Grace Brethren pastor and church planter, Neil Cole, writes about the cost of church planting on the website of 100 Movements. Neil is the founder of Church Multiplication Associates and is a key catalyst in the organic church movement. A portion of the story appears below. Click here to read the complete article.
How Much Cash Does Church-As-Movement Cost?
Think about the way we (the Western Church) currently “do church.” How much do you think it would cost to reach a city? A region? A nation?
I’d argue that the church model most of the Western Church uses costs far too much to multiply effectively, much less reach movement status.
Buildings, budgets and bigshots are the movement killers to the reproduction of churches, leaders and disciples. Salaries, rents/mortgages, equipment, advertising the list of expenses is long. Even with the tax breaks allowed to churches we are struggling to make ends meet. In today’s turbulent times many in church are feeling the resources drying up. Recently I was in a pastor’s meeting and many were wondering how their churches would continue. Some were selling their facilities just for survival. We will see more and more of this in the coming year.
Survival is one thing, but reaching a city is quite another.
Click here to read the complete article.