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Church
Planting
An effective way to grow
North America is the only populated continent where Christianity is
not growing. In fact, research shows that approximately 27 million people
have left America’s churches in the last decade.
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Abundant
life
 As
a Cheyenne growing up in a racist town, I became disenchanted
with "white" religion. I thought that if these people who treated
me this way were Christians, then why should I want to be like
them. I turned away from the ways I knew were right to partying
and hitting the bars. I had a marriage that failed, so I was virtually
alone.
A friend on campus invited me to University Worship Center, the
new Assemblies of God church plant adjacent to the Oklahoma State
University campus in Stillwater. Through that relationship and
the church, I now understand what it means to have life abundantly.
Today, I have Christian friends and I look forward to living
every day. I also pray for strength for young people dealing with
the pressures of growing up. I hope they will find their relationship
with God.
— David Peakheart, Ph.D., professor of physics
Oklahoma State University
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Church planting is one of the most effective methods of reaching people
for Christ, especially when strong established churches parent new churches.
The Church Planting Department is helping make the Assemblies of God
a church-planting, church-multiplication movement. The department’s
mission is to facilitate the Assemblies of God to plant healthy churches.
The strategy involves assessing potential pastors, providing BootCamps
for training, coaching pastors and helping existing churches to parent
new churches. Training events have been held for approximately 2,000
participants. Spanish-language BootCamps help meet the challenge of
reaching the 35.5 million Hispanics in America.
Seventy-plus church-planting home missionaries are working to see as
many churches as possible planted to introduce people to Jesus Christ.
One such church planter is Rocky Alvarez, pastor of Iglesia Casa Del
Alfarero (Potter’s House) in Orlando, Fla. He began the church
in 1996 in a school and quickly attracted several Hispanic groups. From
the beginning there was warm fellowship, exuberant worship, committed
people and spiritual passion for Jesus and His Word.
In November 1999, Alvarez attended a Church Planting BootCamp. "The
training equipped me to lead our church to increase our effectiveness,"
he says. "We now average 320 in attendance and are in a building campaign."
The Assemblies of God is committed to raising up church planters and
planting multitudes of healthy new works throughout the United States.
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