and the chain of 2 Timothy 2:2 keeps the work multiplying. Independent friends worry about presbytery control, and we answer that Acts shows connected churches. Advocates of speed worry about slowness, and we answer that Paul combined haste and care. Those who ask why plant where churches exist should hear that we plant by evangelism and seek peace. A young church should become self-supporting and send others.

Further Reading

• John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 4, chapter 1 (Beveridge translation, 1845).

• The Belgic Confession (1561), Articles 27 to 32.

• The Scots Confession (1560), chapter 18.

• The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), chapters 25 to 27.

• John L. Nevius, The Planting and Development of Missionary Churches (1886).

• Course 4: "Presbyterian Polity, Worship, and Sacraments," Units 2 and 3.

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