Church Planting: Slums or Suburbs? WWJP? (Where Would Jesus Plant?)

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Logan Paschke, Michael Krahn. Michael Krahn said: Church Planting: Slums or Suburbs? WWJP? (Where Would Jesus Plant?) #RV8 http://bit.ly/a5ZQpM [...]

Thanks for an inspiring reminder. 17 years ago I moved to Windsor Ontario and planted New Song Church in one of the armpit neighbourhoods. We bought an old bar and recently the old bank next to it. The riches of Christ are most evident when given to the poorest and the least.

Don’t plant churches in the affluent west, then. Africa is the way to go. (That’s an extension of the logic of the criticism, by the way, not a recommendation.)

I suspect that wealth is an entirely irrelevant criterion for choosing newplant locations. Obedience to “the ends of the earth” is more like the thing. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…”

Jesus’ ministry was supported by wealthy women, some of whom came from the ruling class. He ate with tax collectors. He preached to the wealthy. He also sent his disciples out to the villages. John the Baptist prepared the way in the desert, but Jesus had an urban ministry to concentrations of people: villages and towns.

Paul preached in the Areopagus to the intellectual, powerful and privileged. He preached to sellers of purple cloth – the commercial elite. When he wrote of wanting to go to places untouched by the gospel, he had clearly not started-up massive networks across the places he had visited, but was trusting the Spirit to grow the church out of the urban conurbations that had begun in regional churches. His tactic was to hit the major arteries and expect that they the church would be grown outwards from them. That’s more of a tactic.

The point of the word “therefore” in Matthew 28 is that Jesus has authority everywhere, in heaven and on earth. “Go!” is more important than: “Where?”

“Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.”

“May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth!”

“The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.”

“Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name? Surely you know!”

Hi Michael.

I debated whether or not I should even comment. Seeing as He spent time ministering from the waters, in remote places as well, almost everywhere He went, I’m thinking rural, suburbs and inner city are places that He would and does continue to minister.

I’m not a church planter, but know people who have ministered in inner TO and He is very much at work there. Every time I pray and ask Him where He wants me to go, He has made it quite clear that He wants me exactly where He has me.

I really shouldn’t have commented, because church planting isn’t my calling. (Not yet anyway.)

Love Kevin

I’m not sure about the church building in this situation but to say that Jesus would not be planting churches (and by that I mean missional communities rather than buildings) in the suburbs is rather at odds with the Bible.
As has already been mentioned Jesus spent time with richer people and these people although materially rich were just as poor spiritually as those in poverty.Did they not need to hear the gospel?

It could actually be argued that it is harder to plant a church in the suburbs becasue it is hard for the rich to become part of the Kingdom of God. People in the suburbs see no need for God and it is harder to make connections with them.

I came across the website the other day which I found helpful on this very subject http://missionalinsuburbia.com/

Kevin,

We agree that everyone needs the Gospel. Can you explain why, given the choice, you set up shop in the poor part of town?

Am I off in my thinking that Jesus would have chosen the same?

I do so love it when you challenge my logic, ED. Seriously – it’s one of the reasons I write these types of posts.

Would you also say that wealth is an entirely irrelevant criterion for choosing ministry locations? Jesus made choices; more often than not he was with the poor… and making jabs at the rich while he was there.

Good point about Paul.

Slums and suburbs are both city places… I’m not really trying to draw a distinction between rural vs. urban but between economic classes.

So you’re correct, rural, suburbs and inner city are places that He would and does continue to minister. But to which class of people – affluent or poor?

Jambo,

Absolutely – everyone needs to hear the Gospel. It just seems like Jesus shows us who is going to have “ears to hear” and who is not and then models for us a strategy that (mostly) ministers among those who have ears to hear.

Your second paragraph is my point. It probably is harder to plant a church in the suburbs but that shouldn’t factor into the discussion. Jesus seemed to spend time among those easily saw their need for God and made connections with them.

If those were the people he made a priority, shouldn’t we as well?

It’s not clear from the existing evidence that Jesus did make that choice. Let’s imagine – for the sake of argument only – that he was democratic in the way he spread his ministry about. Of course, that would involve him being with more poor people than rich people, on demographic grounds: there are *always* significantly more poor people than there are rich people.

Moreover, in his day, the Roman occupation saw to it that the poor-oppressed were proportionally greater in percentage terms than they are at other periods in history and in other locations. Given the paucity of the source material, and given its qualitative nature, I’d be uncomfortable making a quantitative case about how Jesus spent his time on the basis of it. I do hear about him getting into trouble for hanging out with rich embezzlers like Zacchaeus. I daresay that the wife of Herod’s steward wasn’t flavour of the month with the ornry folks either…

At the same time, it’s clear that rich and poor hung out with Jesus, and that he sent his people out without money or provisions, expecting that they should be provided for. This provision might reasonably be expected to come from those whose charity could extend to itinerant preachers on the basis of their ability to support them. The labourer may be worthy of his hire, but if he can’t be paid, then he labours in vain.

All I can say is that Jesus loves me, and, like you, I’m mind-meltingly wealthy. (We don’t even have to get as far as the fact that you’re reading this on a computer screen to make that deduction: the fact that you’re literate at all is evidence of your wealth!)

I’m glad God laid obedience to the great commission on the hearts of the folks that planted my church, where someone told me the gospel, or else how would I have heard it? It was through hearing it that I was saved.

Wealth isn’t a constraint or a consideration. The earth is God’s. He’ll make it possible for churches to come into existence wherever his Spirit blows. I’m praying for African missionaries to come to Scotland.

Some great discussion here. As to your question about why I chose to plant in the ghetto, the greatest single factor was growing up in a middle class church.

I loved my church growing up and was grateful that people were coming to Christ, but often wondered about the others that weren’t being reached. Where were they and how could we reach them?

The focus on the poor grew as I started planting. I saw the need to re-evangelize the urban core of cities with most churches following the money to the suburbs.

I had just showing a friend a Google maps search: I typed in “Calvary Chapel Kansas City”! Why? I had (in the early 90s) attended CC Honolulu, and they were very much an elite church; golf pros, Doctors and Lawyers made up their (501-c-3 required) board of directors!

I was showing my friend, the link between affluence and church planting demographics! And of course, all the Calvary Chapels are located only within affluent parts of the KC Metro!

This is intentional; designed; normalized for them I’m sure! They think nothing of it; like any good business model, it is logical to plant ones church-business where the local customer-base has the big bucks to till! Now, I’m not picking on any one denomination or Metro, I am sure this test would repeat itself with any mammon-centric denomination and in any Metro!

When religion is just a business, then it makes perfect sense to place it with great intent! Location – location – location! Secular Christianity must mimic & promote the consumer-culture it services! Their motto is: We can indeed, serve God and mammon!

For those of you who are subscribed to the comments for this post, there is a rebuttal and some further interaction here:

http://michaelkrahn.com/blog/2010/07/01/church-planting-slums-or-suburbs-where-would-jesus-plant-a-rebuttal/

Michael Krahn: The Ascent to Truth

Hey Michael,

I found myself nodding along to this blog. About a year ago, a friend and I planted a church in a low-income neighborhood in Vancouver, BC.

I don’t know if Jesus spent all his time with the poor, or what Paul would think is most “strategic” as a planting location. But I do know that there are far more suburban church plants than church plants among the poor, at least in Canada. And Jesus cared about the poor, so I think we need to do something to correct that imbalance.

Christians seem willing to start a charity, a soup kitchen, or a mission in poor neighborhoods, but rarely a church. I think part of the reason is that it is hard. It is difficult for the church to achieve financial self-sustainability with a lower-income congregation. There are often more racial and societal barriers to work through. There are power dynamics to juggle. There are many people who have been burned by the church or who see it only as a place to go for food or money. And at least in our neighborhood, there is a high concentration of people who struggle with drug addictions, mental illness, and a history of abuse, and who have a significant amount of “life chaos” as a result.

It’s hard, but it’s also so good. As a middle-class, white pastor moving into the neighborhood, I have been on a huge growth curve, as God transforms my mind and heart. I have seen people grasp hope and find Christ in the darkest of places. I have seen people with a vision for change in their neighborhood.

Everyone needs Jesus, and I believe the rich and the poor need each other in order to grow and be discipled. What if we got the rich pastors planting in poor neighborhoods, as long as they learned to lay down their rights and their power in order to raise up local leaders, coming alongside the marginalized and helping them to dream God’s dreams? What if we got some pastors who grew up in poor neighborhoods and told them to go plant in the suburbs? I wonder what would happen…

Michael, are you planting or working in a church among the poor? I’m longing to network more with those who understand the joys and the struggles of this kind of work. The traditional missional church-planting networks don’t seem to discuss this much…

Thanks for your thoughts, and thanks for being willing to accept (and even publish) criticism – I see a lot of humility in that.

Hi Beth

You have spoken well to the challenge of pastors who choose to incarnate among the poor.

In our setting, we have launched a school of mission to prepare people for ministry in urban settings, including accredited Bible College courses.

You can read about it at http://urbancryschoolofmission.blogspot.com

I’d love to hear more from you about the ministry you have planted in Vancouver.

Hey Beth… I love your idea about cross-planting. Poor Pastors planting in the burbs and rich Pastors among the poor.

I am in a town small enough to not have huge poverty or drug problems, but we did intentionally move into the poorest part of town when I took the job here a couple of years ago.