Pioneering a Church Plant – Members “Sundays”

"For some groups it can take a few years to gather enough people to start with a good crowd on Sundays"

#32

How many people you have is one of the major factors that should govern when you start your Sunday meeting. Twenty people meeting in a hall is often not very exiting and you will not be able to have the quality of children’s meetings etc., that would make it attractive for new families to join. In fact, one major church planter said that starting with too few people puts the church on public display at the worst time in the church’s development. The midweek meeting in a house, based around hospitality, has much to offer for this sort of group size. Where possible you should resist going into a more public venue until there are at least 30 to 40 people. Having said this, some pioneer churches start with less than this and do well, and others have found it wise to wait until they are much bigger. The following are some of the factors that should be borne in mind when making the decision:

How near you are to a related church is one of the key factors governing this decision. Where there is a related church that is within reasonable travelling distance, the small pioneer group should try to attend on a Sunday. This means that the people have access to a wider range of ministry and all the benefits of a larger church. This often leads to people asking “What are we joining?” It should be clear that they are joining the pioneer group, and the larger church is being used as a welcome resource. The leaders of the larger church will need to understand their role. It can be helpful to call the pioneer group meeting Church in the Home. This helps people, who tend to think that Sunday is church, to understand that their midweek group is actually the church that they are joining in their location.

What public ministry gift the pioneer leader has will be a factor. A very gifted bible teacher, who will gather around their teaching ministry, should consider starting on Sundays early. The church will often have a growth spurt at this stage due to their gift quickly attracting the extra numbers. A reaping evangelist with a public ministry may also start public meetings earlier. Another question that should be asked is whether a Sunday morning is the best time to begin with this type of ministry. Should the Sunday night or another evening be a better time to attract the unbeliever?

For some groups it can take a few years to gather enough people to start with a good crowd on Sundays. They eventually find that the journey and fragmented church life which occurs with meeting with another church on Sunday mornings very de-motivating. This, in the end, can be a good reason to start on Sundays, accepting some of the difficulties and pressure they will face.

Often pioneers find themselves in a new town and, increasingly, in another country and don’t have the luxury of finding a church that they can relate to. This is a major challenge for the pioneers and also the apostolic teams that are seeking to support the endeavor. Again, the Church in the Home is one of the major ways forward. A Sunday meeting in the home based around the meal and the breaking of bread can be great fun, with the possibility, where appropriate, for the children to have some time in another room for their own teaching. This can also free up the midweek for evangelism. For some this has been a real blessing, while others have found the pressure of their home being used so much places a major strain on the family. Apostolic teams and churches that want to help these pioneers need to look at how they can send people to join with the pioneers in these meetings. It can be one of the most rewarding things a church member can do - to go and travel to the pioneer’s town and spend a day with them, praying, taking them out for a meal and helping boost the numbers of their small gathering.

Having the right team is also a factor when looking at the best decision about holding a Sunday meeting. Some pioneer churches may not have the ‘big gifted ministry’ that can gather, but when the team are together there is energy and life that is very attractive. This again could be a reason to start earlier rather than wait for the critical numbers. There are other factors that you will need to consider, but the main decision should be based on answering the question “Will meeting on Sundays help or hinder the long-term growth of the pioneer church?”