Church Plant Timeline

       Mapping out the birth of a church is no easy task.  There seems to be two poles you want to find your way between.   On the one hand is a rigid plan that does not take into account the movement of the Spirit, and situations on the ground.  On the other hand, no plan is often doomed for failure.  Psalm 27:1 contains wisdom for this endeavor, “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”  Here we see the mix of the Lord building, and the people building.  Both build.  However, it is pointless to build without the Lord.  At Chesapeake Presbyterian Church we’re building a house of worship, a new gathering of God’s people.  (I’m not talking about a physical structure, rather the people of God.)  As we plan for this new congregation to take form and come into existence, it is important to plan, and remain sensitive to God’s leading.  Interestingly, the common wisdom in church planting is not to launch public worship too soon.  Therefore, our launch of public worship seems far, but time will go quickly I’m sure.  This timeline is tentative, based on many factors, and yet very realistic. 

 

Some may wonder why so long before launching public worship?  The preparation season is fundamentally crucial to the church. I’m a civil engineer by training.  In college I took classes in concrete, steel, and dirt (no kidding!)  Why?  If the foundation is off, the whole building will be off.  If the ground shifts, the building will crack.  Have you ever wondered why on a construction site, the site work (preparing the ground) seems to take forever in comparison to how quickly the building can rise?  You can fix a roof, but you can’t easily fix a foundation.  The contractor spends his time getting the site work just right!  This next year will be spent laying the right foundation.  It will be well worth it in the future.

 

Here goes, and let me make my disclaimer, all dates are tentative:

 

2008 Autumn               Build Prayer Team

                                      Slowly begin networking and fundraising

                                      Hold one informational meeting for those interested in

          becoming part of the launch team.

 

2009 Winter                Continue building the prayer team

                                      Ramp up fundraising

                                      Begin weekly prayer and training meetings for the launch

          team

 

2009 Spring/Summer  Once fundraising is complete: move to Great Bridge

                                      Continue weekly launch team meetings

                                      Network and evangelism full-time

                                      Develop Website

 

2009 Autumn               Continue networking and evangelism

                                      Start Women’s Bible Study

                                      Start Community Groups

                                      Continue weekly prayer and training meetings

                                      Run Christianity Explored courses

 

2010 February              Launch Public Worship

                                      Continue networking and evangelism

 

2010 Beyond                 Launch additional sites in Chesapeake

 

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~ by chesapeakepc on October 22, 2008.