Self-sustaining

A mature church of the Lord Jesus Christ is one which is able to sustain its ministry with sufficient people and finances without assistance from outside sources. Its members are committed to Biblical giving patterns, and it has enough of them to meet its financial obligations, to pay its pastor, to sustain its discipling and outreach ministries as a congregation, and to provide care for the poor and needy.

Self-governing

A mature church of the Lord Jesus Christ is one that has found and chosen from within its number a group of qualified, God-appointed elders. The congregation has come together around the leadership of a session and a pastor whom they respect and to whom they willingly submit. Their leaders, also possibly including some deacons, are men who have shown themselves to be godly examples to the congregation and to be committed in belief and practice to the doctrinal standards of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

Self-propagating

A mature church of the Lord Jesus Christ is one that is shouldering its responsibilities both in the area of covenant faithfulness and in the area of Great Commission implementation. On the one hand, the congregation is seeing its own covenant children professing faith in Christ and taking up their responsibilities as communicant members. On the other hand, the congregation is consistently reaching into its community with gospel witness and is seeing previously unconverted men, women, and children professing faith in Christ and becoming responsible members of the church. In addition, the congregation is also taking up its responsibilities to go beyond the borders of its own community with a worldwide outreach, and is both assisting financially and seeing some of its members physically going into the world harvest field.

Self-consciously a church

A mature church of the Lord Jesus Christ is one that understands its ecclesiastical role and has defined its ecclesiastical commitments. It understands itself to be a church and not a collection of individuals and the causes they embrace. It is informed about the multitude of theological opinions within the Reformed system of doctrine and has consciously chosen to be confessional without adopting a set of its own special em- phases. It has learned as a congregation how to defer to one another in love in its decisions and in its conduct. And it has freely and happily chosen to be part of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and to own and embrace her heritage and values.

Procedures for calling and employing a church planter

In the process of calling and employing a church planter, it is the home missions committee of the presbytery which is usually the committee as- signed to supervise the development of the mission work and the call and employment of a church planter. The committee works closely with the overseeing session of the mission work to identify a candidate which it believes is qualified to serve as an evangelist of the presbytery to labor in the mission work until it is organized and is able to call its own pas- tor. Then, after seeking the concurrence of the members of the mission work, the committee determines whether or not to draw up a call to the candidate. Finally, if it decides to call him and the candidate indicates his willingness to accept, the committee draws up a formal call to the man, which is then presented to the presbytery for its action, along with supporting budget recommendations to cover the cost of his salary and benefits. Appendices 2 and 7 of this manual provide helpful information about calling a church planter and requesting financial aid for his employment.

Throughout the process of calling a church planter, financial considerations play a big part. The presbytery will want to be sure that the minister is reasonably well paid, so that his needs are met. And the mission work will take on an increasing role in meeting those needs as the years pass. So each year the Committee on Home Missions and Church Extension issues Salary Scale Guidelines to assist churches and presbyteries to determine how to fairly and adequately pay church planters. By following these guidelines, the mission work learns to take seriously the pledge it will make, when it becomes an organized congregation, to make their pastor “free from worldly care and employment.”

Procedures when working with core groups

A core group, which is an informal collection of believers exploring the possibility that God may be calling them together to plant an Orthodox Presbyterian church, has no membership, and usually few or none are members of the OPC. And some who are part of it, though knowledge- able about the Bible and the Reformed faith, may not even be members of an organized church of the Lord Jesus Christ. So care must be taken by presbytery representatives who work with such groups. They must neither expect nor promise too much. But they must also be aware that God may be very much at work in the lives of this group that He has brought together. So they must serve as wise and gentle shepherds. Here are some procedures to follow when working with core groups:

Present the whole church to them—At some point in their information gathering, the group will need to know more than just the basics of the history and testimony of the OPC. In order to make an intelligent decision about whether they want to petition their local presbytery to receive them as a mission work, they should be provided with a full picture of their potential church family. On the one hand, they will need to know about how the church functions. Telling them about our foreign missions structure and the functioning of Worldwide Outreach and the expectation of their participation in it will be important. Describing how a session, a presbytery, and the general assembly function in the OPC will also be important. On the other hand, they will need to know about the diversity of views and opinions in the OPC. They will need a review of the controversies of the past few decades. And they will need a personal explanation of how unity within the OPC continues to thrive in the midst of this diversity.

Arrange for them to meet with others—It will also be important to ex- pose them to more than just one or two ministers and elders from the OPC before they make their decision to seek affiliation. If possible, encourage them to visit other OP churches, and bring in a diversity of Orthodox Presbyterian pastors and elders to minister to them. It may even be ap- propriate to put them in contact with other Reformed churches, so that their choice will be informed and satisfying.

Propose an oversight structure for them—It is assumed that an explanation has been given to them about the fact that an OP presbytery routinely assigns an oversight structure for each of its mission works. But before they become a mission work, they should be given a clear picture of who those elders will be, what care and oversight those elders will provide, and what will be expected of them as a mission work.

Set the “agenda” for them—Many core groups approach the OPC with a preconceived notion of what she is and how she works, learned mostly from reading historical accounts and listening to selected personal experiences. Some groups found each other by first working together on the promotion of such causes as a home schooling network or the opposition to abortion. It is important for representatives of the presbytery in whose bounds the potential new church would be located to state clearly that the OPC is a church and not a cause, and, among other things, that ministries of outreach and evangelism are assumed and expected, and that acceptance into the group must be based on one’s credible profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and not on his political party affiliation or his views concerning the education of his children.

Let them decide—From the earliest days of a presbytery’s work with them, the group must know that there will be no coercion to join the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. The work of church planting is a spiritual undertaking, and the presbyteries of the OPC believe that God determines those with whom they work. As servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, representatives of the presbytery in whose bounds the potential new church would be located can freely and in good conscience give themselves to assist an emerging group, even if that group later chooses not to become part of the OPC.

Assessing the group

Thus far in this chapter, the process of finding, forming, and working with an unorganized core group of believers has been detailed. But in order to actually begin the work of establishing a new Orthodox Presbyterian church, the group must willingly commit itself to the process of being formed into a mission work. By OP definition, a mission work is a group of believers meeting regularly for worship on the Lord’s Day under the jurisdiction of a session or presbytery and not yet organized as a separate congregation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. But how does a presbytery decide whether a group is ready to become a mission work? Here are some diagnostic questions to consider:

Is the group ready to work together? Every group of believers has members with strong opinions. Some want to replicate a previous church ministry from which they have benefited. Others are more concerned to avoid abuses which they have observed in past church experiences. Still others have been shut out of leadership roles in their previous church. These and other circumstances make it difficult for some groups to make mutual decisions and to defer to one another. But other groups quickly find joy in working together and form strong bonds of fellowship.

Is the group willing to follow elders? At its beginning, a mission work must be what it will become. If it is to become an Orthodox Presbyterian church, the core group cannot have a problem submitting to elders with whom it does not agree on every aspect of theology and practice. It is important that this attitude be observed in practice among the members of the group.

Is the group sacrificially working to establish a new church? Starting a mission work requires much energy and sacrificial labor. It is the people of the core group who must roll up their sleeves and do the work if the new church is to be established. And it must be undertaken by a group of people who are sufficiently gifted by the Holy Spirit to be capable of doing the work that is required.

Does the group desire to be an Orthodox Presbyterian church? The group should have enough information to make a decision about its potential new church affiliation if the suggestions above about providing clear and complete information have been followed. But desire is also an important factor. Some groups are less interested in being part of the OPC than in separating from some other organization. Others are willing to tolerate affiliation, but do not desire it.

Selecting overseeing session members

Sometimes the entire session of a local church in another community is appointed by the presbytery to be the overseeing session of a mission work. Sometimes several members from the same session, together with their pastor, are appointed for that purpose. But more frequently individual elders and ministers from various congregations are appointed as a committee of the presbytery to serve as the overseeing session. In recommending to the presbytery ruling elders and ministers for appointment as borrowed elders for a mission work, there are four criteria that the home missions committee can apply to each of those whose names may be suggested:

He has a heart for the extension of the church. He shows interest in the church planting efforts of the presbytery. He is involved in outreach and evangelism in his own congregation.

He has usually served as an elder in more than one congregation. He has had the experience of working with several pastors and sessions and has learned that there is more than one way to do something in the OPC.

He is able to think conceptually about the church. He has demonstrated within his session and presbytery that he is able to understand a situation or solve a problem within the church, even though he has not faced it in his own experience.

He has a servant’s heart. Much time and energy will be required for this work. He will usually maintain oversight responsibilities in his own congregation and will take on even greater ones with the new mission work. Unless he has demonstrated a sacrificial servant attitude in his present oversight responsibilities, his service as a borrowed elder will usually not be effective.

Structuring an overseeing session

A new mission work, even with all the things it lacks, is an infant congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Its members are members of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. Its needs are those of any body of Christ, however youthful or immature. So the elders who have been assigned to provide oversight have a twofold responsibility. First, they are to care for all the members and their families individually. Second, they are to care for the emerging body as a new corporate organism. The new group’s small size and lack of organization do not make it any less a church, nor should the care provided by the overseeing session be any less formal or intensive. In fact, because the new church needs much help to develop the right patterns and practices, it usually takes more time and energy to provide care for a mission work than it does for an organized congregation. Here are three guidelines to keep in mind when organizing the work of the over- seeing session of a new mission work:

It should meet regularly and separately. A theme of this manual is that good patterns should be set for the new church from its earliest days. But one of the tendencies of those who have been assigned the spiritual oversight of a new mission work is to approach that responsibility informally, making occasional visits to the work and holding occasional meetings when something needs to be decided. Members of a mission work are justified when they ask their borrowed elders, “Is that how your session works?” The session of a mission work should organize itself into a formal structure, with a moderator and a clerk; and it should hold regular, stated, announced meetings on the site of the new church. There is much work to do, which will be discussed below, and Biblical patterns of review and control must be established and a good system of record keeping must be set in place.

It should know the flock. One of the main difficulties faced by the borrowed elders in the early days of their care for a mission work is that they do not know the people well. It is vital that a system be established early on of regular, intentional visits by the members of the overseeing session. Some of these can be on the Lord’s Day, but it is also important for them to be with the individual members of the mission work at times other than the occasion of the stated services of the church. The plan should include how individual elders can be in the homes of the member families of the mission work to become acquainted with them, to learn of their abilities and their needs, and to encourage them.

It should constantly remember its unique, temporary task. The overseeing session of a mission work has a delicate task. It is working itself out of a job even as the need of the mission work for wise oversight increases. The elders are keenly aware that they are providing spiritual guidance and direction to believers who have not chosen them or called them to that task. The work of this session is different. It involves setting patterns, developing maturity, and identifying leaders. And it is temporary, lasting only until the new body of Christ reaches sufficient maturity to be able to choose its own officers wisely and Biblically.

Preparing petitions and calls

In the life of a mission work, there are three times when official communications from the emerging congregation to their presbytery are anticipated and expected.

A petition to be received as a mission work is sent to the presbytery at the very beginning of their official relationship to the presbytery. This is usually a letter signed by the individuals who comprise the group and to which the presbytery responds by receiving the group as a mission work and assigning an overseeing session for their care.

A petition to be organized as a new and separate congregation is a formal document that comes to the presbytery near the end of the development process. This is usually a letter signed by the members of the mission work, asking that they now be allowed to choose their own officers and call their own pastor.

The call to a pastor is a formal document that is acted on at the organizational meeting of the congregation in which the man of their choosing (most often the organizing pastor) is formally and officially called by them to be installed as their first pastor.

What makes a good church planter?

The Committee on Home Missions and Church Extension believes that a good church planter need not specialize in that work, nor must he have extensive special training to serve as an organizing pastor. However, a combination of the following five ministry strengths seems to be present in the men who most effectively serve as church planters in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church:

He is a caring pastor. He is a mature man of God who loves his people. He spends time with them. He encourages and instructs them from house to house. But his love for them is not sentimental; it is based on the deeper love of the Good Shepherd. So he is also willing to confront them and to spur them on to a renewed obedience to God.

He is committed to Biblical preaching. He believes it is the primary way in which Christ builds His church. Regardless of which Reformed homiletical method he employs, it is always Christ who is preeminent in his preaching. Because he is convinced that God speaks to His people and builds His church primarily through the preaching of the Word, he works hard to make his sermons both clear and meaty. And he is a good preacher. However, his reliance on the efficacy of preaching does not have to do with his skills of preparation and delivery, but with the Holy Spirit who speaks the Word through him.

He has a mature grasp of doctrine. He recognizes that neither he nor his people can approach the Bible without it. He carries the system of doc- trine with him in his mind and is deeply committed to, and appreciative of, the Westminster Confession of Faith and its Catechisms. His mind is not quickly captured by new theological or methodological proposals. He genuinely believes that nothing is more practical than sound theology. And his grasp of doctrine permeates his preaching and his pastoral leadership.

He is a man of faith. He is able to see the Church in the small core group of people who have helped to begin its ministry. He finds it easy to trust God for his and the congregation’s needs. The depth of his commitment to Christ is evident in every aspect of his ministry. And he has an unshakable and contagious confidence that Christ is building His church among the people he is serving.

He is a leader of people. He understands the tasks of the ministry of a church planter and the needs of people to whom he ministers and is able to enlist and delegate with confidence and tenderness. People are drawn to his leadership and follow him because of his godly character and loving heart. He is a self-starter who initiates proposals and accepts responsibility. But his leadership is always characterized by a servant’s heart, and he takes the lead to shepherd, guide, and protect without lording it over those who have been entrusted to his care.

Considerations when searching for a church planter

Finding a skilled and competent church planter is not easy, and the task is complicated by the number of people who are involved in the selection process. Because only organized congregations of the OPC may call their own pastors, the mission work must rely on its presbytery to find and call a qualified and gifted minister to be an evangelist, laboring with the mission work as its organizing pastor. Because the fielding of a church planter usually requires significant funding from outside the mission work, which comes from the presbytery and the denominational Committee on Home Missions and Church Extension, representatives of those bodies need to be involved in the process of selecting the man. In this regard, it is best to keep in mind that CHMCE has a policy that it should be involved in the selection process of the evangelist when it is anticipated that denominational financial aid will be requested for his support. And because every mission work has its own unique character and interests, it is vital that the people of the developing new church have a say in who is called to be their initial shepherd and leader. So this special calling process must be balanced by two governing commitments which can appear to be in conflict with each other.

The presbytery will not call an organizing pastor without the concurrence of the mission work. It is vital that the people of the mission work not acquiesce in, but enthusiastically endorse, their presbytery’s call of the man who will be their organizing pastor. They must have confidence in him. They must be able to receive the Word of truth from his mouth, they must have confidence in his leadership and his abilities, and they must be able to enthusiastically introduce him to their neighbors and family members. If the members of the mission work cannot conscientiously do these things, then the presbytery will continue its search until it finds a suitable man in whom the group has confidence.

The mission work will recognize its limitations and will trust the presbytery to recommend for call as its organizing pastor only men it believes will serve them well. The nature of a mission work is that its people are new to each other and to the work of church planting. Many are new to the OPC and some are even new to the Reformed faith. They must acknowledge to each other that they may not always make good decisions about the development of their work or the choice of their organizing pastor. They must admit to each other that it will be easy for them to find weaknesses in the men the presbytery recommends. And they must acknowledge that the presbytery and others who are assisting with the suggestion of a carefully selected list of men to be their potential organizing pastor are in a better position than they to know what they need.