Mission to North America’s (MNA) “Every Church Plant a Church” thrust, encapsulated in a new 13-minute DVD and companion article, seeks to educate churchgoers about the importance of church planting.

“We’re not inventing any new methodology here,” said Fred Marsh, associate coordinator of MNA, “but we’re crystallizing concepts we’ve clearly seen God use, and encouraging people to take more steps in this direction.”

The “Every Church Plant a Church” campaign seeks to see a grassroots church-planting culture emerge in the PCA, which would lead to the planting of healthy churches in many diverse communities of North America.

“Ultimately, church planting is one of the healthiest things a church can do for its own vitality ...” 

Currently, MNA places an average of one church planter on the field every week of the year (52-55 per year). “That’s an excellent rate for a denomination our size,” said Marsh. “But we want to encourage every church to think about the role it could play in church planting, whether it’s equipping, giving financial support, or providing leadership, time, and talent.”

The Every Church Plant a Church DVD, which provides practical steps on how churches can become involved in church planting, focuses on the case studies of three PCA churches--in Providence, R.I.; Houston, Texas; and Lakeland, Fla.—all of which are successfully planting churches in their areas.

In the DVD, Drew Bennett, the pastor of a church plant in Winter Haven, Fla., stresses that church planting is for everyone. “It doesn’t take a bunch of superstars, or hardened veteran Christians, but just people who have a love for place, a love for Jesus, and a desire to see His gospel known in that place.”

The Every Church Plant a Church DVD highlights a number of practical strategies for churches wanting to become involved in church planting. They include the following:

1 Make sure you are developing an outreach culture in your own church. Before a church can plant other churches it must be biblically healthy itself, which necessarily includes fruitful outreach, evangelism, mercy ministry, and service to the community.

2. Identify and study your church plant’s target community. Talk to community leaders and members of the general population to identify why people live there, what they perceive are the key needs and issues, and what they think a good church should be like.

3. Develop future leaders out of which future planters may emerge. Identify and invest in men and women who show godly character, ministry passion, and appropriate giftedness.

4. Pray for God’s guidance to make clear the actual target location of the church plant, for God to open doors and generate contacts in the community, and for God to use this work to bring glory to His name.

“Ultimately, church planting is one of the healthiest things a church can do for its own vitality,” says Fred Marsh. “It involves looking outward, seeking the lost, and being salt and light in a community, with a focus on serving others.”

For more information, visit www.pca-mna.org.