{"id":2152,"date":"2016-06-07T12:29:52","date_gmt":"2016-06-07T17:29:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/?p=2152"},"modified":"2021-01-29T14:58:43","modified_gmt":"2021-01-29T19:58:43","slug":"failure-in-church-planting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/","title":{"rendered":"When Church Plants Die"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe need more five-year church plants,\u201d said John Ogren. He was Skyping into our \u201cPlanting and Leading New Churches\u201d class at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, part of the M.Div. Church Planting Emphasis<\/a>, and reflecting on his experiences in a new church that started, lasted a few years, and then for a variety of reasons, didn\u2019t continue.<\/p>\n

It was the first day of class, and our students who had assembled to learn how to plant a (presumably successful) church, seemed relieved to begin with a story of supposed failure. John described how ministry and mission have a \u201ccruciforming\u201d effect upon us. We can receive this as a grace: By following Jesus in mission, we are formed more into his likeness, including his death. Sometimes success is crucifixion and failure is preserving our lives.<\/p>\n

It’s okay to fail.<\/h1>\n

\u201cFailure\u201d is not uncommon in church planting. One study suggests that only 68 percent of church plants last for four years<\/a>. Two speakers coming to Pittsburgh Theological Seminary this month have been a part of new churches that didn\u2019t continue: A church plant which Rachel Held Evans<\/a> (Being Church, June 10-11) was part of failed<\/a> and Mark Scandrette<\/a> (Invitation to Simplicity, June 26-29) has written about his failed attempt to plant a particular kind of church in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

The way we approach church planting can make a significant difference in how likely our new worshiping communities are to be sustainable. But there are also a host of other factors beyond our control which affect sustainability. And when for any combination of reasons a ministry has to call it quits, a ministry\u2019s task becomes dying with faithfulness to the mission Christ gave it. So what does a faithful death look like?<\/p>\n

Death becomes a launching point.<\/h1>\n

I like Mark Scandrette\u2019s approach. A dozen years ago he wrote that in the wake of seeming failure, his community \u201cneeded to go back to the Gospels and rediscover the goodness and beauty of the kingdom of God. Jesus is the place where reconstruction begins.\u201d[1]<\/a> Death became a launching point. Experience of failure led Mark and his family to explore \u201ca more primal pursuit of Jesus and his kingdom . . . practicing and imitating Jesus\u2019 life in our neighborhoods: eating with the homeless, creating art, engaging in classic spiritual disciplines, practicing hospitality, etc. Our vision has changed from a house-church movement to an indigenous Kingdom movement.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

Sometimes our expectations have to be crucified so that Jesus\u2019 reign can be fully displayed.<\/p>\n

Christians believe resurrection follows death. Otherwise we would be \u201cof all people most to be pitied\u201d (1 Cor 15:19). We\u2019re supposed to be set free from the fear of death (Heb 2:15). So what might our ministries\u2014new and old\u2014look like if we didn\u2019t fear institutional death?<\/p>\n

Last fall, our Church Planting Initiative<\/a> hosted a conference at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary about multi-cultural church planting. In one of his plenary talks, Jin Kim, founding pastor of Church of All Nations<\/a>, described his church\u2019s identity as a \u201chigh risk, low anxiety church because Jesus is Lord.\u201d If Jesus is sovereign, we can take risks for the sake of witnessing to him, even risks that may lead to worldly \u201cfailure.\u201d So why do we think we can add one hour to our churches\u2019 lives by worrying about them?<\/p>\n

My own church plant might be starting to think this way. I\u2019m accepting a call<\/a> to a church in another part of the country and will be gone in a couple months. The church we planted in Pittsburgh has dedicated and incredibly gifted leaders, but the transiency of our young demographic means we keep sending people out each year, and those losses are getting harder to replenish. As our elders imagined what could happen in the church in a couple years, one said that if it were to die, it shouldn\u2019t be because of complacency. Rather, she said we should \u201ctake the reins and do something big\u201d so that if we die it happens \u201cin a blaze of glory\u201d because we\u2019ve remained faithful to our mission.<\/p>\n

Amen. Jesus didn\u2019t die because he gave up. He died because it was essential to the mission the Father had given him to bring resurrection life to the whole world.<\/p>\n

For any church to follow that pattern will mean it takes a few risks, wades through lots of uncertainty, and experiences some suffering. But that\u2019s what we\u2019re called to do. The PC(U.S.A.)\u2019s Book of Order<\/em> actually says that the Church is called to be faithful in mission, \u201ceven at the risk of its own life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Death can be as much success as it is failure.<\/h1>\n

Death for a new church (or any other ministry) can be success as much as it can be failure. Sometimes it will be both at the same time. But a ministry\u2019s degree of success and failure is not determined in terms of sustainability, as though sustainability is an end in itself. Rather success and failure are determined in relation to faithfulness to the mission God has given. A church or ministry can be sustainable but unfaithful. Or we can bear faithful witness to the reign of Jesus Christ and find ourselves broke and worn out. In which case do you think God\u2019s power is more likely to be displayed?<\/p>\n

As Romans 8:28 says, God works all things for the good of those who love him. The next verse says that we’re destined \u201cto be conformed to the image\u201d of Jesus. That conformity again includes both crucifixion and resurrection. The death of a ministry can be holy if it dies like Jesus: giving wholly of itself in fidelity to God\u2019s mission in the world. Out of such deaths, the Spirit will bring new life.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Rev. Christopher Brown moved to Pittsburgh from Colorado to pursue a master of divinity (MDiv) degree at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. He currently serves as the coordinator of the Church Planting Initiative at the Seminary along with pursuing his master\u2019s in sacred theology. Chris is the organizing co-pastor of The Upper Room Presbyterian Church, a church plant of the PC (U.S.A.) in Pittsburgh\u2019s Squirrel Hill neighborhood. Chris regularly blogs at https:\/\/christopherbrown.wordpress.com<\/a> and tweets at @brwnchrstpher<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Mark Scandrette, \u201cPilgrimage Landscapes\u201d in A Community of Kindness<\/em><\/a> by Steve Sjogren & Rob Lewin (Ventura, CA: Regal 2003) p. 216<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe need more five-year church plants,\u201d said John Ogren. He was Skyping into our \u201cPlanting and Leading New Churches\u201d class at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, part of the M.Div. Church Planting Emphasis, and reflecting on his experiences in a new church that started, lasted a few years, and then for a variety of reasons, didn\u2019t continue….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[65,55],"series":[],"class_list":["post-2152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-planting","tag-church-planting-2","tag-mdiv-program-pittsburgh"],"yoast_head":"\r\nHow failure in sustaining a church plant can still be a success<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Rev. Christopher Brown moved to Pittsburgh to pursue a MDiv degree. He explains how failure in sustaining a church plant can still be a success.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How failure in sustaining a church plant can still be a success\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Rev. Christopher Brown moved to Pittsburgh to pursue a MDiv degree. He explains how failure in sustaining a church plant can still be a success.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pittsburgh Theological Seminary\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-06-07T17:29:52+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-29T19:58:43+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/unsuccessful-church-plant.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"337\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ptsblog\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ptsblog\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ptsblog\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9e695c34c8e88351c00ef7369001ac5f\"},\"headline\":\"When Church Plants Die\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-07T17:29:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-29T19:58:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/\"},\"wordCount\":1073,\"commentCount\":1,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/unsuccessful-church-plant.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"church planting\",\"MDiv program Pittsburgh\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Church Planting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/\",\"name\":\"How failure in sustaining a church plant can still be a success\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/unsuccessful-church-plant.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-07T17:29:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-29T19:58:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9e695c34c8e88351c00ef7369001ac5f\"},\"description\":\"The Rev. Christopher Brown moved to Pittsburgh to pursue a MDiv degree. He explains how failure in sustaining a church plant can still be a success.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/unsuccessful-church-plant.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/unsuccessful-church-plant.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":337},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"When Church Plants Die\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Pittsburgh Theological Seminary\",\"description\":\"Grounded in Faith, Formed in Community\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9e695c34c8e88351c00ef7369001ac5f\",\"name\":\"ptsblog\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b6530fb1e9ddce422ee48a03a2e5cf3eddac1d5b99f93e9b527390d4e28ad6fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b6530fb1e9ddce422ee48a03a2e5cf3eddac1d5b99f93e9b527390d4e28ad6fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"ptsblog\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/author\/ptsblog\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How failure in sustaining a church plant can still be a success","description":"The Rev. Christopher Brown moved to Pittsburgh to pursue a MDiv degree. He explains how failure in sustaining a church plant can still be a success.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How failure in sustaining a church plant can still be a success","og_description":"The Rev. Christopher Brown moved to Pittsburgh to pursue a MDiv degree. He explains how failure in sustaining a church plant can still be a success.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/","og_site_name":"Pittsburgh Theological Seminary","article_published_time":"2016-06-07T17:29:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-01-29T19:58:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":337,"url":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/unsuccessful-church-plant.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"ptsblog","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ptsblog","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/"},"author":{"name":"ptsblog","@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9e695c34c8e88351c00ef7369001ac5f"},"headline":"When Church Plants Die","datePublished":"2016-06-07T17:29:52+00:00","dateModified":"2021-01-29T19:58:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/"},"wordCount":1073,"commentCount":1,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/unsuccessful-church-plant.jpg","keywords":["church planting","MDiv program Pittsburgh"],"articleSection":["Church Planting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/","name":"How failure in sustaining a church plant can still be a success","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/unsuccessful-church-plant.jpg","datePublished":"2016-06-07T17:29:52+00:00","dateModified":"2021-01-29T19:58:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9e695c34c8e88351c00ef7369001ac5f"},"description":"The Rev. Christopher Brown moved to Pittsburgh to pursue a MDiv degree. He explains how failure in sustaining a church plant can still be a success.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/unsuccessful-church-plant.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/unsuccessful-church-plant.jpg","width":600,"height":337},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/failure-in-church-planting\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"When Church Plants Die"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/","name":"Pittsburgh Theological Seminary","description":"Grounded in Faith, Formed in Community","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/9e695c34c8e88351c00ef7369001ac5f","name":"ptsblog","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b6530fb1e9ddce422ee48a03a2e5cf3eddac1d5b99f93e9b527390d4e28ad6fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b6530fb1e9ddce422ee48a03a2e5cf3eddac1d5b99f93e9b527390d4e28ad6fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"ptsblog"},"url":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/author\/ptsblog\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/unsuccessful-church-plant.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4MvlM-yI","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2152"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5634,"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2152\/revisions\/5634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2152"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pts.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=2152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}