A Biblical Perspective of Church Expansion

The following are selected excerpts taken with permission from Pastor Clay Peck’s recently completed Doctoral Dissertation. Pastor Clay is the Lead Pastor at Grace Place Church in Berthoud Colorado, a non-denominational church, which he and his wife Selene founded in 1996. Grace Place Church builds bridges to the local community and provides a place for fellowship, teaching and recovery for area individuals and families.  The Lighthouse Café, part of Grace’s church building, is located on Berthoud’s main street (Mountain Avenue), and is the most popular breakfast and lunch spot in Berthoud. Grace Place has outgrown their facility and are making plans to expand onto adjacent land that will triple their size. If you would like more information about Grace Place, you may go to their website or by sending an email to brenda@graceplace.org.   

God’s Growth Intentions.  Scripture clearly teaches that it is God’s will for his church to grow.  God intends that his church will grow both spiritually and numerically.  The Bible strongly implies that God is more likely to grow a healthy church.  Both the quality and the quantity of the church matter to God. Church leaders who desire to lead a healthy church would do well to study the New Testament church described especially in Acts 2.  While Christ declared that he would build his church (Matt. 16:18), God has also called his people to be co-laborers with him, expecting them to participate in the building process (1 Cor. 3:9-10). 

One way that God’s people do their part in building his church is by careful and prayerful planning.  Strategic planning has been modeled by God, by Jesus, by the apostles and taught elsewhere in Scripture.  When it comes to finding direction from God in the planning process, God’s moral will can be found in the Bible, but usually his specific sovereign will is unknown until looking backwards after it has happened.  God has given his people freedom to make plans and decisions, although he may chose at any time to intervene and redirect.  As church leaders humbly and prayerfully seek God’s heart for their church, they use their minds, informed by Scripture and experience, to make decisions together in community with other Christ-followers.  They then are free to make plans and set goals, working diligently to accomplish them, yet holding them loosely—saying like the Apostle Paul, that they will do what they have planned, “if the Lord is willing” (1 Cor. 4:19)—always recognizing that God may alter their plans at any time according to his sovereign will.   “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps” (Proverbs 16:9).

Value of Planning.  God created the world in a progressive and systematic way, moving from simple to complex, bringing order out of chaos.  Jesus came to earth and demonstrated his commitment to a predetermined strategic plan. He outlined his mission at the beginning of his ministry in a vision statement (Luke 4:16-21), presenting it in a way that would enable evaluation and measurement.  In Proverbs 16:9, it is noted that “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps”.

How God Directs.  God has given his people freedom and responsibility to make choices according to how they accomplish his work and build up his church.  He will not give them a detailed road map containing the perfect course for the future.  He wants his people to be obedient to his clear moral will (revealed in Scripture), and then, with a spirit of prayer and humility, relying on the foundation of the basic principles of his Word, he wants them to use their minds to dream and plan for the future realizing that, “if you have faith as small as a mustard seed…nothing will be impossible for you” (Matt. 17:20). God’s people will always hold their plans loosely, recognizing that God may decide to intervene and change their course as he did with the apostles in Acts 16:6-10.

Strategic Planning.  The success of strategic planning depends primarily on vision and participation.  According to John Kotter, “Without a good vision, a clever strategy or a logical plan can rarely inspire the kind of action needed to produce major change”.  Further, as Peter Senge states, “for a vision to resonate authentically for people and compel them to commitment, it must be a shared one”. Aubrey Malphurs (in Advanced Strategic Planning, on page 10) calls the strategic planning process the “rudder” that the church needs to keep from drifting aimlessly like a sailboat without a rudder.  As the winds of change blow, a well prepared and prayed over strategic plan may serve as a “rudder that will biblically and thoughtfully guide the church through these and future times of unprecedented, convoluted change.”

David’s Example.  King David, who led Israel during its greatest era, “served the purposes of God in his own generation” (Acts 13:36).  He sought God’s best plan for his people for his time.  The leaders of every church would do well to follow David’s example and do the hard work of discovering together how God’s purposes can best be worked out for their church in their own generation. This requires working in collaboration with the leaders and members of the church, so that the vision strategy is understood, embraced, and becomes a steering mechanism for the church.

In summary, God intends for his church to grow spiritually and numerically. A healthy church is the Kind of Church that God grows. The marks of a healthy church can be found in Acts 2:42-47. God calls His people to be Co-Laborers with Him in Building His Church. Proper planning is a God-honoring Method of Leading and Growing His Church as it was modeled by God; modeled by Jesus; modeled by the Apostles; and taught in Proverbs.  The proper approach is to plan with humility, recognizing God’s sovereignty and that our short life is like a vapor. How God Provides Direction for his Church: Read his word; develop a heart for God; Seek wise counsel; Look for God’s providence; Rely on good judgment; and, stay open for divine intervention. Seek His Kingdom and do His Will. If we seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness, which is the will of God for our lives, then whatever choices we make concerning the future become the will of God for our lives.