On Thursday I cleaned out my office at MCC and turned over the keys. The past week has been bitter sweet knowing that today, my final day on staff, was coming quickly. I have loved being part of such an amazing church family and it’s hard to imagine leaving, but we are also so excited about what God is going to do as we step out to launch CityWell Church.
We have been getting asked what Stef and I will be doing for the next few months until CityWell Church launches. The best answer I can give it “a lot”. As we continue on this journey called “Church Planting” I’m learning there are a ton of little tasks we are required to do. There are different church planting models but we decided to do a “Large Launch.” This means that we are praying and working to have 300-400 people attend our services the very first week (knowing that after the first month we will have between 150-200 stay). For this to happen there’s a lot of preparation that needs to happen.
I don’t want to bore you with all those details so let’s stick with our three biggest tasks:
1. Building the Launch Team
We can’t do this alone! To launch new life-giving church we will need a team of adventurous people to join us! We are actually praying and working to build a team of 75-100 people who are committed to helping bring CityWell into reality.
We are so thankful for the ~20 people who are already talking about joining us, but we have a long way to go. This team will help shape the culture of the church and ensure that people who attend on Launch Day have a great experience from the parking lot, to dropping off their kids, then into the service and leaving.
I can’t wait to start meeting regularly with this team in the end of July! Until then we will be having outreaches and interest socials they can attend and have an opportunity to serve.
Are you interested in joining the launch team? Let us know and we would love to answer any questions you have!
Let’s Connect2. Fundraising for the Vision
Large church launches require a larger budget. We are talking $200,000 budget! 😲 This sounds HUGE until you realize the impact a church launch has for the kingdom of God.
Looking at the numbers an established church of 200 people has a budget of about $200,000/year. They then will reach about 20 people/year for Christ (10% New Conversion Growth[NCG]). On the flipside church plants average 60-80% NCG during the launch process. This means if CityWell hits its goals and follows church planting trends, we will reach between 120 and 160 people for Christ within the next few months! Are you starting to see how investing in Church planting has a great spiritual return?!
To take this even further, a church that decides to undergo a revitalization process tends to take 3-5 years before they have enough buy-in and excitement to see the NCG rates of a church plant. That means they spent $600,000-$1,000,000 just to get to the place we hope to see CityWell start.
Even though the statistics favor what we are doing we are going to have to work hard to overcome some some common hurdles that hold people back from supporting the launch. I can’t give a lot…my little gift won’t matter.
Many people feel like the $5 or $10 extra they could give won’t make an impact, but if everyone who reads this gave that, it would be a huge help! Your money is going to be used for diapers for babies in the nursery, sound equipment for the worship team, signage to make sure every first time guest has the information they need and seats for people to sit on to receive the Gospel of Christ! Your “little bit” will have an eternal impact.
Other people have been saying “I would love to give once services start happening.” That’s awesome! But there is so much to give towards now to help us start well, so don’t let the lack of services hold you back.
The last big hurdle we have is convincing people to give without feeding the stereotype that “churches just want my money.” One of our core values is generosity. We need to unashamedly talk about the opportunity people have to be generous to CityWell so we can be generous also.
We will be looking to connect with business leaders and any others who believe in our vision and have a willingness to give.
Interested in Giving? We have one of the slickest giving widgets you have seen! Go ahead and push that button. ⬇ Tell us if you know anyone with an easier way to give.🤣
3. Supporting other ministries and establishing partnerships
This really is two different things but I’m putting them together because I believe the kingdom of God is a give and take.
We plan to spend most Sunday mornings visiting churches all over the East Coast to learn from them but also have the flexibility to minister at any church that needs a guest speaker in this season. If you would be blessed by that please reach out to us (DJ@CityWell.Church).
Some churches may be interested in forming more of a partnership. This could be a huge blessing not just for CityWell but for your church also. There is evidence that sending churches see over a 20% increase in attendance after investing in a church plant. We already have Morgantown Community Church serving in that role, but if other ministries are interested in partnering with us, I believe we still use that partnership to encourage their congregation.
We aren’t just looking for ministries to get from. We are also looking to give. We will be reaching out to the not-for-profit ministries serving the Coatesville area to see how we can best support and serve them.
We Are Just Getting Started
I hope you see there is a lot to do! Like we have said for years at MCC “The Best Is Yet To Come.” We believe that the best is yet to come for CityWell also! We have seen God working in great ways already and are excited to see all He is going to continue to do! Please join us in prayer as we seek God’s direction in all areas of this ministry!
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