Choosing a Target Area

Prospective church planters frequently ask : “How did you choose your target location?” Ultimately God provides the direction and accomplishes His purposes as we trust Him and yield to whatever He wants for us. But God expects us to think and research and listen to good counsel as we trust Him to lead. What factors should you consider as you choose a target area?

Go to any place in the world and you will find many people who are not following Christ. The basics of local church ministry are the same anywhere, and people in every part of the world are cut from a common fabric. Most church planters are eager to adapt and learn and enjoy any place and any people to which God may direct them. So in this sense, it doesn’t matter where you plant a church!

Yet we all know that it does matter. Few church planters throw a dart at a map. They usually think and research and ask questions. What are they looking for? Common characteristics include:

• Growing areas (=potential)
• Few like-minded churches (=need)
• Increasing ethnic diversity

Let’s consider each of those:

Growing areas
Quickly-growing churches are often located in quickly growing areas, where many people are relocating and seeking a new church home. However, quickly growing areas can be more expensive. They can have fewer facility options because they are less established. They can quickly become “ungrowing” areas if the job or housing winds shift. They are sometimes bedroom communities where people have little sense of belonging and spend much of their time commuting long distances to work. People in growing areas aren’t necessarily any more open to the gospel! Do growing areas really have more potential? And what about the Great Commission for all of the non-growing areas?

Few like-minded churches
It’s nice to be able to tell others about the desperate need for good churches in your target area. But simply counting good churches nearby is not necessarily a healthy way to select a target area. First of all, our minds can easily play tricks with the numbers. Suppose that Squareville has 2 like-minded churches and 75,000 people. Circleville has 12 like-minded churches and 750,000 people. At first glance we may be drawn to the area with only two, yet if you do the church/people rations, Squareville 1:38,000 while Circleville is 1:63,000.
But even more importantly, working near like-minded churches can be a wonderful benefit. You can learn from them, fellowship with them, and work together with them. I’m not suggesting that you should go right down the street, but that like-minded churches shouldn’t necessarily be seen as warning flags!
Do you really need to go to an area completely on your own as a pioneer, or can you connect with a network of like-minded churches ?

Ethnic diversity
Certainly growing ethnic diversity is exciting. The world truly is coming to us. But I am afraid that sometimes we trumpet this as a wonderful characteristic of our target area, when in reality we are completely unprepared and untrained to actually minister to those people. Church planters often have very little experience in cross-cultural ministry, and the talk of growing ethnic diversity can be little more than blind idealism.

I don’t mean to criticize, but to stimulate our thinking. If those characteristics are unreliable, what characteristics should you consider? Here are a few ideas:

1. Can you connect with a church planting movement that is already in motion? By nature church planters like to do things themselves. I get that, and I’m that way. But if we all do it all by ourselves, is that healthy strategy or wise stewardship? Maybe you need to go be a pioneer in an unreached area and do it yourself – but consider carefully whether you could connect with a church planting movement that is already in motion. By “movement” I don’t mean a national organization, but a group of like-minded churches who are working together in a geographical area.
2. Think bigger than one church in one spot. What is the 10-year, 20-year, 40-year vision? Is it for a city, maybe even a region? Think beyond just a spot for a church.
3. What kind of ministry has God prepared you for? What kind of ministry are you gifted for and burdened for? In one sense it doesn’t matter where you plant a church, but in another sense God has been shaping you for a place and a people. What kind of place? What kind of people?

Let’s expand on number three, and consider some of the differences in America’s communities:

• The Southeast is very different from New England. And the Pacific Northwest is very different from the Midwest. And the desert Southwest is very different from Alaska. And California is very different from the intermountain West. And Alaska is very different from West Virginia. And Washington D.C. is very different from the Florida Keys. And on and on it goes.
• Some areas are dominated by Mormonism; some by Catholicism; some by traditional Protestant denominations. In some areas the dominant religion is the environment, politics, or the beach.
• In some places, fun = going to the rodeo or county fair. In others it’s mountaineering. Or shuffleboard.
• In some places, you dash from your vehicle into the church building because of the blizzards. In other places, you spend most of the year outdoors.
• In some places, the people live in apartments or condos that they rent. Some live in government apartments. Some live in new middle-class homes, while other neighborhoods are filled with century-old classics.
• Some towns revolve around brand-new commercial developments, while other towns center around historical districts.
• Some areas are characterized by high levels of education, white collar jobs, and Mercedes; in others, the people are proud of their blue-collar heritage and work ethic.
• Some areas are full of retirees year-round. Some are a winter playground for snowbirds. Some are packed full of young families, while others attract single hipsters and artists.

Of course we could keep going, but my point is that those characteristics will make a major impact on your ministry! They will affect the kind of outreach you do, the kind of location you meet in, the way discipleship will look, the challenges through which you will pastor people, the obstacles to the gospel and growth, your long term strategies, and even your financial model for the initial church plant.

So what kind of ministry has God prepared you for?

Finally, I encourage you to do your research “on the ground” as much as possible. The internet is a wonderful tool, but to really understand an area you must spend time there with those people. Pray that the Lord will provide the finances to allow you to take a lengthy survey trip to the area you are considering.

You are my rock and fortress. For Your name’s sake You will lead me and guide me.
Psalm 31:3