When Does a Church Plant Become a Church?
While this may sound like a basic question, the answer is foundational to what “church planting” really requires. How do we know a church has been planted?
It will help us to begin with a basic definition of the church. Local churches are groups of Christians committed to each other who regularly worship God, practice the ordinances (baptism and the Lord’s Supper) and the means of grace in Christ’s name. While not comprehensive, this basic definition gives us a starting place to consider how we know where a church exists.
To begin, churches are gatherings of believers (Phil 1:1 “To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons”).[1] This group of people believes in the Gospel as revealed in Scripture, trusts in Jesus Christ for their salvation, hopes for his return, and relies on the Holy Spirit as they live their lives now in obedience to him.
Furthermore, churches are actual “gatherings” (1 Cor 11:18: “come together as a church”).[2] When we talk about local churches, we are not talking about all believers everywhere. Instead, we are referencing a particular group of Christians. This particular group knows who belongs to their gathering and they are devoted to one another. They teach, disciple, and counsel one another. They know one another and can affirm each other’s faith. And, if required, they are able to practice discipline. A church recognizes a particular responsibility to one group of local believers.
This group of Christians also does certain things like hold worship services, baptize believers, celebrate the Lord’s Supper, and serve their neighbors together. A church then is a hub of activity where Christians gather and then scatter. That is why we see the authors of the New Testament addressing “the church of God that is in Corinth” (1 Cor 1:2) but then addressing certain things they should do together.[3] The church is active as individuals come together and do certain things prescribed in Scripture.
So, with that basic definition, we can begin to see how a church is formed. We know a church exists when we see a group of Christians, devoted together to God and each other, who do certain things like worship, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper.
Foundational to that definition of church, then, is the devotion and commitment of believers to live together as a church.
We call the moment we become a church “covenanting.” At that moment, all the members of our new church will gather together and commit themselves to God and to each other through our Membership Covenant. The Membership Covenant outlines the expectations of how we will live like a church family. It acknowledges our affirmation of each other’s faith and our understanding that we are making a commitment to one another. That is the moment when we will become a church in reality.
While there is much more to say about local churches and what God calls them to do, this definition clarifies how we know a “church plant” has crossed the threshold to “church.” We pray that God will bind us together as a community that lives out our Membership Covenant in love to his glory.
[1] In Philippians we see Paul addressing a church organized with “overseers and deacons” whom he calls “saints” or those who are sanctified by the blood of Jesus (i.e. believers).
[2] In Corinthians, Paul recognizes that the church in Corinth can “come together as a church” in a particular way. When they are together they are doing what churches ought to do.
[3] The New Testament letters are full of descriptions of what churches should do together. Christians live individual lives in Christ but they also come together to do certain things like we saw in 1 Corinthians 11:18.
