Church planting on urban estates should never adopt a singular, 'one size fits all' approach. Cris Rogers, Rector of All Hallows Bow in east London and experienced church planter, outlines the models that can help establish a thriving estate church plant - and the approaches that won't.
By Cris RogersSeptember 2022
Cris Rogers is the rector of All Hallows Church in Bow, East London. Having planted into an urban estate in 2010, Cris and his team have gained over a decade of experience and insight into seeing what models of church planting can work well in an urban estate setting. In this short feature, Cris gives a summary of the types of church plant that don’t work well and why that is. It’s a go-to read if you’re involved or thinking about getting involved with Estates mission.
If you are feeling called to plant on an urban estate, or you’re interested to know a little more about what it involves, Cris’s words are a great place to start. Should it stir something in you, or strengthen your belief that you should get going with something on your estate, I’d encourage you to find out more about:
Intro to Estates Mission – a six part online self-guided course for any church leader, lay or ordained, who wants to learn more about Estates ministry
Become – an accessible theology and leadership course with a creative, interactive approach to teaching. It is designed to equip those living on social housing estates and similar areas with the tools and training needed to serve their communities or estate churches, or play their part in church planting.
We would love to support you and talk through how CCX might support you.
Words by Cris RogersPlanting churches is a little like planting in your own garden. Not every plant likes your soil and not every plant wants to be in the sun. In the same way not every model of church planting will work in every neighbourhood.
Having pastored an East London urban estate church which, we planted in 2010 we have seen a good number of church plants fail around us. Some came with big money from the
US and others simply tried to replicate their mother church in a new location. What is evident is that to understand the place you are planting, knowing its culture, needs, hopes and the people is important. A cookie cutter approach simply will not work, but if it does it is probably because you are reaching not the local urban people but those who have also relocated there and most probably for the short term.
What are the models that work within the urban estate? The answer is multi-faceted and most probably a hybrid of a few church planting models. What works in one place will most probably not fully work in another.
Before we talk models for church planting, a major area for success is that of character. The character of the church planter, team and the new fledgling church is massively important to the success of the plant in the urban estate. For example, does the church planting team have a condescending posture or are they coming to live genuinely alongside? The working-class communities are cynical of the next new big thing and sceptical of leaders who come across as knowing the problems and sure of the solutions.
Therefore, the character of any church plant into the urban setting needs to listen more than speak, be humble and willing to learn, understand why the working class see the world as they do and not propose their view is wrong or needs to change. The working class need to feel like they are not being ‘done to’ or that there is not a top-down authority.
The church planter also needs to side with the working class, working from a shoulder-to-shoulder perspective and not for them or to them. The working class has experienced many ‘saviour’ types who claim to have the answers but once they have made their money or reputation out of the working-class community simply have moved on.
Firstly, let’s explore the models that simply do not work with the working-class communities.
The launch big model: Sending a large planting team with worship, kids and admin support alongside the church planter to launch a church with a big launch event simply fails in the urban estate. The local community view the plant with suspicion as the alien people group come into do something in their community.
House church model: Launching with small groups in homes for 10ish people. Only the middle-class have homes large enough to host such gatherings. Working-class homes are often packed with family and not calm environments for gatherings. There is also the issue that the working class as a whole are uncomfortable going into a stranger’s home, often worried that they would have to invite people back to theirs. There is no culture of going round to each other’s homes but traditionally would attend the working men’s clubs as the social space. It is also recognised that the working class are on one hand cynical of the institutional church but also suspicious of church not in a ‘church’.
Any model which involves big church: So multisite as well as mega church models ultimately fail with the working-class. Those that have expressed success have to note that sometime later the working-class attenders simply walk away. The working class often articulate a struggle to fit in, feel disconnection and not listened to. The working class look for personal connection and once they find this lacking, often move on and quite quickly. There may well be a persuasive argument for a network or family of local churches that engage as one community like a multisite but behave with their own autonomy.
Apostolic: We have seen success in such networks as the Antioch Network Manchester that send in the apostolic leader who grows leadership for the church plant and then moves on to the next plant. With this Apostolic leader also comes support and leadership encouragement. The Apostolic leader isn’t looking to build their ministry but expand bases for mission.
Small- to-medium church: Churches in the urban areas need to be highly relational with space for people to feel like they are at home and can play their part. Which means church planting needs to bear in mind that the working class need multiple churches or congregations not more than 100. Once over this size people often start to slip away or attend less often feeling like there isn’t emotional space for them.
Successful churches in the urban estates tend to have smaller meetings but multi congregational. For example, my church, All Hallows Bow, has two Sunday services and a midweek fresh expression.
Small planting teams: Successful estate plants tend to be launched by a missional small team who spend ample time listening to the community. Smaller teams tend to be able to act authentically within the local setting, make friends and engage others in the growth. Small teams tend to also find other local Christians who are happy to join in the new church as it meets local to them. This aids the church feeling more local than outsider.
Local, incarnational and holistic mission: The working class are looking for a church that not only speaks a gospel of salvation but also acts out this salvation in practical and tangible ways locally. Successful church plants in the urban setting often live deep, live local, care for the neighbourhood and the needs of it. The incarnation has deep resonance in the urban setting as the church plants itself not just in terms of worship but the whole life of the church engaging on every street and corner.
Successful church plants often engage with the local needs on a deep level. English lessons, youth and kids work, debt management, entrepreneurial business ideas, back to work schemes to name a few. A major part of this model is also the importance of the church members who are there for the plant to live local. For the urban setting you can’t plant a church where you don’t live.
Multi-ethnic: Many church plants have found success in mission to homogeneous groups but the working class, especially in the inner-city or urban areas tends to be multicultural on some level. A church that is multi-ethnic communicates in the urban setting that the church truly is for all people and not just for those who have it all together. By modelling not only a wide invitation but also participation a multi-ethnic church is a visual invite to anyone who feels they don’t fit.
Fresh expressions: There is also no reason for fresh expressions to not work in working-class communities. The planter might need to take reference on the insecurity of the working class and the trust found with the church building. Something that is too out there may be seen with cynicism. Many estate church plants have seen success in church planting when using fresh expressions to shape how they do their worship. Such as recovery church, church around a meal, buggy mass etc.
Network or family: There is a strong and persuasive argument for a network or family of local churches that engage as one community like a multisite but behave with their own
autonomy. This network of urban church plants can resource each other, find support in the organisational structures and learn together. Small urban churches often find it hard to become self-sustaining and therefore in the early days of the plant being a part of a support and care structure aids the health of the church and allows sustainability to develop.
In conclusion, I think the answer to successful models for estate planting is to be found somewhere between the apostolic leader, traditional planting, incarnational, holistic mission, and fresh expressions. They need to adopt a slow-burn approach, to live deeply in the community and grow around the local people. As for their size, they will probably not grow beyond a membership of 100 max, so thought needs to be given on reproduction. When it comes to models, traditional church planting tends to work well, but with the work of the Holy Spirit anything is possible.
Do you have a passion to see God at work on your estate? Do you long to reach a local estate? Find out more about how CCX Estates can support you, with courses like Become or a consultation from our team.
