Why plant a church?
First, church planting is a biblical pattern that we see in the New Testament. Most people generally view the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 as a command to evangelize, but it also includes making “disciples,” “baptizing them,” and “teaching them to observe” God’s Word. In the book of Acts, when Jesus ascended to be at the right hand of the Father, the primary way the apostles carried out that Great Commission was through evangelizing and planting churches (or simply starting new churches). Paul, on his missionary journeys, planted churches. For example, Paul went to Philippi, which was a major city (Acts 16:12). While in Philippi, Paul shared the Gospel, people came to faith, and they were baptized (Acts 16:14-15, 33-34). When Paul left Philippi to embark on another missionary journey, he was even sent off by this newly formed congregation (Acts 16:40). Later, when Paul wrote the letter of Philippians to that newly formed church, they were a fully formed church with elders/pastors and deacons (Phil. 1:1-2). The church in Philippi even partnered with Paul and financially supported him in his missionary and church planting efforts (Phil. 1:5; 4:15-18). Most of the New Testament was even written to newly planted churches.
Secondly, the question is usually asked: “Why plant a church if there are churches everywhere?” This question assumes that churches have fully reached their respective city with the Gospel, are actively reaching their city, and that city has reached Gospel saturation. Unfortunately, the statistics point to the fact that there is more work to be done. There are “200 million non-churched people'' in America, and “no county” in America has an increase in “churched population in the past ten years” (Early and Wheeler, Evangelism Is: How to share Jesus with Passion and Confidence, 339). The population has grown at a rate where existing churches cannot keep up, and most large denominations have seen a decline (Early and Wheeler, 340). In other words, while most communities already have multiple churches, we need more Gospel-centered, evangelistic, disciple-making church plants just to meet the needs of population growth and overall church decline. Additionally, studies have shown that new churches are more effective at reaching the lost and unchurched. We need more church plants in areas like Magnolia, TX that is preparing for exponential growth in population. We also need to help re-plant or revitalize existing churches.