What is a church plant? 

Sojourn Church is a "church plant" or "new start-up church." 

Before launching a worship service, we decided to establish "roots" and develop our DNA. This approach can be slower growth, but establishing roots and foundations are significant for anything that you want to see develop and reproduce. 

"We're not a cult!!" has become the running joke as people hear about and are intrigued by our start-up. We purposefully started meeting in living rooms instead of "launching a worship service" for several reasons. One of which, simply being, Tulsa does not merely need just another service in another building. We want to establish the identity, mission, and vision of Sojourn by our people understanding some of our distinctives and convictions. 

A church plant is a new start-up church that usually begins when God gives a clarity of calling, identity, mission, and vision to a church planter for a specific city or people. The church planter serves as the new Lead Pastor who starts the new gospel work. 

Jesus said, "Go and make disciples of all nations," which implied the spread of the gospel into new cities, regions, and continents. The New Testament further revealed God's plan of planting new churches--local assemblies of believers--in new areas. 

Church plants and church planting movements are the most effective means for reaching unchurched and dechurched people in communities across the world. 

Church plants should not ever "compete" with existing churches...there is plenty of lostness out there for all churches! Instead, church plants should collaborate, network, and partner with existing churches to encourage them and possibly be used as a catalyst for renewed mission in those churches. Church plants also need the networking, resources and help from those existing churches to accomplish things they cannot do on their own or in isolation those first few years.