God Is Still Having Dinner Parties: “Imaginating” the Future of Church Planting

When you walk through a forest, you will discover something remarkable! Beneath towering trees that have stood for generations are fallen branches and decaying trunks. Some trees have weathered centuries of storms, while others have reached the end of their natural lives.  Scattered throughout the forest, small seedlings push through the soil and reach toward the sunlight. A healthy forest does not mean that every tree lives forever. A healthy forest means that life continues to emerge, even as older trees complete their life cycles. The church can learn from the forest.

The Lewis Center for Church Leadership reports that across The United Methodist Church, congregations are wrestling with declining attendance, aging membership, financial challenges, and difficult decisions about their future. Some churches that have faithfully served their communities for generations are closing their doors, and these closures represent more than institutional losses. They carry the stories, relationships, and sacred memories of generations who have encountered God within those communities. So why start and plant new churches when so many existing churches struggle to survive? Should we not focus our resources on strengthening the congregations we already have? Why invest in starting something new when we struggle to sustain what already exists?

These questions deserve thoughtful consideration. We need a different perspective. What if church planting is not only about replacing congregations that are closing? What if church planting is about participating in the new life God continues to cultivate? We are reminded of God’s promise in Isaiah 43:19 (NIV[1]), “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” Even in seasons of uncertainty and loss, God continues to create new possibilities.

We Plant Churches Not to Preserve our Institution, but to Participate in God’s Mission

When conversations about church planting begin with denominational decline, we risk misunderstanding its purpose. Church planting can become an institutional strategy to replace lost membership, increase congregational numbers, or maintain denominational influence. However, the church was never called to preserve itself. The church exists to participate in God’s mission of reconciling, restoring, and transforming the world through the power of the Holy Spirit. Church planting is one way we can participate in that mission by making disciples and cultivating communities where people can experience God’s transforming love.

In Matthew 28:19, Jesus calls his disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations.” Jesus sends his disciples out into the world, beyond familiar boundaries, to engage people and communities they have not yet reached. This outward movement is deeply embedded in our Methodist heritage. John Wesley did not intend to establish a new denomination. He wanted to awaken people to God’s transforming grace and organize communities where discipleship could flourish, and people’s lives could be transformed. Through field preaching, class meetings, and Methodist societies, the movement reached people often disconnected from established religious institutions. Methodism became a movement willing to go beyond familiar structures to engage people where they were. One of the biggest opportunities before The United Methodist Church today is to recover this missionary posture and imagination. We can discover where God is already at work, where the people are whom we need to reach, and what new expressions of Christian community the Holy Spirit is inviting us to cultivate. We are planting new churches because God’s mission continues!

New Churches Create New Opportunities to Reach New People

Every congregation exists within a particular history, culture, and community. Over time, churches develop traditions, relationships, and ministry practices that shape their identity. These traditions can be beautiful expressions of faithfulness. They provide stability, nurture, belonging, and connect generations of disciples. And yet, communities continue to change. Neighborhoods become more culturally diverse, generational perspectives continue to shift, and people’s relationships with organized religion continue to evolve. More and more, many people have little connection to traditional congregational life.

In the October 2026 Atlantic article, “Why Americans Stopped Throwing Dinner Parties,” Derek Thompson explores a troubling cultural shift. Americans are gathering with friends and neighbors less often. He reports that the percentage of Americans who host friends and family at least once a month declined from 42% in 1975 to just 12% in 2026. Thompson examines several possible explanations, including increasingly demanding schedules, shrinking friendship networks, and the growing convenience of entertainment that requires little interaction with others. His observations reveal a society in which opportunities for meaningful relationships and shared experiences are becoming less common.

For the church, this raises an important question: Can the church truly be a place where we cultivate communities where relationships, belonging, and spiritual transformation can flourish? Can church planting offer an important response? New faith communities can develop their identity and ministry practices around the people and contexts they seek to engage. Church planting teams can focus on becoming part of their neighbors' lives and communities. This approach reflects our Methodist heritage. Wesley’s class meetings created spaces where people gathered regularly, prayed together, and grew in faith. Discipleship was cultivated through relationships, accountability, and participation in Christian community.

Consider a neighborhood where residents have little interest in attending traditional worship. Church planting teams might begin by listening to neighbors, building relationships, and discovering their hopes and concerns. Over time, these relationships might develop into shared meals, spiritual conversations, and eventually a new Christian community. The starting point is the relationship. Church planting aims to create new opportunities for people to encounter Christ and experience Christian commensality.

The Future of Church Planting Depends on Cultivating New Leaders

If God continues to call the church into new mission fields, we must cultivate leaders and teams who can respond to that calling. Church planting begins with people who sense God’s invitation to engage their communities, build relationships, make disciples, and cultivate new expressions of Christian community. Today’s changing mission field requires us to expand our understanding of who church planters and planting teams are, and how we develop and equip them. Church planters and planting teams are missionaries, community builders, innovators, and disciple-makers who recognize opportunities for ministry in unfamiliar places. Church planting is not a solo journey; it requires a team working together.

During a time of prayer, a word came to me: imaginate. It is a combination of imagine and activate. To imaginate means to engage the imagination in ways that move toward action. It means taking faithful steps to bring those possibilities to life. The church today needs leaders who are willing to imaginate. We need people who can envision new expressions of Christian community and have the courage to cultivate them. We need leaders who are pneumanauts, sailors of the Spirit, who recognize where the Holy Spirit is moving and are willing to step beyond familiar structures to participate in God’s unfolding work.

This requires investing in discernment, practical training, coaching, mentoring, and supportive systems that allow leaders and teams to experiment, learn, and grow. Through initiatives such as Launchpad 2027 and Mission Edge, Path 1 seeks to equip leaders with the tools, relationships, and support needed to cultivate new Christian communities.

The Forest Is Still Growing

Jesus offers a powerful image of life emerging through loss in John 12:24 (NIV), “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” Jesus speaks these words in anticipation of his death and the life that emerges through his self-giving love. Jesus’ words remind us that God’s redemptive work can bring life in unexpected ways. The closing of a congregation deserves grief, gratitude, and remembrance. We honor the faithful witness of churches that have served their communities for generations. However, the end of one expression of ministry does not mean the end of God’s mission. Like a forest, the church experiences seasons of growth, change, loss, and renewal. Our calling is to remain attentive to the Holy Spirit and participate in the new life God is bringing forth. Many people are asking, “Why should we plant new churches when existing churches are closing?” However, the more important question is, “If we stop planting new churches, who will we fail to reach?” The forest is still growing, and God is still doing a new thing. Are we going to imaginate by recognizing what God is doing and then having the courage to act upon it? We are being called to imaginate what God is making possible!

Please reach out with questions or to continue the conversation to Isaiah Park at [email protected].

[1] Scripture verses marked NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.