New Starts: Growing Christ’s Church Where People Live and Gather
Faith thrives in community. Church planting is about creating places where seekers find Jesus, believers deepen in Him, and neighbors experience belonging. It’s a partnership between God’s Spirit and believers equipped and sent in love.
What We Believe:
God builds His church and delights in its growth.
New starts amplify witness in unchurched areas and diverse contexts.
Churches grow not just numerically but spiritually and relationally.
Practical Pathways:
Vision casting and prayerful discernment
Community assessment & engagement strategy
SEED model: Service, Evangelism, Discipleship, Deepening community
- Adaptive models like multi-site, bi-vocational, or house church approaches
Who This Is For:
Pastors exploring new work
Leaders discerning community needs
Churches seeking to extend their reach with Spirit-led purpose
Next Steps:
Explore tools & training for strategy
Begin with prayer, listening, and community research
New Starts in the SED!
This is a process adopted by the LCMS to help guide the concept of a new start into a full start up!
This helps us track the new starts in our own district as we set a goal of 21+ New Starts over the next year. This is including, churches, mission sites, schools. and the like. All for the purpose of connecting people with Jesus!
Below you can see a list of our current new starts and where they are at in the process.
If you have any questions about these new starts, or would like to support, or even join them, please reach out to Yared Halche, our Director of Witness. yared@se.lcms.org
Concept
- Laurens, SC, New Church Plant
- Hope Wake Forest, New School, NC
Feasibility
- Lutheran Mission Start, Silver Valley, NC
- New Thing – New Mission Initiatives, Towson, MD
- On the Rock – All Nations, Silver Spring, MD
- Women Empowerment Outreach, North Carolina
- Vocation Outreach, Silver Spring, MD
- New School Start, Washington, DC
- New Church Start – Chesapeake, VA Community of Hope
- New Church Start, Harrisburg, VA
Planning
- Oromo Lutheran Church, Charlotte, NC
- Spartanburg, SC – New Church Plant
- Urban Mission Bible Study, Martinsville, VA
- Ethiopian Outreach Ministry, Ashburn, VA
- Women Outreach Ministry – African Immigrants, Bowie, MD
- Faith and Work, Baltimore/Sandtown
- Ethiopian Family Outreach, Falls Church, VA
- Women and Mother’s Outreach, Glen Burnie, MD
- Oromo New Mission Start, Woodbridge, VA
Start-Up
- All Saints New School, Charlotte, NC
- New Church Plant, West Jefferson, NC
- Redeemer Elementary, North Chesterfield, VA
- Hilton Head, SC – New Church Plant, CrossWaters
- Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Gastonia, NC
- Living Hope, Triangle, VA
*Names of new starts and the phase they are in may change