New church plants are important members of the CMBA Family of Churches. Leaders from six local church plants recently met with CMBA to share a wide variety of needs and ideas for ways that established churches can partner to help their ministries grow and flourish. The following opportunities offer at least one way that every church can leverage their own stewardship of gifts to partner through resourcing, long-term relationship building, and ministry support.
“Many congregations think they don’t have what it takes to partner with a local church plant, but the list our planters came up with offers every congregation an opportunity to play a part in what these church plants are trying to do,” says Associational Missions Strategist Jamie Rogers, adding that “the congregation that chooses to join in a church planter’s efforts will also be blessed.”
CMBA congregations are encouraged to prayerfully consider how God might invite them to partner with local church plants throughout the Midlands in the following ways:
Easy Commitment: (Step In)
- Prayer
- Facility advisory – walk through to identify and provide advice or recommendations, not repair
- Local mission projects
- Sharing existing resources (copiers, staff graphic design assistance)
- Sister church relationship sharing – youth, children ministries encouraged for church plant members to participate in
- Advocacy
Mid-Range Commitment: (Step Up)
- Opening up property for fellowship hosting
- Relationship building with goal of meaningful partnership, mentoring, and even inclusion in larger church’s volunteer appreciation (i.e. church events at the zoo, Fireflies game, bowling)
- Administrative resourcing and training
- AV and music support
- Financial analysis help
- Monthly financial support – according to church’s budget (Use step in/up/out language here?)
High Commitment: (Step Out)
- Under-utilized members in saturated ministries coming to serve
- Large one-time financial gifting
- Sending people
Rogers encourages every CMBA member church to seriously consider these opportunities and prayerfully seek God’s direction for how their congregation can partner with potential year-end giving options and through new 2026 ministry planning.
“Interested churches can contact any church planters they know personally to get started, or they can reach out to the CMBA staff who can help introduce them. There are too many lost people in our geography for us to settle with what we have. We must keep pressing forward, and church plants are an integral part of us reaching every man, woman, boy and girl with the hope of the gospel. We all can be a part of how God is moving through new church plants,” Rogers says.