For the sending church there is great excitement about the opportunity for mission and seeing the many great things that God is doing and can do through a replant. But for the legacy church the emotions are much more complex and often at odds; there is joy and excitement mixed with waves of sadness and even mourning.

The Bible gives us numerous examples of name changes - Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, Saul to Paul just to name a few. Name changes are meant to signify a change in identity. A person is not who they once were; they are someone new, identifying themselves differently and being identified differently as well. A new name is a significant marker of a major change.

The same idea is true when it comes to renaming a church with a replant.

On Sunday evening, July 12, 2020 the members of Northridge Baptist Church voted to merge their congregation with New City Church, bringing to a close decades of existence and ministry as Northridge Baptist in East Macon to replant as a new church in their facilities at 2360 Gray Highway in Macon.

The men in Fight Club fought to prove who was the strongest and toughest. They fought to be the best. The same is true of Church Fight Club, churches fight with one another to prove that they are the better church - they have the better facilities or pastor. They are more doctrinally sound, they use the right version of the bible or play this music rather than that music, and on and on and on.

If you are a church struggling, keep fighting! There are a lot of people who want to see you thrive and I believe God wants that as well! You don’t have to be in this struggle alone. There are a lot of people willing to fight with you and for you. The North American Mission Board has several good resources on church replanting or revitalizing.

I emphasize that because when it comes to church and what we do, our mission (making disciples) doesn’t change, nor do our means (the gospel proclamation), but how we do those things must change as the world changes. We have to ask the hard questions. We have to be honest in our assessment of where we are and where we are headed. We have to prayerfully consider what is most important - reaching those far from Christ? Or maintaining the way we’ve always done things?

Death is hard when it is someone you love.
The same is true when the someone is your church. I am saddened when I hear of dying churches - some very near to my heart.