The Year's First New Church

Steve Dennie

May 1995

"I never lost my burden for this community," says Dan Young, pastor for the last 14 years of First UB in Findlay, Ohio. "I just became frustrated that I was doing so much administration and paperwork, and couldn't focus on what I wanted to do--be with people and win them to the Lord.

"I think my growing dissatisfaction was part of God leading me into church planting. My heart was in it. I dreamed about it. It's what I wanted to do."

And since January 8, he's been doing it, along with a core group of 34 adults from First UB. They call themselves Faith Community Church.

Getting Started

Last summer, First UB voted 86% in favor of starting a daughter church--knowing that Dan might be assigned as the planter. Which he was. Sandusky Conference will contribute to Dan's salary for three years, decreasing their support 10% each quarter until Faith is on its own.

The bishop and other leaders asked Dan to select the core group members from the Findlay congregation.

"They knew I loved First Church and wouldn't want to damage a ministry into which I had poured 14 years," Dan says. So he thought through what he would need--ministries, abilities, mindset--and, after praying about it, began attaching names. "I didn't choose any on the basis of friendship, but on the needs and ministries of the church. Then I would ask a hard question: If that person left First church, would it leave them with vacancies they couldn't fill?"

Eventually, he interviewed a number of people about joining him in starting the new church, and only about ten declined. "I'm sure some people felt rejected by me, because I didn't choose them. But I couldn't just announce, 'Who wants to go?' and have 150 people who wouldn't fit the ministry and philosophy raise their hands.

"I told the core group members up front where I saw them serving. But when they came on board and started working, I realized that they are all much more talented than I imagined. I had only been looking at one aspect of them.

"I had more fear about what it would do to First Church than about the success of Faith. I don't think the pastor leaving was as painful as 34 adults suddenly leaving. I'm pleased that our people share my heart for First Church.

"We made two strong rules. Rule 1 is that we will not recruit anyone away from First Church or minister to them, unless I obtain permission from the pastor. Rule 2 is that we will not take any finances from First Church. Along with the core group, they lost about $65,000 from their budget. I think that's plenty to ask them to give.

The two churches still work together in various ways. "We send our children back to their youth ministries. We don't have a Sunday night service, so people who want to attend church on Sunday night are encouraged to go there. Until we have our own WMF and MMI groups, people who want to be involved in that can do so at First Church. Our boys play on their basketball team. We'll have combined baptismal services.

"I want the community to understand that we're a daughter church. I don't want them wondering if we're a split."

An Outward Focus

Faith Community Church holds services in a local school. "The facility meets our needs, and we see ourselves staying there for a while. We can seat 450 people. One advantage of not having our own building is that we have to go to homes--and unchurched people are more likely to go to a home for a get-together than to a church. Plus, we get the school for just $600 a month, and don't have to pay for insurance, maintenance, and utilities.

The school is located just a few miles from First UB. Does that matter? Not to Dan. "Sometimes you'll find two Methodist churches across the street from each other, and yet each church develops its own personality and ministries. I don't think the proximity of a church is important."

Right now, they're averaging about 60, and hope to average 150 by year's end. A lot is going on. They have cell groups that meet regularly, a Confident Kids program on Wednesday nights, a community ministry called Peace from Pieces, group studies on Tuesday mornings and evenings, and a monthly lay pastors' training. Junior and senior high youth meet on Sunday nights. In their first meeting they had 21 kids, only five of whom were regulars.

They keep the environment informal, trying to make visitors--especially unchurched people--feel comfortable. "When we take the offering, I frequently explain that we don't expect visitors to give anything; that's the responsibility of members. If my members aren't trained to be stewards, I'm not going to get the nonchurched to give."

Dan says they prioritize giving to the denomination. Ten percent of their budget goes toward assessments, and another 10% goes to missions--at least 5% of it to UB missions. " Other missions can raise funds in churches of other denominations, but our missions program can't; they depend on funding from United Brethren churches. I want UB missions to have top priority."

Sandusky Conference will contribute to Dan's salary for three years, decreasing their support 10% each quarter until Faith is on its own.

To Launch, or Not to Launch

New churches typically have an official "launch" service. Dan sees them officially kicking off the church by September. But, "At this point, I think we will probably do more of a phase and blend-in than an all-out parade. We have trained our lay pastors and people, and they are networking and reaching out to new people. We have a dozen lay pastors, each of whom are targeting five unchurched people they want to reach. Their enthusiasm is phenomenal.

"They're reconsidering whether or not we should even try a mass outreach. That maybe we would be better off reaching people little by little and building around those needs, rather than inviting 150 people whose needs we can't meet, losing them--and all we did was have a big rally day. Right now, friendship evangelism is working.

"We encourage our cell groups to have a party once a month when they do nothing but games. It's low key, and they can invite friends just to get to know people. Then when these people are invited to church, they already know some people. That has been very successful so far. So they're considering just staying with the networking and not going with the mass media.

"We have a very nonthreatening follow-up process. I usually call visitors on the phone and thank them for coming. The second contact is someone from the church who stops announced and says, 'We're from Faith Community Church. We want to thank you for coming. It's not our purpose to stay tonight. I just hope you felt welcome, and if we can be of any help, let us know.' They aren't allowed to go inside even if asked. That's our style.

"The best response I've ever had was the day I went visiting for new prospects wearing Levis and a leather jacket. I went to the door and said, 'I know I don't look like one, but I'm a pastor, and I'd like you to look at this literature. If you don't have a church, we'd be honored to be able to minister to you.' I made 23 house calls, and all of them were quite positive and asked me to mail more information to them."

Dan has a goal of starting five new United Brethren churches--maybe from scratch, maybe as daughter churches. "The United Brethren church has given me a home and roots. It would be nice to know, when God calls me home, that there are five growing churches where young men can go out of seminary and not find themselves caught in traditional maintenance."

"This is new for me, and yet, I'm not afraid of it at all. I have just enough anxiety to keep me motivated."