In July I put up a post discussing Martin Luther’s take on house churches. In light of Luther’s words on the subject, and after several years of seriously thinking about what it would take to plant liturgical Lutheran congregations,  I want to lay out some ideas for planting congregations with an eye towards cultivating liturgical worship.

A couple friends are involved in planting Lutheran churches right now, and I have been following their progress closely.

The friend who is furthest along in the process told me that he thinks the liturgy is a hindrance to planting new churches.  His efforts so far reflect that ideology in spades.  We visited his inaugural service recently.  This friend has done an excellent job in publicizing the new church in his community, and the new congregation is  involved in a number of high profile community volunteer and service efforts. He has put in a lot of good work, and has established a strong launch team.

However, while technically well done, the worship service was very contemporary, and probably indistinguishable from any of the three other church plants by other denominations going on in the same area. There were a few nods to our theology at a couple places in the service, but nothing really distinctive.

It seems that most church planting efforts in our denomination fall along similar lines.  Does it have to be that way?  Catholic and Orthodox church planters would scoff at the idea that the liturgy is a hindrance to starting new congregations.

After reading Luther’s words several years ago, I have given a lot of thought about how you would plant a church that would be liturgical in practice. I read some of the church planting stuff making the rounds, and have looked at the beginnings of some prominent  new and growing congregations. I have discussed this with a number of pastors, and a theology professor to see if the following methodology is unscriptural or violates the Lutheran Confessions in any way. As far as they can see, I haven’t gone off the reservation in regard to the Scriptures or the Confessions.

I am not a Pastor or a theologian. The following outline is meant to be a starting place, a discussion starter.  We would really like to hear feedback from our readers, especially those involved in planting churches.

• I. Start Bible study / worship in homes
  • A. Well Publicized
    • 1. In the local press, on the net, radio etc.
    • 2. Be involved in your community before/during launch.
      • a. Volunteer for community projects.
      • b. Free sports clinics for kids.
      • c. Booth at fair or community functions.
      • d. VBS
      • e. Some form of mercy ministry.
    • 3. Meet in the evening.
  • B. Start with short pertinent studies
    • 1. Bible In An Hour
    • 2. Four Concentric Circles (Cwirla’s presentation)
    • 3. Church history in an hour.
    • 4. Worship study.
  • C. Short time of Worship after each one
    • 1. Start with evening sufferages.
    • 2. Solicit prayer requests from attendees.
    • 3. Let others pray if they wish.
    • 4. Wear your alb or other vestments every time.
    • 5. Explain what your vestments mean.
    • 6. Have service printed in one folder for ease of use.
    • 7. End with meal or pot luck.
    • 8. Don’t be afraid to use candles or incense.
• II. Transition to Full Worship
  • A. Be open and honest about your intent
    • 1. Talk about it a lot beforehand.
  • B. Change to evening prayer after 5 or 6 weeks
    • 1. Shorten study to small homily.
    • 2. Music can be simple but must be good.
    • 3. Explain and teach the liturgy as you go.
    • 4.  Wear vestments.
    • 5. Solicit prayer requests and pray with people at one point in the service.
  • C. Use the Lectionary and follow the Church Year
• III. Incorporate Lord’s Supper
  • A. Teach on it for a few weeks.
  • B. Add it to the end of the service, but incorporate the liturgy of the Lord’s Supper into the beginning of your meal after service.
  • C. Segue into fellowship meal from Lord’s Supper. (even at the same table)
• IV. Multiple Locations
  • A. Run by Elders or Deacons.
    • 1. Meet each week with Pastor for briefing and use the same sermon and Lectionary readings in every group.
  • B. Ordained Pastor visits one or more each week and conducts Lord’s Supper.
  • C. Keep groups involved in some kind of outside mercy ministry or service to the community, eg. Feeding the local homeless.
• V. Sunday Services
  • A. After you have several groups with a combined membership of 75 to 100 people, start a weekend service.
  • B. If you are starting groups to revitalize an existing congregation, incorporate them into the congregation as you are able.
    • 1. Or start a separate service (Sunday afternoon) for those coming in from the groups.

A couple notes.  The bible studies used to start the groups should provide a good overview of the scriptures or some facet of them, or an historical survey. This gives the people valuable knowledge, but prevents the study from becoming “biblical principles to make your life better.” The ones I have listed are ones I know of and that would fit the bill, but aren’t intended to be an exclusive list.

One Pastor suggested using this plan to rejuvenate aging congregations by forming another congregation using these techniques that would meet in the same building but on a Sunday afternoon or evening. Kind of like a sister congregation.

Anyway, your mileage may vary.  What do you think?

By Pat K

Posted in General