Why Plant Churches? For Market Share or to Proclaim the Gospel?

For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.  Romans 1:16.

 In short, enthusiasm clings to Adam and his descendants from the beginning to the end of the world. It is a poison implanted and inoculated in man by the old dragon, and it is the source, strength, and power of all heresy, including that of the papacy and Mohammedanism.  Accordingly, we should and must constantly maintain that God will not deal with us except through his external Word and sacrament. Whatever is attributed to the Spirit apart from such Word and sacrament is of the devil.  Smalcald Articles, III, VIII, par 9-10.

Earlier this week a church planting team from our LCMS District came to our congregation to talk about entering into a partnership with our congregation in Nashville, Tennessee.  Situated smack dab in the middle of the Bible Belt, home to the Christian music industry, our congregation is centrally located along what many have termed “church row.”  We are one of the smaller churches along this stretch of road in Nashville, but we are growing.  Nashville and Davidson County boast a population of approximately 620,000 people, 600,000 12 years earlier.  In 2000, there were approximately 591 congregations with 297,312 members.  When the statistics are adjusted for children, the figure jumps to just over 400,000 (Source: Association of Religious Data Archives).  In 2007, the estimated population was 620,000.  The number of churches climbed to 853 and church membership saw a slight increase to 304,238 (Source:  Social Explorer using ARDA numbers).  You can throw a rock and hit a large, mega, or brand new church in Nashville