The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

Church Planting in Kentucky in 1899

A lot of times when I can’t sleep, I read old issues of The Pentecostal Herald. The Herald was a newspaper published in Louisville by H.C. Morrison. The Herald had a wide subscription from the 1890s to the 1940s. H.C. Morrison was a tireless evangelist and organizer. He was the President of Asbury College a couple of times, and he founded Asbury Theological Seminary. William Jennings Bryan considered Morrison to be the greatest preacher America had ever produced.

The Pentecostal Herald… the name means something different than you might expect; it is not connected with the various denominations called Pentecostal. It refers to the work of the Holy Spirit, but in a more particular direction than we are used to today: it refers to the work of sanctification. If you want to read it, here you go: Pentecostal Herald

Anyway… for a couple of years now, I have been combing through back issues. It is kind of an educational project for me. You find some interesting stuff, like Methodists have had the kinds of problems that led to disaffiliation for a long time. Then there’s really neat stuff like they wanted to support missions, and so they encouraged people to plant an extra row of crops, or to raise a crop like new potatoes they could sell for cash and give to missions… it was 1898, so that made sense!

So this morning, I came across a short paragraph in a section of newsworthy notes in 1899:

“The Reverend E.R. Bennett of the Bradfordsville Circuit and Rev T.E. Lewis of Springfield, have gone to Liberty, KY, where there is no Methodist Church, to preach ten days, organize a Methodist Society, and build a church. 500 dollars have already been subscribed, and Presiding Elder C.R. Crowe will put a man in charge.”

There you go. That’s how they did it. No Methodist Church? Some pastors go try to make it happen, church members put some money behind it. Times are different, but not really. This could have been in the Pentecostal Herald for 2012: “Rev S. E. Wilson of Mt. Sterling and Rev. A. J. Mansfield of Morehead, went to Frenchburg, KY where there is no Methodist Church, to lead disaster relief after the devastating tornado of March 2. Mike Adams, assistant basketball coach in Menifee County, plans to launch church services. $10,000 dollars has been committed by New Church Development of the Kentucky Annual Conference.”

Most likely, the days of preaching a revival and then launching a church are gone. Some of us aren’t quite sure that those days are over, but it will probably not be as successful as it was in the past. What is more likely to be the story now is something like this: “Trinity Hill Methodist Church, seeing the need for Gospel ministry in the city of Lexington, will bring on a church planting intern, with a proven track record of discipleship and evangelism, to do the work of gathering people into discipleship groups to support the work of a new church.”

The culture is very different today than it was in 1898. The same methods may not work, but the principle is the same: people need Jesus. Where in 1898, even as late as 1968, people were prone to start with a church—build it and they will come— that is not the case in most places. I think it is Alan Hirsch who says, “if you build a church, you might get disciples. But if you make disciples, you will always get a church.”

If we have to start with a building and property, we are already priced out. But we can make disciples and build from there.

Here’s the thing: you have to want it. You have to believe that the Kingdom is bigger and more important than your own church. What I mean is, you have to be willing to invest in work that will not bring more people to your church, but will bring glory to God in new places with new faces. Your own church growing is a different task than church multiplication. (Psssstt…Your church can do more than one thing… you’ve been called to more than one thing.)

What is the extra crop today? It was wild to see how people responded to the Pentecostal Herald’s call to plant an extra row or raise new potatoes to raise money for missions. People would write in, “I planted 100 feet of sweet potatoes.” One fellow planted an extra acre of corn. What would you sell? What would you work a little harder on to have money to give to missions or to church planting?

The main thing will always be prayer. That’s one of the reasons I started this substack: to talk about multiplication, for sure: multiplication of disciples, leaders, churches. And to enlist people to pray that it will happen! So join me in prayer… the harvest is great, but the laborers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers into His harvest field.