The Episcopal Diocese of Virginia has long been active in the area of church planting. Church planting has become part of our DNA and identifies who and what we are in fulfilling our mission in expanding the Kingdom.

Since 1980, the Diocese has planted 20 new parishes, nearly all of which are thriving, and it is well on its way to doing even more. We are blessed to have two very generous benefactors whose grants allow us to acquire much of the real estate we need to establish new parishes. But the debt service on the balance of the real estate is a significant cost to the Diocese, and funds are needed to defray this expense.

Our process for church planting is deliberate and well conceived. We have undertaken a demographic study of the Diocese and have identified 61 areas considered “ripe” for planting of new churches. From this number, we have limited the areas to between 15-20, and, in accordance with the provisions of Canon 8, Section 5(b), the approval of each Regional Council is first obtained. At this point, a vicar is selected for each new plant, and a grant from the Executive Board is requested to defray expenses.

The planter, typically, is in residence in the community for a period of 9-14 months during which time he/she forms “the body of Christ” that will be the new parish. Once 40-60 people have committed themselves to the plant, the vicar may consider holding public worship. This typically occurs in a schoolhouse, a town hall, or other public building. It generally takes between 2-7 years before the plant can afford to initiate a building program.

There are three different types of plants:

1. a regional plant, where the region identifies a need and proceeds to establish the plant;
2. an apostolic plant, where a planter gathers his or her own launch team and proceeds to establish a new mission parish;
3. and a mother-daughter plant, where an established church sends out a group to become the launch team for a new mission.
   

Diocese of Virginia churches planted since 1980.

Prototypes for low-cost, multi-purpose church building.

20 reasons for planting churches.

Commission on Church Planting Core Values and roles

Power Point presentation to the 207th Diocesan Council by The Commission on Church Planting.

ECUSA 20/20 Task Force website: The 20/20 Task Force was established in the wake of a resolution passed by the General Convention of the Episcopal Church meeting in Denver, Colorado, in July 2000. The passage of that resolution committed the Episcopal Church to doubling in size during the first twenty years of the new century.

The Episcopal Network for Evangelism: The Episcopal Network for Evangelism (ENE) was formed at the Presiding Bishop's "Congregations in Ministry" conference on October 22, 1998. Its objective is to support the 20/20 Initiative. Their website includes data on Diocese-by-Diocese growth trends.