From church planters to church planters

30th October 2022

This weekend we celebrated 50 years of Calderwood Baptist Church. It’s a long time! These 50 years of gospel ministry have seen many come to faith in our Lord Jesus and be baptised. These 50 years have seen many people partner together in prayer for this gospel work in our community. While we are blessed to still have some of those original church planters with us, over this passage of time, a number of those original church planters have gone to be with the Lord. We are thankful to God for all of those who began the work at Calderwood fellowship, for those who continued that work on, and for the legacy of the gospel that we now enjoy today here in Calderwood.

Our recent series in Deuteronomy has shown us that looking forward involves looking back: looking back to see what God has done for us; looking back to see God’s faithfulness; and looking back to learn from moments of faith and moments of weakness in those who have gone before us.

So as we celebrate 50 years of gospel ministry, it is important that we look back so that we can ensure that we continue this work of gospel ministry for the next 50 years.

I think it is important to say, and this is a sobering thought – it takes a lot less than 50 years for a church to lose its gospel heartbeat, to lose its gospel focus. We don’t need to look far to think of churches who were, 50 years ago, 40 years ago, 30 years ago, strong evangelical churches but today are no longer gospel churches. So it is no small thing that this church continues to be a gospel church 50 years on; it is a great responsibility on all of us to ensure that this gospel heritage continues, and indeed, grows over the next 50 years.

In talking to some of those who were around 50 years ago - the original church planters - I think there are some important lessons to learn from them as we prepare to continue their legacy of church planting here in East Kilbride. There are 5 brief principles that I have heard them describe:

1. Gospel, Word and Prayer

There can be a lot of pressure on a new church plant to do different things - when will we start a toddler group? will we run a food bank? - and while these things might come in time, it is important that those involved in the church plant resist the temptation to do a lot of different things but instead keep the focus on the gospel, on the word, and on prayer. The early days of Calderwood fellowship focused on Sunday gatherings in Allers School, and mid-week prayer and Bible study in homes. It can be a daunting thing to start a new church with just a few families and so dependence upon prayer and a belief that God will grow His Church through the preaching and teaching of His Word has to be central in a church plant. It is vital to remember that God's church isn't grown through programmes or strategy but by the teaching and preaching of God's Word.

The initial desire to plant a church in Calderwood came about because there was a growing community of people who largely didn't know Jesus. The solution - plant a gospel church! We must always remember that the purpose of a church plant is to reach the lost with the good news of Jesus Christ.

2. Having church planting in our DNA

The Calderwood fellowship benefited greatly because it had church planting in its DNA. East Mains Baptist Church had a vision to plant churches in the new town of East Kilbride and so they planted Westwood Baptist Church and then Calderwood Baptist Church. There was an understanding that if the gospel was going to spread throughout the new town, churches would need be established in the different communities. I think one of the characteristics of a healthy church is that it is kingdom minded and is seeking to multiply itself beyond its own immediate community. A healthy church ought to always be looking for the next opportunity to advance the gospel - either in its own area or, by partnering with others, in a different area. When this church planting DNA is lost, it is so easy for churches to become inward looking and to mistakenly think that God is only concerned with what is going on 'in our patch'. This couldn't be further from the truth!

3. Establishing a Sunday gathering is always the goal

The work in Calderwood began with a Sunday School outreach to kids on a Sunday afternoon. This provided an opportunity for the gospel to be shared with children and for connections to made with the local community. This kind of work was important in the establishment of the church plant - it demonstrates the kind of work that can take place to prepare the ground for the church plant. However, this wasn't the final goal, and this outreach certainly wasn't a church! The goal was to establish a Sunday worship gathering. And when the church began to gather for worship on a Sunday morning, the church plant was established. The timing was not the important thing - the important thing was the gathering of God's people on the Lord's Day for the purpose of worship. And what took place when the church began to gather was also important - they gathered to hear God's word preached, they gathered to participate in the sacraments together, and they gathered to sing, pray and enjoy fellowship. The goal of a church plant is not simply to put on an activity, or to meet for prayer - the goal is establish Sunday worship.

4. Investing in the gospel is a costly work

When I think back to the families that were involved in the establishment of Calderwood fellowship, I am reminded of the cost of establishing this gospel work. Many of the original 28 members had young families, were working full-time jobs, and had recently moved into new homes in a new community. Life was full and that was before they took the step to invest their lives in establishing a new church. Calderwood Baptist Church became their lives and such commitment doesn't come without its sacrifices but they invested in this gospel work in order to see the church established, people come to faith in Jesus, and people grow into mature followers of Him. And there was a cost to other churches too. Each of those families had been heavily involved in their previous church - either at East Mains or elsewhere - and they had to bear to cost of sending some of their best people to establish this new work. Investing in the gospel is costly both to those who go and those who send. But this is the greatest investment we can make with our lives. When I hear those who started our church speak with such joy at how God has grown our church and at how God has saved people through the ministry of our church, I can tell that the cost was worth it.

5. Staying connected to the planting church

Planting a new church can be a great and exciting work ... and it can be a long and lonely work. Going from a fellowship of nearly to 200 to 20 can be difficult. Going from a fellowship where there's loads of things for you and your family to go to, and moving to a fellowship where there's only things if you help put them on, can be hard and sometimes lonely. And one of the great joys for those families who established Calderwood fellowship, was that they stayed connected with the church who had sent them. In the early days, they gathered at Calderwood for worship in the morning and then went to East Mains in the evening; they took their kids to the toddler group at East Mains and were involved in ministries there. This helped them to stay connected and to have a place where they could be encouraged and supported as they established this new ministry. Of course, as the church plant grows, this becomes less necessary. The goal is always to plant an independent church with its own pastors and members. But there is great joy to able to partner with the sending church and to enjoy a partnership of prayer and encouragement together.

I think it is helpful for us to reflect on these things and helpful to pray about these things. The need to plant gospel churches in our town and further afield is great. What role will we play in that? How will God lead us and direct us to establish this work? What will that mean for those who go? What will that mean for those who send?

There are many questions but what we know is that God is faithful and able to cause us to bear fruit. We know the goal of God's people has always been to spread the gospel, make disciples, and plant new churches. May it continue with us.