A church, in the Old Testament in Hebrew is Quatial and Eda which means a gathering and in the New Testament is a Greek word Ekklessia which also means a gathering. It was used to mean the calling out of people to gather to the discussion of public business. A church also means the people of God and the body of Christ. In this contemporary world, a church is the build where believers gather together to worship. The common word that runs through this meaning in the Old Testament and the New Testament and today is gather and people. So for every church there is a gathering of people and these people are the people of God for the purpose of worship and listening to Gods word. If my head pastor tells me to start a new branch of the church this is what I would do. To start the church it is important that I receive a vision from God, define church planting target group, develop a church planting team, identify resources, evangelize I reached people, launch public ministry and then mobilize and multiply the ministry.
1. Receive a vision from God
Gods church is filled with Gods people so to be able to start the church I would have to wait on God through constant communication with God so that he can reveal on to me to start one and how to go about it. God sees beyond what I can is the master planner so waiting on him to give me a vision for the church is an important foundation step to start a new church branch.
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2. Define church planting focus group or target group
So after God has given me the vision to go ahead with the church. It is important that I create dimension and identify which group of people I would create the church for. My target group could be the young or old, the rich or poor, the loved or rejected, etc. the gospel is for everyone and everyone should get the chance of hearing the gospel. But in order to be effective in my ministry I need to identify the people I desire that they get to come to the loving grace of God. So my church planting focus group if it is the rejected means that. My entire ministry is about preaching to people for feel rejected and do not know Christ or those who get all the love in the world and so does not see the need of being saved through Christ. Defining my church planting focus group would give me a sense of focus and my ministry would effectively and efficiently be fruitful.
3. Develop a church planting team
When I am able to identify who my ministry is would be for, thus my target group, it is important to identify people who can identify themselves with my vision and have a heart for to draw unto God the group of people whom I want to draw unto God. Simply, the team I am planting with should share in my vision and understand the goal in order to work in one harmony in one direction and at the same pace in agreeableness. So I have to develop a group of people who would be ready and willing to build the church with. This people must know where I am going with the church and be ready to and go with me.
4. Identify resources
Getting a vision, identifying my goal group and get people with whom I can I achieve this goal, then now I have to identify resources to plant the church. Sometimes the mother church or the main church have resources to start the branch so I would then write to the church board the budget for the church. In other cases where the main church do not have resources to fund the new church, I would have to rely on Gods provision through fundraisers, donations, seed offerings, etc. My team would play a good role here because they can support with their resources as well as get other people on board to support. A great team would produce good results so the team development is as important as any other step through to when the church would be ready.
5. Evangelize un-reached people
So when I get what is required for a new church be it building or location and any other items needed , then now I have to now together with the team I have developed step 3 to start preaching to my focus group identified in stage 2 who have not been reached all ready. Everyone needs to hear the gospel so this who have heard the gospel are those we should identify and call them forth to hear it. So with my team and resources in one vision my target group who have not been reached should be reached. So I go out there and evangelize to them.
6. Launch Public Ministry
The nest thing I have to do is to is to launch a public ministry to umbrella the unreached people I have evangelized to. A ministry is simply a spiritual work or service of group of Christians. So we make it known to the public what we have been called to and what we stand for. So that those want to bless the ministry can and others who identify themselves with our vision and purposes can as well join the ministry. So that together we grow as a group of Christians up for the same spiritual work or service to the world.
7. Mobilize and multiply ministry
Earlier, I spoke about a ministry being a spiritual or service of a group of Christian. So I would have to mobilize a lot of these groups. A mobilized and multiples of ministries is what forms the church. So by the time I get to this stage I have a church running and I have people working with me to run it and resources to run it and my focus and vision. So to mobilize and multiply the ministry is the last step of my church planting journey and the mission given me by my head pastor. We are all Gods stewards but a lot of people run away from the responsibility. So my pastor trusting me with this task is his own way of looking out for me and ensuring that I do not shirk my responsibility as Gods steward.
To conclude, to plant a church is another level after evangelizing. We have all been called to preach or share Gods word but it is actually a few who actually what to gather those they evangelize to and pastor them or watch them till they are no longer babies in the Lord. Planting a church is a commitment act which says I will have you saved but I would also ensure you are constantly fed with Gods word I. Order to grow in the lord. It is one thing to evangelize and it is another to disciple or pastor them even though God has made strength available for all the task required. So when my senior pastor tells me to start a branch of the church I would wait on God for a vision, define my target group, develop a team to start the church with, identify resources for this course, evangelize to the in-reached people of my target group, launch a public ministry and finally mobilize and multiply ministries to start the branch.