Why Plant a Church in Richmond?
By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. (Hebrews 11:8)
Church planting has numerous parallels with Abraham’s life, as a people obey God’s call to leave the church communities they’ve called home to go out to a new place that does not yet exist.
Like with Abraham, the journey of church planting is characterised by faith as people trust the Lord to lead them to the place he has prepared for them. And just as Abraham’s journey was established on obeying a call from God to go out, so church plants are built on obeying God’s call to plant a church.
This article shares why we at Covenant City feel called by God to plant a church in Richmond.
1. Church plants are a part of any healthy church ecosystem
But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. (1 Corinthians 12:18-20)
In 1 Corinthians 12, the apostle Paul writes of the body of Christ consisting of many members. Each member, Paul reminds us, contributes something different yet equally important to the health of the entire body. While Paul was writing about different Christians in a church, the metaphor can be extended to different churches in a city.
A healthy body of churches in a city should consist of a variety of churches – united by the same gospel while having different emphases such as location, preaching style, language, and doctrinal distinctives. While no one church will fit exactly what every person is looking for in a church, cities need a diversity of churches to serve and reach a city of diverse people.
New church plants play an important role in maintaining that healthy church diversity in a city. Just as start-ups fuel a city’s economy by meeting (and even highlighting) new needs and injecting fresh ideas, so new church plants serve a city’s church ecosystem by bringing fresh perspectives and impetus. This is not to say that new is necessarily better. However, church plants can facilitate gospel renewal in a city by helping to recognise emerging opportunities, address new needs, and recover historic emphases.
2. We are persuaded that there is a need for more churches in Richmond
Even as our team was persuaded of the importance of church planting in general, we needed a season of discernment to ask the Lord if he was calling us to help plant a church and, if so, where and when. We spent much time in prayer and consultation with various mentors, pastors, and church planters, including participating in a church planter assessment with City-to-City Canada. Through this process, we discerned that the Lord was leading us to help plant a church in Richmond. Our reasons coalesced around three main factors.
Firstly, Christ City Church, which is the church that is planting Covenant City, has felt called and been praying for the opportunity to plant a church for the past number of years. Even as the Lord blessed Christ City with numerical growth, the elders and members felt a growing impetus to steward that growth by planting a new church.
Secondly, the Lord has given us a heart for Richmond. We are thankful for the churches in Richmond doing good gospel work. However, through conversations with pastors and other Christians in the city, we discerned that there is a need for more churches to come alongside and complement existing churches on mission.
Richmond welcomes many new immigrants every year. Meanwhile, second- and third-generation immigrants who grew up in Richmond form new generations with different questions and cultural lenses from their parents. Research has shown that church plants are a vital way of reaching newcomers and engaging new generations, and we believe that is a significant opportunity in the city we are called to.
Thirdly, the Lord has provided us an opportunity to plant a church in Richmond. Christ City has many members living in Richmond, many of whom have been praying for a church plant in the city. Many have joined our launch team, along with other members from Christ City and other churches. Furthermore, through the generosity of Christ City and other churches, the Lord has graciously provided us with seed funding to establish the plant. The Lord has also miraculously provided a building for us to meet in the city center.
In sum, we are planting a church in Richmond because we are obeying what we feel the Lord is calling us to. While we have many hopes for what Covenant City will be and do for the city, our focus is on obeying the call God has placed on our hearts, and submitting our plans to him.
We’d like to invite you to partner with us on this mission. If you live in the area, would you ask the Lord if he is calling you to join us? And whether you live in Richmond or on the other side of the world, would you pray with us, that we would be faithful to the Lord’s calling, and that he would do far more abundantly than all that we can ask or thing, for the flourishing of the city, and the glory of his name.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:1-2)