100 new churches in Cleveland by 2017
Posted by Todd Rhoades in Outreach on Jan 11th, 2012 | 6 comments“Cleveland needs people who love Jesus,” said Dan Ghramm, a North American Mission Board church planter in West Cleveland. Among the 65,000 people in the area where he works, Ghramm says there are “less than 300 to 400 people in a Gospel-preaching church on Sunday morning.”
The numbers don’t get better in other places in metro Cleveland. Forty-two percent of Clevelanders aren’t affiliated with a religious body — Christian or otherwise. Only 5.5 percent are in evangelical churches, compared to almost 40 percent in the state of Mississippi.
Despite the fact that Southern Baptists have been involved in Cleveland since the 1950s, there are only eight Southern Baptist churches within the city limits — or one SBC church for every 53,000 people. Five of those churches are less than five years old. Include the population and churches for all of Cuyahoga, Lake and Geauga counties, and that’s one SBC church for every 42,500 people.
Southern Baptists in Cleveland and throughout North America are working together to change that through Send North America: Cleveland — an effort to reach the metro area by connecting church planters with established churches in other parts of the nation.
Send North America is the North American Mission Board’s national strategy to mobilize and assist individuals and churches to get involved in hands-on church planting in 29 major cities and other areas throughout the continent. Through Send North America, NAMB will come alongside Southern Baptist churches that are not directly involved in church planting and help connect them to a church plant. And NAMB will partner with Southern Baptist churches already planting churches to help them increase their efforts.
Kevin Litchfield, Send North America: Cleveland’s city coordinator, sees Southern Baptists in the city at the front end of something big.
“I’ve never seen this much God-activity in our area,” said Litchfield, who also serves as a church planting catalyst for Cleveland Hope, the local Baptist association in Cleveland. “This time last year we had two church planters in the pipeline. If we really went at it, we could have 20 right now. We could potentially see 15 to 20 churches planted next year.”
When Litchfield first came to the association in 2006, less than 2 percent of the association’s budget was going toward church planting; today, it’s nearly half (47 percent).
That kind of progress will be required to meet the goals that the Cleveland strategy group has established for the city: starting 100 churches over the next five years and 256 by the year 2020.
via Baptist Press – Cleveland could see 100 new churches in 5 yrs. – News with a Christian Perspective.
6 Responses to “ “100 new churches in Cleveland by 2017”
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I agree with the need for more churches, but unfortunately I think that the very approach is flawed. Not the need for more church planters or a mass attack on the city, to use a military term badly, but the attitude. Look at the first quote you used: “Cleveland needs people who love Jesus.” I can’t imagine someone like Peter or Paul or even Jesus using such silly outlandish language. How about something more realistic.
Dan, are you familiar with the Great Commission given by Jesus in Matthew 28? What is inconsistent with that here? What is your plan for reaching people with gospel? Being a friendly person and hoping the best?
If you are the Dan I think you are, you planted a church in Cleveland. Moved here from DC to do so. We can be involved in praying for the church planting effort in Cleveland or criticize it or even better, make stupid videos about big Bibles.
BTW Dan, The guy you criticize in this article, his church is 1 1/2 years old, averages 150 each Sunday and 1/3 of his congregation are homeless. You should watch how you shoot off your mouth before you know facts.
I would rather invest in making the churches there healthy. Eight churches can, through a commitment to Christ, change the town. The church on every corner type of mentality is flawed…especially when they are the same denomination.
My name is Kevin Rush and I’m a church planter in Cleveland. I know Dan Ghramm and the SBC churches in Cleveland, and other Church Planting Networks in our Great City. Dan Smith is one of my best friends and the comment above is most certainly not from Dan Smith who planted Momentum Christian Church in Cleveland in 2006. I was on staff with Dan and then was sent out to plant CityEdge Christian Church in 2011.
The truth is God is doing something in Cleveland among many denominations, many different kinds of churches, and many different people. And I think you should always follow where the Spirit of God is leading.
Among the tribe I run in (Stadia/KSP) we’ve planted 5 churches in 5 years in Cleveland and God willing will plant many more. Each has their own mission vision. We have missional communities, attractional, urban, suburban, multi-ethnic, service oriented, and much more. It’s a great start, but it is a microcosm of what is needed in Cleveland.
I also spend time lifting up and working churches and planters from other denominations. I am a part of a group of church planters in Lakewood (6 square mile suburb of Cleveland). We are 5 different church plants from 5 different tribes/denomination. We all have one goal that Jesus is lifted up and many come to Him. This Easter we are doing a combined mailer that says “We don’t care where you go… just join one of us this Easter!”
It’s amazing what you can get done when it doesn’t matter who gets the credit. I’ve seen this happen over and over in Cleveland because the need out weights the ability. Keeps us humble and focused on Jesus.
God is up to something in Cleveland, and if you feel called you should be a part of it.
Love beyond reason,
Kevin Rush