Ed Stetzer: African-American Church Planting

New LifeWay Research Study Provides An In-Depth Look at Church Planting in the African American Context

At our recent CPLF meeting, we released the findings of a detailed study of African-American church planting. This was the first study of its kind and the private sponsors were gracious enough to share it publicly. Thanks to Mission to North America (PCA), Assemblies of God (AG), Path 1 (United Methodist Church), International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC), Southern Baptists of Texas, the Foursquare Church, and North American Mission Board (SBC) for their commitment to research into African-American church planting.

LifeWay Research has conducted large national studies on church planting in the past. But it would be wrong to assume that national factors are the same for every particular culture or contexts of church planters and plants. Furthermore, it's a bad idea to even generalize from research and say, "All African-American church plants are like this." This study had a particular focus culturally and a set of participants denominationally.

This research has begun productive conversations among church planting leaders across the U.S. about how best to train and equip new church plants led by African-American planters and in African-American contexts. As denominations become more and more diverse, it's important that we note the differences in the contexts in which we are planting. As it is with many ministry methods, one size does not fit all. Keep reading

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Black church plants grow, research shows
Why Do Conversions at Black Church Plants Peak After Three Years?