Why Plant (Start) New Churches?

Hi, my  name is Zach Weihrauch and I am a church planter. 

And that is a source of constant curiousity for family members, friends (new and old), neighbors, and colleagues.  They all have the same question - "Why plant (start) new churches?"

My family asked me that question when I left my job, paycheck, and career at a church in Central Illinois for no job, no paycheck, and no church (at least not yet) here in Cleveland Heights.  They were good natured about it and the question came from love and concern, but there was a look in their eyes when they asked the question that betrayed their internal thoughts that I might be a little unbalanced.

I will admit that starting a new church from scratch is a scary thing to do and it is something I am still trying to get my hands around.  Churches across the country are in decline and my generation (20 - 30 somethings) has largely decided that traditional Christianity is out-dated and irrelevant. To many of them, planting a church is akin to opening a movie rental place or a record store - bad timing for an old business model. 

But for me, church planting is simply the logical overflow of my worldview.  It is the result of a crisis of conscience - if I really believed the message of Jesus and its implications for my life and the life of my neighbors then how could I not plant a church?

So, for this initial blog post, I thought I would give you the three motivators that caused me to move my young family to a city we had never been to in order to start a new church.

1.  People, and more specifically those in my generation, are separated from God.

I believe that my generation's disdain for organized Christianity has very little to do with logic and reason and more to do with emotion. I don't say that in anyway to belittle it or make it sound trivial. Instead,  I simply think that for many of them their belief that Christianity is irrelevant has more to do with their having "tried it" or been "around it" and not experienced God or anything close to Him. 

The Bible has a lot to say about this phenomenon, but let me summarize it by saying that God agrees there is a disconnect between Him and them.

2.  Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to eradicate that separation.

The heart of the Christian message is that God, just like my generation, recognized the gap between himself and people, came to earth, sacrificed his son to do away with the separation, and rose him from the dead and now invites people to be connected to Him through Jesus.

3.  My generation is not attending churches where they would hear this "good news."

If #1 and #2 are true, then the message of the church is anything but irrelevant but that is exactly how my generation sees church.  That reality is probably influenced by a number of things not the least of which are mistakes that Christians have made in trying to communicate the truth of Christianity.

I am passionate about my generation hearing the truth that the Christian gospel has the answer for the spiritual dissatisfication and disconnect they feel.

Our new church, Gateway Heights, will be a place that is driven by this reality. Our vision is simple - Love God, Live in Community, and Serve the City.  We believe these things, and only these things, are the work of the church and ultimately what will communicate to young professionals and families in Cleveland Heights the reality of Jesus.

If you are interested in hearing more about why new churches should be started - check out this link to our website (http://tinyurl.com/3pnwcde)  and a recording of me speaking on this topic.