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When you’ve been a part of a church for a long time, it becomes like a family. As such, when church planting, it can be difficult to go from a place you know and people you love to an unfamiliar environment. To help with the transition to a new church and new people, it is essential that you go with a core team, that you have an intentional process for preparing to go together, and that you live in authentic, ever-expanding community once you do go.

Authentic, Ever-Expanding Community

When going to a new place, you need to be genuine with your team but not cloistered from people who may not know Christ. Seek to introduce people to Christ and welcome them into your church’s family dynamic. Community is key when thinking through the idea of a new church or church revitalization.

Documents To Aid Community

While documents may not seem all that important to church life, they are. The two core structural documents that will contribute most to the life of your church are your doctrinal statement and church covenant.

Your doctrinal statement describes a church’s biblical and theological convictions. The doctrinal convictions your church members share unify your church body. A doctrinal statement reaffirms this unity; it basically says, “we believe this, and we hold on to these truths.”

Your church covenant is your church’s statement of how the church members commit to living alongside one another. It is important because it shows us what we can expect from each other both inside and outside of the church as we live lives of holiness and love.

Both the doctrinal statement and the church covenant clarify the standards of belief and Christian living for the church.

Discipleship in Community

Authentic community leads to discipleship, which is essential to Christian life. Life together is concentrated on our shared following of Christ. We need to commit to lifestyles that allow for such community because it is our God-given means of being formed into the likeness of Christ. Our lifestyles need to allow time for Chistian community. Christian community encourages us through Scripture when we are discouraged. After receiving Scripture, we are called to give Scripture, encouraging our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Closing Advice — Things To Do Before You Go

As you train and prepare to launch your new church or revitalize a church, pursue your local church community. You cannot launch a church as individuals. You need a community. Orient your lifestyle in such a way that you can regularly engage in Christian community within your local church. Endeavor to live close to a church and regularly attend church meetings. This is key to your spiritual life and will allow others to see through you that God made us for genuine Christian community.

Dr. Jeremy Kimble, Professor of Theology and Director of the Synergy Initiative at ����Vlog, is passionate about teaching college and graduate students the truth of God’s Word. He is committed to teaching in the classroom, mentoring students, and speaking in church, camp, and conference settings. He served in pastoral ministry for eight years and is currently an active member and minister at University Baptist Church. Dr. Kimble's academic interests include biblical and systematic theology, ecclesiology, preaching and teaching, and the mission of the Church.

Synergy is the combined power of a group working together that is greater than the power of individuals working separately. The Synergy Initiative aims to help students plan strategically to graduate from Cedarville, go together with others from this place, and invest their energies, talents, and efforts in planting, revitalizing, and multiplying churches. As Cedarville graduates join up with other church members who are equipped to do the work of ministry, the combined effect of their efforts will accomplish, by God’s grace, abundantly more than only a couple of pastors in a church doing all of the work on their own. Thus, the goal is to equip students to leave ����Vlog ready to help establish and strengthen local churches throughout the nation and around the world.