Starting New Churches On Purpose (10)
I’m gonna share some ideas from Ron Sylvia’s book, Starting New Churches On Purpose, and process them out loud and see what you think. Here’s one:
Ron discusses the benefits of launching large. He quotes Rick Warren, who says, “I’ve noticed over and over that if a church doesn’t get beyond 200 within about a year and a half, it usually doesn’t happen at all. On the other hand, churches that get over 200 in the first year just keep on growing and growing.”
Ron says the foremost reason for launching large is that it’s good stewardship of the gospel. We are trying to extract “from the community at large those people who are seeking God.” The more people who hear the Word of God, the better.
Other benefits include: (1) Breaking through growth barriers more quickly, (2) Giving the church much needed credibility, (3) Becoming self-supporting faster.
This topic may be a little controversial, but personally I agree with Ron. I believe in launching large, but there are some things I would not sacrifice to launch large. So let’s frame this in a discussion question: What are some sacrifices you may need to make to launch large, that you personally would not be willing to make?