The experience of sponsoring a new church is like a great revival. Prayer, blessing, anointing, victory, and miracle blossom in the act of starting a new congregation.

Taking on the responsibility of founding a new church forced us to our knees. We had to have God's help and we knew it--so we started praying intently.

The planning process focused and united us around a challenging mission. We experienced the excitement of something new for which we were responsible. It nudged us out of our old, well-worn ruts.

We saw new people become followers of Jesus Christ--the very thing we had been hoping and praying to happen for a long, long time. We felt like a New Testament church again.

Providing a core group for the new church opened up "places" for new people to get involved in our church. The "miracle o replenishment" replaced the people we had given and as a fringe benefit brought in networks of people for us to win. It was a new day for our church. It was a revival.

This testimony is generalized from the reports of pastors whose churches have discovered the excitement of sponsoring the starting of a new congregation. It is not promotional hope--it is simply the story of the expansion of the Church of Jesus Christ.

Strong, healthy new churches are not born out of "church splits" but out of a compelling sense of mission--a commitment to win people to Christ. Starting a new church is the most effective method of evangelism, and, wonderful surprise, it brings revival to the sponsoring church.

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Nobleville First Plants Newstart
Two Pastors Share Church Planting Lessons

Noblesville, a suburb of Indianapolis, is located in one of the fastest growing areas in the United States . The exploding population helped make Noblesville First Church an ideal candidate to parent a NewStart church. Their nearby target--Westfield, Indiana, a small bedroom community that is likewise experiencing rapid growth.

Several nearly simultaneous events indicated this was God's timing for First Church and the Northwest Indiana District to co-sponsor a new church at Westfield. Key factors were a growing outreach fervor at First Church; a burden felt by district leaders that a viable new church was needed in Westfield, and a dream for ministry God gave an associate pastor in Memphis. Meanwhile, a limited amount of financial resources for a no longer functioning church at Westfield was available, and the Northwest Indiana District was prepared to add significant funding to the project.

Meet John Leitzel. He moved to Noblesville in 1996, having served as an effective pastor since 1986. Known as "Mr. Enthusiasm," Leitzel has demonstrated in several settings his ability to help smaller churches grow. Under this leadership, First Church rebounded to a recent monthly average of 284 in worship, received 39 members by profession of faith, and has become financially stable enough to consider a church plant project.

Meet Dan Ventling. Dan has served as a youth minister since 1978, first as a layman and since 1989 as a minister. He also served as district NYI president on the Tennessee District. When serving as interim pastor at Calvary Church in Memphis in 1997, Dan felt God leading him to another assignment of ministry.

In conversation with Northwest Indiana District Superintendent Lee Woolery, the idea of starting a new church in Westfield was broached.

Woolery asked that Dan and his wife Jeri be evaluated in the NewStart Church Planters Assessment in February 1977 at Trevecca Nazarene University. Concerning the assessment experience, Ventling said: "What an awesome and rewarding experience. It was a time of great affirmation and confirmation for us, especially when the assessment ream unanimously concluded that we become church planters." On April 21, 1997, they visited Noblesville where they felt a spiritual kinship with the Leitzels. They became acquainted with members of the sponsoring congregation and learned the church board and district were prepared to help sponsor a new work. After a period of prayer and fasting, the Ventlings made the decision to accept the challenge of planting a church in Westfield.

GROW magazine spent a morning with Rev. John Leitzel, senior pastor of Noblesville First, and Rev. Dan Ventling, pastor of True Life Community Church--the church that Noblesville First was starting in Westfield. John and Dan shared the lessons and victories they have experienced during this adventure.

Lesson 1 - Pastors Must Bond
Since a close working relationship is critical to the success of this project, the church plant pastor and the parent church pastor must have a completely trusting relationship. Dan emphasizes that he and John felt a spiritual bond right from the start. They were able to list for each other their dreams for the Westfield plant. They learned to encourage one another in many ways. Dan stressed that an open channel of communication is an ongoing essential: "If there were things we didn't understand, we sat down and worked through each issue."

Leitzel and Ventling believe, also, that investing in each other's spiritual development is a key to a successful church plant. "There were moments of prayer around coffee tables and in the office where we bore each other's burdens and appealed to God when we were confused," says Leitzel. He emphasizes that more than a casual friendship is needed between the two pastors for this situation to flourish.

Lesson 2 - Church Plant Pastor Needs Close Ties to Parent Church
As important as the bonding relationship, Ventling believes it is equally important to have the church plant pastor work very closely to the sponsoring church, almost life a staff relationship. Such a tie helps the parent congregation get to know the church plant pastor. Then, too, potential members for the core group are better able to assess if they are compatible with the church plant pastor.

In addition to getting to know the church plant pastor, having him or her closely tied to the parent group gives credibility to the NewStart project. "You will hear people talk about splitting the church," observed Leitzel, "but by having the church plant pastor on staff, you can emphasize Kingdom priorities and values. We have to communicate the concept that we are not losing people, but we are putting another line in the water so we can catch twice the amount of fish!"

Lesson 3 - You Can't Wait for More Money or People
"If you wait till you have enough people or money to plant a church, it will never happen. Church planting is as much about faith as anything else," stresses Leitzel. In human terms, a church will never be ready to plant another church, but God blesses the parent church in her faithfulness. "There is an important principle in this whole thing: you can't out give God," explains Leitzel. "The Lord revitalizes the parent church in so many ways when you step out in faith."

This principle is clearly seen in the continued growth at Noblesville. The Sunday of the sending service, Noblesville First gave 25 people to the Westfield plant. The next Sunday, they had 25 more people in attendance than the previous Sunday--a gain of 50 people!

"For a church that couldn't pay denominational budgets in 1996, God has blessed us with people and finances," explains Leitzel. Noblesville First is now on track to pay its budgets, and they are also able to support Ventling by providing a housing allowance every month.

Lesson 4 - Recruiting Must Be a Joint Effort
When the word leaks out about a new church plant, folks naturally start talking to the parent church pastor about the project. This often happens before the church plant pastor is on the scene. As a result, Ventling feels that recruitment must be a joint effort between the two pastors. This prevents the possibility of someone wanting to be part of the project for the wrong reasons. Leitzel and Ventling also suggest, "Both pastors should establish an evaluation process where interested parties are asked to fill out an application that will help determine if the person has the right motive to be a participant. This evaluation will pay off later when the church plant pastor has to organize the core leadership group."

Lesson 5 - Have Leadership Team Meetings
Before the new church even starts, it is critical that the pastor have multiple leadership team meetings (LTM) among the core group for the new church. LTMs are the means by which Dan has been able to communicate the mission and respond to the values of the potential core group. In addition, these meetings serve to help correct unrealistic expectations about the church plant. He believes these meetings are also the vehicle God uses to relay His vision for the church.

Ventling utilizes various assessments during these meetings that help core leaders understand their servant profile, passion, spiritual gifts, and leadership style. These assessments are pivotal in helping to place key people in assignments in the new church.

True Life Community Church will be officially launched on May 10, 1998. Earlier the infant group had 39 people one Sunday in February in spite of the fact that they hadn't canvassed the community yet or held their first official service. The attendance report for May 10 was not available at press time for this issue of GROW .

Likewise, God continues His blessing on Noblesville First. Though they lost more than 25 people to the new work, they continue to grow; they averaged 284 in a recent month.

Leitzel and Ventling agree that this has been one of the most exciting experiences they have ever had, but the best is yet to come. "Be willing to take risks," exclaims Leitzel; "it is the most exciting thing in the world. People are going to heaven because of what God has allowed us to do through True Life."

That possibility and reality of more people being won to Christ should motivate every church to plant another church.

--Eric McHugh, GROW Reporter

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Pioneers Plant Church in Charlottesville
One-Year-Old Church Averages 60

God gave several people a vision for planting a new church in the rapidly growing north side of Charlottesville, Virginia . Mark and Grace Bert, lay members; Rev. B. Peachy, former pastor of First Church; District Superintendent Charles Thompson; and Pastor Ray Stark were among the first visionaries.

After taking church growth and church planting courses at Nazarene Theological Seminary, Stark knew he would be led to plant a church some time in his ministerial pilgrimage. Thus, he was not surprised when after five years of serving in a staff assignment at Bridgeston, New Jersey, the doors opened to start a new congregation at Charlottesville. Rev. Thompson asked Stark to visit the community to determine if this area was a good place to plant a church. Stark reports: "After looking around the area for a day or two, we felt this was a prime location for a new church. But we knew if we were to be the church planters, several hurdles had to be overcome."

One confirmation, among many, was the sale of a property Stark owned that had been on the market for months without a single looker. Two days after the scouting trip, the property sold. Immediately after that event, Pastor Stark accepted Thompson's invitation to plant Northside Community Fellowship Church in Charlottesville.

The rest is a short but glorious history of divine providence. In January and February 1997, the core group and helpers from First Church made 25,000 "Phones for You" calls; five mailings to 1,800 homes were made; 20,000 other pieces of mail were sent to the surrounding communities. The first service, held at Hollymead School on March 20, 1997, was attended by 122 people. Ninety-nine attended Friend Day on October 26, 1997. A sum of $14,273 was raised in a special offering to help the infant church lease a well-located facility formerly used for a grocery store. Remodeling of the new facility started on November 1, 1997, and the first service was held there on December 14, 1997. The church has seven small groups plus active ministries to children and teens--19 teens under the leadership of Tammy Hensley recently attended a district teen retreat.

Northside Church has a clear purpose: to bring unchurched people to Jesus Christ and to fellowship in His family, to develop them into fully devoted disciples of Christ, and to equip them for ministry in the church and evangelism in the world in order to magnify God's name. Their vision is to provide for God and their community a vibrant atmosphere of love and joy through which the Holy Spirit FLOWS (Fellowship, Learning, Outreach, Worship, and Service) into the life of an individual and challenges others to embrace Christ as their foundation for living.

The spirit of this new congregation shows in many ways but especially on the visitor's card which says, "We're glad you're here!" and the pastor's calling card, which says, "You can call on me!" GROW congratulates Northside Community Fellowship Church for their inspiring progress and believes in its future.

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