A Proposal of Church Growth by Church Planting

Peter Y. Woo, 7/30/96

  1.            INTRODUCTION

              This paper tries to propose a church growth model, that can be effectively applied to FCBCFV. Some of the ideas need to be explored in more details, and perhaps modified, but I hope this paper is a start. My only purpose is to see the gospel reaching out to more souls of all ethnic background in Orange County. There must be a way in God’s heart that enables us to grow faster than the Vineyard charismatics without compromizing our theology.

  2. GOAL

              I see that it is quite feasible to see our congregation grow from 500 each Sunday now to 1000 to 1500 in 3 years.

              My proposal is not to get ourselves to grow into a mega church with one charisma-filled speaker-pastor, but one made up of 10 or more mutually assisting and cooperating sub-congregations, which I shall use the term MA ("multiassemblies") in this paper.

              To achieve this model some changes are expected of the existing FCBC structure and operations, and perhaps some traditional ways have to be painfully changed. I shall also compare the old FCBC ways with the new MA ways.

  3. MODELS OF SUCCESS

  3a.              Our own Vietnamese ministry. The Vietnamese congregation is an example of an "assembly" among us. They have their own structure, their own Sunday worship, but they rely on us for various support, physical and financial, kitchen facilities, and perhaps we also oversee their overall directions, standards on faith and behavior, and so on. This is basically my idea of an assembly.

  3b. Saddleback Community Church. I have yet to find out how it achieved to a congregation of 20000 or so I heard. I was told the pastor there said there is no dominant factor of church growth, only equal emphasis on several things: good preaching, good networking, missions, evangelism, Bible exposition and teaching.

  3c. Brady Church. It is a Southern Baptist church on a tiny street called Brady at Whittier. A revival has been going on there for a few years. The church is not “charismatic” or Vineyard-like. I have visited their Sunday service once or twice. They impressed me as follows:

              Their building is old, their financial position is not impressive. Their congregation is made up of 25% white, 25% black, 25% latino, and 25% Asians. The congregation does not sit facing the old pulpit with the baptismal, but sideways, facing the wall in amphitheatre-like semicircular rows of chairs, so that contemporary songs can be projected on the wall. Their singing is rather noisy, with raised arms, etc., with high spirits.

              Their teaching: The pastor says many times: we do not want to become a megachurch. We want each one of you to plan to leave this church in 5 years, and start your own church. Los Angeles area has only 1500 churches catering to 3000000 people, which is one church per 2000 residents (I may have the numbers wrong), so that there is the challenge to increase the number of churches by 100% in minimum time. We look at this challenge, and we are resolved to stand up to it.

              Their practise: get a group of 20 families or less, that have some common ethnic or age or geographic background, and start with Bible study group at a family, and soon make it grow into a church.

              Their missions week is impressive. OMF was called to be a chief promoter to conduct the whole day conferences. Other churches sent people to observe their meetings.

  4. MY PROPOSAL IN BRIEF

  4a. HOW TO START AN ASSEMBLY

              Start with a home Bible Study group. Urge them to aim at achieving 3 goals:

              (1) Evangelism. Everybody gets serious in sharing the Gospel at work place, at neighborhood, at gatherings with relatives at birthdays, Christmas parties, weddings, funerals, sickbeds, etc. Then bring the new believers or gospel-receptive friends to the Bible studies.

              (2) Ministry of the Word. Have some among the group developing a heart to lead Bible study and to make the Word come alive and applicable to standards of life and principles (e.g., dating, movies, abortion, divorce) Get to the point that people feel that God is using such Bible study time to bless their group.

              (3) Networking. The group has developed a love for each other, support and care for each other's needs.

              When the above 3 goals are manifested with God's blessings, then they should think of becoming an Assembly. The central question is:

              If we have our own Sunday Service, will it enhance our ministry of sharing the Word and the Gospel to ourselves and friends?

              If the answer is Yes, then the time has come. Now a few more things need to be faced:

              (4) Becoming an Assembly means Sunday Worship, may be 3 times per month at first. SS (Sunday School) eventually have to be developed, but at first if they stay at the premise of FCBCFV, children can still attend FCBCFV's SS and Fellowship groups such as RA and AOK.

              (5) Have to examine the articles of faith of FCBC as well as other evangelical institutions, e.g., Biola, to make sure they agree to and can effectively teach on such doctrines, especially the ones on the Holy Spirit and Eschatology.

              (6) Examine the past practises of FCBCFV's organization and structure. They do not have to adhere to all traditions and structures, but all changes should be well-reasoned and thought through. Certain things of the Southern Baptist traditions should be noted, e.g., legal practices, rights of church property, etc.

              (7) To be adequately prepared for Sunday Services: Have a classroom with chairs and a piano or electronic keyboard. Have members gifted in music to lead and accompany. Most important of all, have at least two members ready to preach and teach that have been proven to be effective in feeding the spiritual needs of the members.

  4b. THE MATURING OF AN ASSEMBLY

              A newly formed Assembly as sketched above is like a babe. I have set its standards to be not high beyond reach, but not easy and trivial either. FCBCFV is like a big umbrella under which such Assemblies can spawn and grow. At first, each Assembly may not be able to provide for every services, e.g., have their own Sunday school classes from children to elderly, have their own fellowhip groups, have their own buildings. However, such SHOULD be their goal for subsequent years, so that they can be independent in a few years, say 5.

              Think of the following scenario: Suppose 10 Mandarin families at Irvine decided to start a home B.S. group. They need not develop into an Assembly. But suppose a day come when some of them like the idea of becoming one. Then they will have to strive to develop the goals of (1), (2), (3) above. The day comes when they think they are ready, having 15 to 20 families already, and have adequate preparations for (4) to (7) above. FCBCFV should then have a formal congregational vote for them to start the first step: having their own Sunday service perhaps at FCBCFV premise, or at some school room at Irvine, or even at a garage or industrial building. Oh that will be exciting for all. For us at FCBCFV it is not a loss, but rather a child maturing to become a beacon of light for the Lord at Irvine. For them it is exciting. For Sunday School, they may develop a few classes for their own children, and for AOK and GA they may still want their kids to come to FCBCFV at Friday nights at first. That is OK.

              They should develop their own structure for handling finance, offerings, eventually becoming independent in a few years. Meanwhile, they should depend on FCBCFV for several things:

              (1) Once each month, later on each quarter, they and us (FCBCFV) should have a joint Sunday Service. Some big events, e.g., Summer conference, Christmas evangelism, etc., they may join us.

              (2) Their leaders should promise to submit their decisions on faith and teaching to our overseeing. We promise to let them have freedom on many areas. If they need our financial support at first, e.g., for renting a place, etc., of course they would need our approval.

  5. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF THE MODEL.

  5.1 ADVANTAGES:

              (a) It is Biblical. Congregation members should be trained to grow strong spiritually and to breed new congregations. Right now too many people want to "join" our church because of its attractive youth programs, friendly people, good preaching and SS, etc. But they have not any idea that the Lord does not want Christians to stick together for warmth and comfort only, but to become soldiers of the Gospel.

              (b) It meets the Lord's commission. The Lord's heart is yearning for the church to become workers thrust out into the harvest which is white and ripe.

              (c) It will cause faster church growth. Think of our church of 500 people now. To make it grow to 1000 takes stupendous effort. We have to enhance the ability of the congregation to share the gospel in evangelism, we have to make all SS and F'ship groups attractive. We have to make Sunday Service very attractive, preachingwise, musicwise, etc. All very hard, and not guaranteed to succeed. On the other hand, if we right now divide ourselves into 5 assemblies of 100 people each, meeting in 5 different places, say, Cerritos, Fullerton, Westminster, Irvine, Anaheim. Each meeting will be more family-like, and less formal. People don't have to drive for miles to Fountain Valley. They can and will know one another more closely, and it is easy to grow from 100 to 200.

              (d) More opportunities to serve, for everybody. There will be more chances for people with music abilities to serve. The standards for music, translators, etc., can be lower for a small assembly than for a big meeting of 500.

  5.2              DIFFICULTIES, AND SOLUTIONS

              (a) Takes more people from all assemblies to do the same thing. Right now we have 15+ SS classes. Small assemblies do not have the manpower to do SS as well as a 500-member church can. Answer: We can have joint Sunday School and youth fellowships. It is true that a 50-member high school group is more attractive than a 10-member one.

              (b) Takes more people to preach and teach. Answer: This is a plus, not a minus. More bros and sis will have to learn to preach and teach. It is good for them. Look at what God is doing in China. Most preachers developed a passion for souls, a loving heart, such as usable by the Holy Spirit to move souls to the depths. Formal theological training is not needed.

              (c) Too many lay people will be preaching without adequate guarantee they will not give wrong Bible exposition. Answer: Isn't this what a revival is exactly about? Protestants must believe the Holy Spirit is the teacher of truth, not a established institution such as the Catholic Church or the Mormon Church, even they may claim all expertise to Bible interpretation. This is the secret of the growth of the church in China. What FCBCFV can do is to train more lay people to be able to interpret the Word of God, rightly dividing the Word of truth, without the need to know Greek and Hebrew. This was what John Wesley did to the Methodist movement. Lay leaders should be trained in how to apply scriptural principles to face social issues. Don't give them answers. Give them the chance of thinking through the issues with Biblical principles. In other words, don't give them fish, but teach them to fish.

              (d) A 500 member church can do things more efficiently than 5 assemblies of 100 each doing the same things independently. Answer: That is American concept of efficiency in business and industry, but God values more people who are willing to serve, than a few people who are efficient in serving all others. In other words, it is better to see 100 ordinary people exercising on the field, than 20 extremely well-trained athletes playing football on the field while the other 80 are only spectators. Results: We get 100 people active on the harvest, struggling to teach their Sunday School classes, rather than than 20 experts doing efficient Sunday School teaching.

              (e) Financially, right now we cannot afford to see any chunk of members breaking off from FCBCFV to form their own assemblies. Answer: If 500 is adequate for paying our loans and debts, then let us aim at the time when we have 600, that is the time to start a 100 member assembly. Remember, we started the Vietnamese group not by breaking off a chunk of our congregation, but by church planting. Oswald Smith of the People's Church at Toronto urged the congregation to give to missions when their own income was not adequate to cover regular expenses. (This is like the 5 loaves and 2 fish story). When they by faith responded by giving more to missions, God bless them financially, and more was given to general fund. Eventually, 90 percent of their annual budget was on foreign mission.

              6. HOW TO PREPARE OUR CONGREGATION FOR MULTIASSEMBLY STRUCTURE.

            6.1 STANDARDS FOR ASSEMBLY LEADERS. Remember, our goal is to fulfill the Great Commission, not to produce theologians. In China many newly born Christians with zeal to become a Bible teacher have to learn to feed the congregation with sometimes only a few months training. That is too little. But China has such a revival now that people cannot wait for such well-trained preachers to evolve from the seminaries, which are too few. For us in FCBCFV, we should lay down standards of an Assembly leader, low enough to be achievable by any ardent layman in 5 years or less. Let me propose:

              (1) He should love sharing the gospel, and have some successes in personal evangelism.

              (2) He has some experience in, and enjoying leading Bible study and teaching the Word, with acknowledgment from the congregation of being blessed through his ministry.

              (3) He should have a burden for souls, for sharing the word, and feeding the thirsty. He should be mature enough to know how to teach in a way that primarily feeds the soul, rather than the intellect. There must be no sensationalism and funny doctrines being preached.

              (4) He should know and love to expound every bit of the fundamental doctrines of the Evangelical faith. Have proper views on the Holy Spirit and Eschatology.

              Anyone with the above qualifications already is good enough to go to China and teach 8 hours a day. He is good enough for many small struggling Chinese churches here in California. Surely that should be enough to lead an Assembly group. In Jesus' mind, is such a man still lacking in some qualifications to go into the harvest as a worker? When Paul appointed elders from among the new converts in Thessalonica, I think his requirements are just about the same as these.

              We can recognize such laymen as bestowed with the spiritual gift of teaching and pastoring. While they have the gift, let them minister. They may then be encouraged to take some lectures in Greek and Hebrew, but really such knowledge is not essential to become a workman used by God to feed souls. Look at the other successful churches. Look at China.

              6.2 WHAT TRAINING CAN WE PROVIDE?

              We should endorse and honor laymen who have taken courses from seminaries or seminars. E.g., Bro. T.Y.Chao had taken 24 units of extensions courses offered by CES, and had received a diploma for it.

              We should invite seminary students and profs to offer short courses in CTP or TTP. This is what Torrance Bread of Life Church did for the last 3 years while they still have no senior English pastor. Yet the teaching ministry grew to such a point that young people began to aspire to become Bible teachers, and some 5 or more of them has come to Talbot.

              By setting up the goals and qualifications of an Assembly group leader, fit to teach and preach, we can offer a Certificate of some sort, and this will promote interest in our CTP or TTP programs greatly. Laymen are motivated only when there is a big carrot ahead, namely, that some day they can become the leader in the exciting job of starting a new Assembly. This is what made Watchman Nee’s church in China grow from nothing to 1000+ congregations from 1930 to 1950, so numerous that Communist China cannot stamp them out. His idea is simple: He wanted every layman to become good enough to teach the Word, and to lead a small congregation. He himself tried to become a layman by working a job for some time.

              6.3 WHAT CHANGES MAY WE HAVE TO CONSIDER IN FCBCFV?

              We have to rethink the goals of adult fellowship groups. Their purpose is to be refocused on evangelism and Church growth, rather than just to have a good time. There is though, a definite need to promote networking, support, and care, among our members, rather than more programmed activities. Many are tired of supporting more and more programs and activities.

              We have to promote adult laymen to take turn teaching at SS, rather than requiring them to have 2 years of TTP before they are qualified, etc. Any layman that is showing evidence of having the gift of teaching or interpreting the Word, should be given some chances to share, under guidance by more experienced SS teachers.

              We have to train laymen to be spiritual watchmen, praying together with the pastors and deacons on various needs and problems affecting the church or individuals. Some of these needs are of such sensitivity as not fit for announcement at Wednesday prayer meeting. (See my old paper on this concept of the spiritual core group essential for any church.) We might even re-examine our requirement for deacons to be life-long jobs. Would it be better for elders to be elected for a 3-year job? Then more lay leaders can have such eldering experience to get ready for church planting. I hope there is nothing in Southern Baptist tradition against such.

              Some big churches here, e.g., Calvary Chapel, Calvary Church, Fullerton EFC, all have spawned some institutions to train and equip earnest young people to become church planters and soul winners. I foresee FCBCFV becoming that kind of a place, while

keeping our congregation at 500. (Of course, we can even split off a sister church, but financially we may have to sell the FV property and get 2 locations instead, which is quite a horrible nightmare for now.) That means FCBCFV will offer more and more training classes for laymen to become skilled in Bible exposition, and teaching, and sharing, eventually becoming Assembly leaders and church planters. We cannot teach them all 1189 chapters of the Bible in 5 years, but we can teach them good principles of Bible exposition, like teaching them how to fish rather than giving them fish.

            7. CONCLUSION

              This paper has almost become a paper on church planting and home missions. I am always enthused about foreign missions, and summer missions for young people. Such exposure to foreign culture helps them to see the value of people’s souls and the power of the gospel to change lives in any culture. Such realization will help them to serve later either in USA as a church planter, or on the foreign field, both being parts of that the Great Commission is about.