Missionary C. Peter Wagner once said, “The single most effective way to evangelize is to plant a new church.” Now, we may or may not agree with everything that Wagner believed, but we can surely get on board with him in this instance.
As a member of the new USMB Church Planting Council (CPC) and a church planter myself, I cannot tell you how excited we are to work alongside our USMB churches in every district and to ignite passion and vision for church planting in our Mennonite Brethren family. I am so grateful to be surrounded by so many faithful churches and believers in our MB world.
We all know that how we define success as churches in a COVID-19 world is going to look a lot different moving forward. So why don’t we together commit to making church planting and reaching the lost with the message of Jesus one of them? Just think for a moment about the rich heritage and history we in the MB family have. So many faithful churches have served and loved their communities and preached the gospel for so many years. And yet, at one time every one of our churches was at one point a church plant!
I think of the church that I am honored to pastor. At Redemption Church, we have so many stories. These people are attending and are plugged into our various ministries. But without my wife and I starting the church, there is a chance that these people wouldn’t have met Jesus or be at a church at all in our city.
One of my greatest joys is walking alongside of the people who have come to our church for the first time or, in Bill’s case, for the first time in over 20 years! This is why we do church planting. This is why it is so important.
Jesus says: “The harvest is ripe,” “go make disciples,” and “preach repentance and the kingdom.” Let’s do it! And let’s do it together!
The CPC is excited to partner alongside you in the mission of planting churches. We are here to serve you and your churches with things such as leadership development tools, prayer, counsel or even casting this church planting vision to your church. We desire for you to be our eyes and ears for the future church planters and leaders in your area of the country. We want you to know that you have us as a resource for you and your church as you do the work of spreading the good news of Jesus to each of your cities.
Christian Kohs is a church planter who lives with his wife and children in Owatonna, Minnesota. He is the pastor of Redemption Church. Other members of the Church Planting Council are Brian Harris, Aaron Hernandez, Henri Ngolo and Don Morris.
This article has been posted by Christian Leader staff. The Christian Leader is the magazine of U.S. Mennonite Brethren.
