In March 1989, a group of 40 individuals, led by Pastor Paul Abbott, answered God's call to establish Cedarbrook Community Church in Western Montgomery County. Their mission was clear: to make disciples of all nations and baptize people in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

This legacy of faith starts before Cedarbrook's founding, as our church was birthed from another congregation with the same fervent commitment to God's mission. Cedarbrook is a testament to generations of believers who have faithfully obeyed the Great Commission.

For 35 years, Cedarbrook has faithfully ministered the gospel to with new generations and diverse cultures. However, despite our rich history, we've yet to plant a new church.

It's time to rekindle our original passion and embrace the core of our mission: to help people become radical Christ-followers, to bring the Good News, and to bridge Christ's love to those who don't know Him.

Consider this statement from Tim Keller:

“The vigorous, continual planting of new congregations is the single most crucial strategy for (1) the numerical growth of the body of Christ in a city and (2) the continual corporate renewal and revival of the existing churches in a city. Nothing else—not crusades, outreach programs, parachurch ministries, growing megachurches, congregational consulting, nor church renewal processes—will have the consistent impact of dynamic, extensive church planting. This is an eyebrow-raising statement, but to those who have done any study at all, it is not even controversial.”

From experience and research, we know new churches best reach new generations, new residents, and new people groups. It’s how Cedarbrook initial grew and continues to grow. But with the number of Christians in our area is continually shrinking, our strategy must change to continue to be mission focused.

How can Cedarbrook capitalize on this knowledge?

• Embrace a Missional Culture: We must transition from individual missional activities of service to a corporate missional focus.

• Enable Church Planting: Actively support church planters and new church starts to reach unreached people groups beyond our current capacity locally and globally.

• Foster Generosity: Cultivate a spirit of open-handed giving to revitalize the entire body of Christ in our area.

  
  

Embracing a Missional Culture

To cultivate a missional culture, we must actively engage our communities beyond the walls of the church. This involves building authentic relationships with non-believers and viewing every interaction as an opportunity to share the Gospel. Rather than solely focusing on the church as a place of worship, we must equip and empower individuals to become missionaries in their daily lives.

Goals

• Q3: Establish partnerships with other churches and organizations to expand missional impact

• Q4: 75% of church members will be able to articulate and apply the church's mission, vision, and values to their daily lives

  
  

Enable Church Planting

A church can enable church planting by actively supporting potential planters through training, providing financial resources, identifying potential new church locations, fostering a culture of outreach and evangelism within the existing congregation, and encouraging members to participate in the planting process by volunteering time and talent to new church initiatives.

Goals

• Q2: Expose the church to the necessity of faithful churches in gospel starved areas

• Q2: Identify area(s) locally and globally for Cedarbrook to plant churches

• Q3: Identify potential church planters within the congregation and equip them for the task

• Q4: Partner with established church planting networks to leverage their resources and expertise

  
  

Foster Generosity

Financial support will always be one of church planting’s greatest needs. The end goal is always for the new local congregation to become financially self-sustaining in time. In order to be a church planting church, it’s important for us hold our resources with an open hand and be ready to willingly give toward God’s work outside our own walls.

• Q3: Have a church planting seed fund as part of the budget

• Q4: Provide initial financial support to help new churches get started or offer ongoing financial assistance for operational costs, staff salaries, and ministry expenses for newly planted churches in our target areas