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Stephen Gray & Planting Fast Growing Churches
By jason | May 20, 2008
Stephen Gray stopped by in the comments yesterday to give some insight into his research. I put two and two together today and realized that he leads the organization that planted a church across town from us, The Bridge. God is doing some really cool stuff over there.
I thought it would be beneficial to post his remarks:
Jason,
I appreciate your post. I was wandering around the net and ran into this post. Just a quick comment. I choose the 200 mark at a 3-year period in order to set a proper bar. There are a few churches that have reached 300 within months from public launch, but these church plants are rare indeed. Two-hundred is widely accepted as the hardest barrier for any church to break. Ask most mega-church pastors and they will tell you that 200 was their toughest barrier. That being said. let me say two things.
- Not all church are meant, by God to reach this level. That may make some uncomfortable, but we have to able to accept God’s design for our ministry. However, that should never be an excuse for lack of motivation, or hard work.
- Just because a church plant doesn’t hit 200, doesn’t mean that they are a failure. It’s hard to call a church plant a failure when you can’t measure the spiritual/eternal impact you have made. In fact, the book makes it clear that the research was not a measure of success or failure. Only God will know the spiritual impact our work, this side of the gave. God never called us to be successful, just obedient.
I appreciate your blog and pray God richly blesses you as you do His work. Keep the Passion!
Original Post: Interacting with Planting Fast Growing Churches
Topics: Church Planting |
May 21st, 2008 at 2:28 pm
[...] 21 differences between church plants that grow fast and those that struggle (here), (here), and (here) I thought it would be helpful for those who are following our story in Ottumwa to know what of [...]