‘Churches’ is the 2nd word in our World Impact mission statement. Missiologist Peter Wagner claims that planting new churches is the most effective means for spreading the good news of Jesus Christ.1 Church growth studies demonstrate that commitments to Christ increase most rapidly when new churches are being planted.2 New churches tend to reach new people. However, this is not just a statistical reality of missions, nor is church planting simply a strategic way of getting the message of out to as many people as possible. The local church is a fundamental expression of God’s nature and purpose.
God made us for community. In fact community was initiated in the very heart of God who is himself both one and three. We are also made in God’s image as people who find the fullest expression of life in community. We were made to live in loving relationships with both God and each other. Thus the healthiest expressions of Christianity exist in community. And planting new churches is the best way of proclaiming and demonstrating the reality of our relational God.
Empowering churches is also a practical outworking of Jesus last command to “go and make disciples of all nations.” (Mt 28:19). Making disciples is a relational process of bringing people to faith in Christ and bringing them into the transforming experience of living in a faith community. Almost by definition, you cannot make disciples without building a loving Christian community. The church is Christian discipleship in action.
The core purpose of CityLife World Impact reflects the importance of the local church in God’s purposes. Our focus is not only individuals, as important as they are; nor is it simply nations, as powerful as they are. The focus of our mission is the empowering, planting and nurturing of Christian communities—that is local churches. CityLife World Impact partners with and helps empower ten different church planting movements around the world as they transform lives and impact different people groups through the local church.
1 C. Peter Wagner Church Planting for a Greater Harvest (Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1990): 11.
2 See for example, Will McRaney ‘ Church Planting as a Growth Strategy in the Face of Church Decline’ Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry Vol. 1 No. 2 (Fall 2003): 69-93