SEARCH Journal

For much longer than that, the Church of Ireland has wrestled with a dilemma caused by the fact that, while it might have roughly the right number of parishes for its mission, its churches and buildings are not necessarily in the right places. In fact, it could be argued that quite a number of them are in decidedly the wrong place, in terms of developing natural connections with people. This reality shows the continued relevance of the concept of church planting. Some dioceses have tried to address the problem with a programme of church closures. However, few have been anything like as ambitious when it comes to planting new churches in places of potential growth. That early church planter St. Columba of Gartan is reputed to have vowed to bring 3000 people to Christ, as many as were slaughtered in the battle of Cooldrevny for which he was at least partly responsible. How different might things be if each diocese were to enact a similar pledge regarding the strategic development of new churches? One, I know, has set itself a target; the diocese of Down and Dromore, which currently has eight planted churches, plans to establish a new congregation each year for the next ten years.