We’ve come a long way in the last thirty years when it comes to church planting.  When Rick Warren, Bill Hybels and Tim Keller were planting the churches they now lead, they were daring pioneers.  Today church planting is almost trendy in some circles.  But there is still much to be done in raising awareness for the need to plant new churches in our country.  Many still see church plants as a subculture within the church as opposed to an essential activity for all churches.

Here’s what most Christians fail to understand: our country’s population is increasing and the number of churches in decreasing.  The most compelling stat I’ve heard in making this point comes from the North American Mission Board.  In World War I, there was one church for roughly every 430 people in the country.  Now that ratio has changed to one church for roughly every 6,200 people in the country.  That’s a staggering decline!

People ask me all the time why we’re planting Restoration City.  The answer is simple – we need more churches and God called me to lead one.  We need to keep that need front and center in our conversations about church planting.  Yes, God’s calling on a planter’s life matters.  Yes, we have a unique vision for our city.  Yes, there isn’t a church exactly like Restoration City in DC.  Yes, God has been preparing me for this for a while.  But at the end of the day, this is about reaching a city.

If church planting is a just a fad, we’re in a lot of trouble.  It’s an essential evangelistic strategy we all need to embrace.