Bellingham Church of Christ Church Planting Series October 5, 2011 Part I - Class #2 Fun Trivia and Knowledge: (1)

According to the City of Bellingham government, how many incorporated neighborhoods are there within the current city limits? a. 8 b. 13 c. 19 d. 22 e. 25 According to the Census Bureau and the City of Bellingham, which neighborhood has the largest number of residents (not including WWU students who live on campus)? a. Sehome b. Barkley c. Happy Valley d. CBD e. Columbia What percent of the households in Washington State are a part of multiunit structures like apartments, townhomes, condos, etc? a. 7% b. 11% c. 26% d. 29% e. 34% Owning the Church Planting Vision Why plant churches? Know the Context 1. Understand the Trends a. Trends with People What are some implications we can gather from Peters first sermon where he states, save yourselves from this corrupt generation.? Acts 2:40-41 What are some social trends you see among people in your childrens generation, your generation, or your parents generation? How and where do people gather in social groups and tribes today? b. Trends with Churches What patterns in churches do you see in the reading and data on the next page of this worksheet? 2. Understand the Need How does our understanding of trends in people and churches help us understand (1) who we need to reach and also (2) what does the church need to reach them? Compare Matthew 24:12 and Revelation 2:18-19 What contrast do you see? Final Take Away

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Bellingham Church of Christ Church Planting Series October 5, 2011 Part I - Class #2 Continual church planting is Gods supreme plan for saving the world. New church-plantings are more effective at reaching un-churched people and younger people. If church attendance and new converts continually slows as churches get older, we then need to plant new churches in a society that is increasingly un-churched, simply to even maintain Christianity in those cities. People Trends Sample Data #1 31% of individuals in their twenties attend church in a typical week 42% of individuals in their thirties attend church in a typical week 49% of individuals in their forties and older attend church in a typical weeki Between the ages of 18 and 29, there is on average a 58% decline in weekly church attendance Church Trends Reading #1ii
In 1820, there was a church for every 875 Americans. But from 1860-1906, Protestants planted a new church for every population increase of 350. By 1900, we had 1 church for every 430 people. In 1906, one-third of all congregations in the country were less than 25 years old. As a result, the percentage of the U.S. population involved in the life of the church rose steadily. For example, in 1776, seventeen percent of the U.S. population were religious adherents, but that rose to 53% by 1916.iii However, after WWI, church planting plummeted. Once the continental U.S. was covered by towns with church buildings in each town, there was resistance from older churches to any new churches in our neighborhood. But the vast majority of congregations reach their peak in size during the first 25 years and then remain on a plateau or slowly shrink.iv Why? In general, older churches cannot reach new residents, new generations, new social groups, and un-churched people very well. And as those groups increase in a community (which they inevitably will) the original churches reach a smaller and smaller segment of their town, and the percentage of unchurched increases. Nevertheless, older churches fear competition from new churches and oppose them. Mainline churches, with centralized government, have been most effective at opposing new churches; as a result they have shrunk the most.

Church Trends Sample Data #2v In 1900, there were 28 churches In 1950, there were 17 churches In 2000, there were 12 churches In 2004, there were 11 churches available)

for for for for

every every every every

10,000 10,000 10,000 10,000

Americans Americans Americans Americans (latest data

Church Trends Sample Data #3vi Churches under three years of age win an average of ten people to Christ per year for every hundred church members

Bellingham Church of Christ Church Planting Series October 5, 2011 Part I - Class #2 Churches three to fifteen years of age win an average of five people to Christ per year for every one hundred church members Churches over fifteen years of age win an average of three people to Christ per year for every one hundred church members vii

Barna, G., Church Attendance, 2005 Keller & Thompson, Church Planter Manual iii Finke & Stark, The Churching of America, p.16 iv Schaller, 44 Questions for Church Planters, p.23 v Stetzer, Planting Missional Churches, p.9 vi Stetzer, Planting Missional Churches, p.8 vii Malphurs, Planting Growing Churches for the 21st Century, p. 44
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