Church Planting

Joel Osteen, pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, held a grand service for the first time in Hawaii, at the "Night of Hope" worship event on Friday, Feb. 3. During his visit to the state, Osteen was asked by local media to address accusations that he preaches a "watered-down" Gospel. 

The Texas megachurch pastor had been spotted earlier in the week at the Pacific state wearing only his swim trunks, a hat and sunglasses, gathering a lot of media attention for his in-shape physique. An image of Osteen's abs was released by TMZ.com that made headlines and put the spotlight on the 48-year-old pastor's advocacy for healthy living and dieting.

At the Night of Hope event, however, Osteen talked on some serious issues in his first ever sermon at the Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu. more >>

The North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention hopes to found 75 new churches in the city of St. Louis, Mo. – a city that many evangelicals have abandoned.

For every 7,037 people in St. Louis, there is only one Southern Baptist Church, according to the Association of Religion Data Archives. Only 14.8 percent of residents identify themselves as evangelical.

The urbanization of St. Louis and its rising crime issues, as well as a preexisting racial divide made worse with time, have forced many churches to leave the city, Jason Zellmer, pastor of Peine Ridge Church in Wentzville, lamented. more >>

The greatest evangelical impact Christians can take part in is to plant new churches, say leaders at the Acts 29 Network, an organization aimed at facilitating a global church planting movement.

Pastor Scott Thomas, who is the president of the group and lead pastor of church planting at Seattle-based Mars Hill Church, recently re-published an article by pastor and bestselling author Tim Keller on the subject.

Keller, who leads Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, published his thoughts about the importance of starting other churches 10 years ago. His article was condensed in a post last week titled, "Why Church Planting?" on Acts29Network.org. more >>

Southern Baptists are set to plant as many as 100 churches in Cleveland over the next five years, according to a new initiative by the North American Mission Board (NAMB).

About half of Cleveland residents do not affiliate themselves with a church, NAMB reported, calculating that one Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) church exists for every 42,500 Cleveland residents.

Church members from around the country are being called into action to help plant churches in the northeastern Ohio city. According to NAMB, the SBC network is critical to initiating and supporting nascent churches in Cleveland. more >>

Dimas Salaberrios, pastor of Infinity Church in the Bronx borough of New York City, led a protest Thursday, Jan. 5, outside the offices of the New York City Law Department over his ministry's eviction from the Bronx River Community Center, owned by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA).

Pastor Salaberrios claims that NYCHA was following in the footsteps of the NYC Board of Education, which served eviction notices to religious groups who use public school facilities after school hours for their ministries. The education department's move stems from the Supreme Court's refusal in December to review a lawsuit filed on behalf of the Bronx Household of Faith that challenged the Board of Education’s policy.

As a result, the Bronx Household of Faith congregation was told by the Board of Education that it had to quit the school auditorium it has been using as a worship space since 2002 by Feb. 12, 2012. Dozens of NYC churches have been affected by the Board of Ed's decision, which goes back to its victory in the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeals court had decided in June to uphold the board’s policy against religious activity in public school facilities. more >>

A Pentecostal fellowship ended up opening more churches in the United States of America in 2011 than there were days in the year.

According to its records, the Assemblies of God, a denomination with around 3 million members, opened up 368 new churches in 2011.

Pastoral training and funding for these endeavors came through the Assemblies of God’s “Church Multiplication Network,” which is a department in the organization’s National Leadership and Resource Center. more >>