18. The Opportunities of Serving the Globally Mobile VII (MICN Missiology Series by Andrew Lupton)

International Church Planting

This final opportunity of serving the globally mobile through the international churches is one that is near and dear to my heart. Ideas of church planting were already brewing pre-pandemic, but God redeemed a long and uncomfortable Colombian quarantine to ignite a passion for church planting. 

“Cease the delay” was the mantra I heard Warren Reeve repeat in those early days of the pandemic. I was new to the MICN community. My introduction began after asking its leaders how international churches could be involved in church planting (what MICN calls church starting). Little did I know that two years later I would be joining MICN formally and moving to Oslo to plant a new international church. The delay was ceased. After nine fruitful years in Bogotá, I now have an irresistible itch to see healthy international churches started in strategic cities.

We’ve already discussed the role of the international church to multiply disciples globally and locally, but what about multiplying churches? The missional international church should always have an eye toward church multiplication. Planting sister or daughter international churches in other major city centers should be a realistic strategic objective. According to Reeve, international churches that are “properly planted and nurtured grow to become viable and self-supporting within a few years.” He calls on missions agencies and denominations to invest funds and personnel toward this end. ¹

I tend to agree. In fact, that will be my role within MICN as the Church Starting Coordinator. My prayer is that we will see many international churches resourced and started in strategic cities. Our starting point is to inspire sending agencies and other international churches to invest their best in this important kingdom work. 

There are multiple ways to leverage God’s resources to start healthy international churches. I look forward to developing those models with you! My dream is that other international churches would be heavily invested and directive in the process of starting sister and daughter churches. For example, my church in Bogotá is sending me out on mission to plant a likeminded church in Oslo. In part, the church that will be birthed on the other side of the world will be theirs. This sort of direct involvement could also be for the sake of alignment, accountability, or as an opportunity for the planter who may lack experience with the globally mobile to train or incubate within the mother church. 

Ask yourself, could God currently be preparing the pastoral candidate or intern serving in your church to start a sister or daughter church in another strategic site? Is he perhaps even calling you to that work?

National Church Planting

What about locally? Can international churches be involved in planting national churches? The model for national church planting out of international churches appears to be underdeveloped, or at least under-publicized.² Nonetheless, both Wald and Reeve attest to success in the national church planting arena in host cultures where the international churches are allowed to minister to nationals.³

The most stable population group in our church are the Colombians identified earlier as Hidden Immigrants and Traditional Nationals. As mentioned, members of these groups are drawn to the globally mobile dynamic of our international church. But many, and especially Traditional Nationals, resonate just as much with our grace-based DNA. They claim this ethos can’t be found easily in their own city and language. It’s also noteworthy that as this group of Traditional Nationals continues to grow within our church, our ability to minister to the globally mobile is reduced and our identity as “international” is altered.

This reality is not a liability. We are pleased to minister to those who are eager to hear the good news. But it does present a multiplicative opportunity that might bless our host city and country and enable us to more effectively minister to the globally mobile within our reach. Could a missional international church like UCB successfully plant a Spanish-speaking church out of our church through our Hidden Immigrants and Traditional Nationals? Might this church be more than just a church planted by an international church, but a catalytic church generating its own movement to blanket Bogotá with other healthy churches with a grace-based DNA? This is our prayerful plan that we will, Lord-willing, launch before my family’s departure.

Similar to an international church plant, your national church planting candidate or candidates could also incubate among you for at least a year to soak in the DNA of your church. During that time, they would be coached, integrated into your leadership, and pastorally deployed among the nationals in your church. As pastoral relationships develop, a core group could form and be invited to pray about multiplying. In our case, uniquely Spanish-speaking services could be held within our facilities to the point that this incubating church would eventually emerge and target Spanish speakers within our sector of the city. Facilities, leadership, resources, and even certain ministries could be shared until the planting church would be ready to launch on its own. 

A dream like that may be risky. It will be messy. It may even temporarily alter the identity of  your international church as it morphs into a bilingual church for a season. It will stretch your resources. It will challenge your nationals as many prayerfully consider launching from a church they love. But if your host city receives a thriving, multiplying, contextualized movement of churches in the process, the mess and risk will be worth it.

Actually, your church will be equally blessed and strengthened. Tune in next week as we discuss how the goal of serving our particular international church is not stability, but a multiplicative movement. 

Andrew Lupton

¹  Sadiri Joy Tira & Tetsunao Yamamori, Scattered and Gathered: A Global Compendium of Diaspora Missiology (Chapter 11: Unleashing Great Commission Potential through International Churches by Warren Reeve, section: Conclusion).

²  A notable example is Redemption Hill Church in Singapore, https://www.rhc.org.sg. It currently functions as a multi-site church with three congregations, but expresses a desire to plant for Singaporeans.

³ Wald, Jack, Pastoring a Parade: A Guide to International Church Ministry, p. 110. Reeve, section: English and Foreign Language.