A major topic of discussion in campus ministry and many churches today is the tension between planting and building.
When do we go and start something new in a completely new place (new campus, new church, etc) or when do we just focus on where we currently are and build that stronger (current fellowship or church congregation)?
What is the role of every leader, pastor, campus staff in both building what they currently steward and then leading that group to start new things beyond their current context?
I see the absolute need to “water” the things that have been planted and help our ministries grow in maturity, depth and breadth in that place.
But I am also growingly frustrated with the way that so many leaders, churches and fellowships are obsessed with getting bigger and more robust in the current group to the detriment of starting new things and sending quality leaders out.
So here are a few of my questions to us,
- How should we navigate the tension of building and planting?
- How do you navigate it personally?
- What is needed in a leader to foster a building and planting community of faith?
- Should every ministry plant something new out of it? Should every church plant another church?
- What are the signs that a ministry is too focused on building to the detriment of planting new things?
- What are the signs that a ministry is too focused on planting new things to the detriment of building up what is planted?
Please comment and lets get a conversation going.
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Great questions Beau, and lots that could be said about this, but had a quick thought this morning that might be helpful.
I’m intrigued by the organizational health that could be fostered if each movement, regardless of age/size/etc. were at least in the process (whether merely imagining/praying, exploring/scouting, or sending/planting) of starting something new BEYOND THEIR BORDERS. (e.g., a church planting another church, or a network planting another network).
It’s certainly a good thing to start new things within the territory God has entrusted to us (whether new small groups on a campus or new chapters in an area), but that’s still “OURS” to an extent and could be seen as just another way of building our own kingdom/name, but the rubber starts to meet the road when we help start things that we’ll never get “credit” for, and there’s something in that mentality that serves as a kind of “preventative medicine” to protect the movements we lead from taking ourselves too seriously and sliding into a kind of organizational idolatry.
Thoughts?