MBGC - Planting Services

The Michigan Baptist General Conference is experiencing a fresh new thrust of church planting that is greater than anything we have seen in decades. We are doing this in partnership with TeAMerica, the church planting arm of the BGC. Our movement is called TEAMichigan.

C. Peter Wagner states that church planting is the most effective means of evangelism under heaven. Church planting is God’s idea. It was the primary Great Commission vehicle in the book of Acts, and we believe it is God’s strategy for today as well.

God is working through church planter assessment centers, trained coaches for every planter, workable methods, training seminars, and prayer networks. One strong component is our LEAD teams. These regional teams are formed to Learn from one another, Encourage one another, Achieve shared goals, and Dream together to advance God’s kingdom. They commit to starting 1-3 new churches and mobilizing 1-3 existing churches each year.

It is our goal to start 8-10 churches in five years. The investment needed to see this happen will be at least $375,000 for just this year. Already, churches have been started or are soon to start in Cedar Springs, Detroit, Godwin, Grand Rapids and Livonia. And other sites are on the drawing board. These churches are impacting an array of segments of Michigan’s population, including Vietnamese, Japanese and Filipino communities.

With the goal of assisting global church planting, the Michigan Baptist General Conference also operates the “CrossTreks” ministry. These short-term mission trips have helped to mobilize hundreds of individuals from numerous churches. Under the direction of George Butler, these trips have gone to various parts of the world.