GROW Magazine Archive

Lisbon First Church Starts Four Churches
Mother Church Shares Gospel Through NewStarts

Dr. Adalberto Leite and his family are key factors in the current church planting efforts in Lisbon, Portugal . Since becoming First Church's pastor three years ago and then being elected to carry the additional responsibility as district superintendent in 1996, Leite has led the district to plant four churches.

Throughout her history, Lisbon First has started eight or more churches as the mother church of the area in and around Lisbon. Dr. Leite, who trained for Nazarene ministry in the Cape Verde Islands, was actively involved in the wonderful results of the Thrust to the Cities in Sao Paulo, Brazil, before moving to Lisbon.

Many of the NewStart strategies being implemented at the present time in North America are being used in Lisbon. Portuguese Nazarenes strongly believe and actively practice the idea that churches plant churches and church members help motivate other church members to be part of the church planting efforts of those churches.

Another amazing reality in Portugal is that Christian workers from Portuguese-speaking areas like Cape Verde, Mozambique, and Brazil are migrating to Lisbon; these people are sometimes supported by churches in their countries of origin. This means that locations where our church has sent missionaries for years are now sending missionaries to other countries.

A few weeks ago , a photo shoot for GROW took me to Lisbon, Portugal, where I was inspired by Nazarene church planting efforts. I was especially impressed by spiritual results that starting new churches provides sponsoring churches. Here are some reflections on what I saw:

Sponsoring Church Energized for Ministry. New starts produce increased energy for all ministries rather than depleting existing resources. District Superintendent Adalberto Leite, who also pastors Lisbon First Church, says, "New churches create a spiritual force for the mother church."

Sponsoring Church Conserves Converts. Until new churches are officially organized, converts won by the new starts join First Church. Think of the possibilities--every mother church located anywhere in the world will experience incredible spiritual satisfaction when they see new converts joining their church. This tie between mother and daughter congregations develops healthy, long-term relationships.
Volunteers Come From Unexpected Places. When a mother congregation starts new churches, unlikely individuals from inside and outside the congregation volunteer to help.

Lisbon First Church has created a stimulating spiritual climate, which allows everyone to realize they can be involved in starting new churches. Perhaps reading about Lisbon Nazarenes' efforts to start new churches is God's nudge to Nazarenes in many places to face down obstacles like one would fact down a town bully. The challenge before us is for every church to seriously commit to starting strong new churches in the right way.

NewStarts in North America can win thousands of new people. But we may have overlooked another equally compelling fact--the exercise of starting new churches makes sponsoring churches more spiritually vigorous.

Pastor William Matos found Christ in Brazil and was called to be a missionary in Portugal. He sold a prosperous business in his home country and moved his family to plant a church in Setubal.

The focus of his work is compassion ministry with special emphasis for rehabilitation for drug users. Pastor Matos is a trained and certified drug counselor.

Since the first meeting of his church plant, he has counseled and sent 30 drug users to a Christian rehabilitation program in the Canary Islands. Many who attend the church are persons who have been freed from drugs or parents of those who have been rehabilitated.

The Setubal congregation meets in a borrowed Anglican church near the city center of Setubal. Using this facility makes it possible for people to come to church by way of public transportation and also gives the church high visibility in the area. Neighborhood cell groups and home Bible studies are used to grow the church.

Pastor and Mrs. Mauro Santos are mission volunteers who have recently arrived in Portugal. This experienced pastoral couple, sensing a burden to become evangelistic church planters, raised their own support before moving to Lisbon. They have already established home Bible studies in homes of members from Lisbon First Church who live in Benfica and Carnide. They plan to start group meetings in four different geographic locations to see which will develop into churches. Their planting strategy is to use door-to-door evangelism and share the Jesus video wherever the opportunity is opened to them.

The Alcoitao Church is served by Maria Aparecida Garcia, pastor, and Lucia Morais, teacher. The church offers a full-church ministry as well as an after-school program for tutoring and mentoring children from nearby poverty areas.

SCARA--a Dutch compassion ministry organization--has provided funding so the church may be remodeled to meet government standards as an official compassion center.

Lucia Morais is a voluntary missionary from Brazil who receives her financial support from Christian friends in Japan.

She also pastors a church plant at Charneca where she has an average attendance of 10 adults and 25 children. She has two children who stay with her 24 hours a day because their parents are in prison but will not agree to place them for adoption.

Pastor Zeferino Vaz started holding services in the Damaia-Buraca area during June of 1997. He now has six house churches with an average of eight attending in each location; these people are urged to attend First Church on Sundays. In each location, Pastor Vaz either preaches or leads a Bible study one evening each week. His target group are Cape Verde migrants; about 40,000 Cape Verdeans live in the area where he is planting a church. At press time, Pastor Vaz was negotiating shared facilities use with a Wesleyan Methodist church.

Vaz has been impacted by Leite's ministry over the years--first in his home village where Leite was pastor, then when he attended the Nazarene seminary in Cape Verde, and now in this church planting effort.

High awareness of the Church of the Nazarene among Cape Verdeans should be a strong plus in planting this church in the Damaia-Buraca area. Awareness is so great that nearly 50 percent of the migrants from Cape Verde who move to Portugal list "Nazarene" as their religion on official papers--even those who have never attended our churches.

Listen to pastor Robert Denham's nearly impossible dream: "A staff couple recently had twins, and in my spirit I feel God is using these beautiful babies to call us to plant twin churches on Easter 1999."

Denham serves as senior pastor of the 53-year-old Redding (California) First Church. The church, located in a city of 70,000 whose economy is tourism based, serves an area of Shasta County with slow population growth.

When questioned about how his dream could be turned into reality, Denham replied: "We will take 10 to 12 families into two communities--Palo Cedro and Anderson-Cottonwood. Included in our strategies will be telemarketing, telling a friend, and praying for 100 to attend each new church on Easter Sunday, 1999. We'll ask God to confirm this vision in the hearts of people, raise up key couples, and call the right leaders."

Starting two churches on a single Sunday sounds highly unrealistic, if not impossible, until First Church's impressive outreach record is considered. This congregation has already started two other healthy churches.

Living Hope Compassionate Church, started in 1994, now has a worship attendance of 70. Pastor Lonnie Johnson, former alcohol and drug addict, was saved eight years ago at First Church. His conversion and burden for beginning a new work among socially and spiritually needy people created an important dynamic of the church-planting zeal at First Church. Living Hope shares the spirit of Christ with needy persons through a regular schedule of church services, hot lunches, drug/alcohol rehab ministries, and food/clothing banks. More than 400 people are served at their annual Thanksgiving dinner.

Mighty Warrior Mien Church, a Southeast Asian congregation starting as a Sunday School class, was formally organized in 1996 at the district assembly. Now Pastor San Nyan Saechao, former Buddhist priest from Laos, serves Southeast Asian families who migrated from the lowlands of Laos by way of the refugee camps. Initial contacts with First Church came through ESL (English as a Second Language) classes led by two ladies in the church. Mike and Merlyn Fitzpatrick were responsible for fueling missionary zeal for this ministry at First Church. Mighty Warrior Church, averaging 270 in worship last year, has conversions nearly every week.

With enthusiasm, Denham told of the continued connection between First Church and the newer churches: "Our young churches are significantly important to us. Our people continually rally to the interest and needs of both congregations. Since our church has always had a heart for the community, we are committed to evangelism and believe new churches are the best way to reach the lost."

But what about the next two churches. As a preparation for expected twins in 1999, Redding First Church has TLC groups meeting regularly in the targeted communities. Located 10 miles east of Redding, Palo Cedro is a fast-growing rural area of young families which will open a new area high school in the fall of 1998. Anderson-Cottonwood, another growing area, is located 10 miles south of Redding.

During all these God-inspired efforts to start new churches, First Church continues to flourish in spiritual vigor, attendance, and giving. In 10 years they have grown from 350 to 509 in worship attendance. They have sponsored Work and Witness teams to Honduras, Hawaii, and El Salvador and have helped smaller churches on the home district. During this same period, giving of the mother church has increased from $272,000 to $622,000; last year they gave $86,000 for global evangelization.

During the ministry of former Pastor Ron Greeno, now Sacramento district superintendent, First Church set an attendance goal of 1,000 by the year 2000. They are well on their way to that attendance goal, having had a total attendance in the three congregations of 1,379 on Easter, 1997. The combined worship attendance for the three congregations was 880 last year. The Sacramento District has a goal of organizing 20 new churches by the year 2005. Redding First wants to be responsible for four, or 20 percent, of the total.

When asked for a summary statement concerning church planting, Pastor Denham replied, "If people could realize it, church planting doesn't deplete resources because God replaces them ten-fold--any church could plant new starts."

GROW congratulates Redding First Church for its achievements and dreams. When the twins arrive in 1999, Redding First Church will have made denominational history and maybe Christian history by planting four churches in 12 years, three in the last five years. And the Savior will be exalted and pleased.

I was in Baltimore, trying to find a location, when I saw this imposing church building. I couldn't resist stopping to see such a large, ornate structure, which I soon discovered with the First Presbyterian Church. As I left the building, I picked up a pamphlet--a short history of the church dating back to its founding in 1761. I was amazed at what I read:

"Reverend Backus is remembered for his movement to found new churches in Baltimore. 'Colonizing' was the common term used to describe this movement. . . . By the end of his life, Reverend Backus had assisted directly in the founding of eighteen churches in Baltimore. . . .

"The Franklin Street Presbyterian Church was founded in 1844 by a colony of two elders, two deacons, and seventy members sent out by the Reverend Backus from the First Presbyterian Church. He charged them to spread the faith to the northern suburbs. 'Seldom has a more promising colony gone forth.' he said in his Historical Discourse.' It was composed of the very flower of the congregation. They went, not because of any dissatisfaction with the old church, but gave their time, money, and labors to the enterprise, with a simple desire to extend Presbyterianism in our city.'"

Rev. Backus was onto something. He knew that, even in 1844, Baltimore needed more than one church of his denomination--so he proceeded to start 18 more! Furthermore, he knew that new churches need strong leadership--so he sent "the very flower of the congregation" to be the core group of the new church.

NewStart is a plan whereby pastors and churches can evangelize their communities and cities by starting strong new churches. As it was with Reverend Backus, history will applaud the pastors and Churches of the Nazarene that give their time, money, and labors to start new churches, with the simple desire to extend the message of salvation to their city.