“Ignite: Start Something New,” a new church-planting Sunday emphasis, is encouraging churches to pray for current church-plant pastors, intentionally learn about God’s activity in new churches and consider entering into new church partnerships.
Ignite is a reworking of “Start a Church Sunday,” which traditionally occupies a calendar date for the North American Mission Board. Centered on Isaiah 43:19, the theme of Ignite is the idea that God is about the “new” in communities.
Speaking to the congregation of Second Baptist Church, Lancaster, Dino Senesi, director of the South Carolina Baptist Convention church multiplication group, detailed the emphasis.
“We cannot continue to do the same things we do and expect different results,” said Senesi.
Senesi mentioned that in Isaiah 43, God is “giving his heart for a people in a bleak and overwhelming situation,” not unlike much of the world today.
“You now live on the largest English-speaking mission field in the world,” Senesi told congregation. “We live in a society) where the influence of Christ is decreasing.”
In addition to asking churches to be more aware of new church plants in their area, Ignite is as much about developing new relationships with people who do not know Jesus. It is a fresh way of thinking that can be advantageous to existing churches in engaging their communities.
Senesi said that a mark of this new thinking is intentionally engaging non-Christians outside of churches as well as inside.
“The missional church, the new church, will count coaching Little League baseball as much of a service as teaching Sunday school,” Senesi said.
“The reality is most of the people whom we need to reach will never come in the doors of the church,” he said.
“We are reaching points in time where we need new ways to reach new people,” he said. “We have to find new ways to move people to relationships with people far from the Lord.”
Senesi pointed out that when Jesus talked about the kingdom, he was speaking of something original, something big. A criticism Senesi often hears is that “Baptists want to own more real estate, but this is about Christ and his kingdom.”
“A kingdom mentality is that we will be releasing instead of keeping,” he continued.
Though the calendar date for Ignite is March 25, churches are encouraged to plan initiatives throughout the spring on any available Sunday through May.
Lancaster Second Baptist is currently supporting one church plant in its area, but Senesi urged the congregation to not be content with the mission they were currently undertaking.
“Jesus said that they will go to Jerusalem, but they will not be satisfied. They will go Judea and not be satisfied. They will go to Samaria and still not be satisfied until they reach the ends of the earth,” Senesi said as he pointed to the “prediction” of Acts 1:8, where the early church would not be content with impacting just one area or demographic.
“If I could leave you a gift, it would be a gift of discontentment and a desire to say, ‘I am a part of something big,’ he added.
“All we are asking is that you would join God where he is already working.”