What is the Church Planting Initiative?

The Church Planting Initiative (CPI) began in 1999 as a vision for planting independent evangelical churches in the UK.

CPI is a working together of four Christian organisations, Counties, GLO, Stewardship and Partnership.

Counties has a long history of supporting independent evangelists working in the UK; GLO has extensive experience of supporting independent churches and of church planting overseas; Stewardship holds the trusteeship of a number of church properties occupied by independent churches; Partnership is dedicated to serving independent evangelical churches.

CPI Strategy for Church Planting The priority need is not buildings but people. One of our founding principles is to financially support church plant workers and not to finance buildings. Another is to direct our support to independent evangelical churches characterised by a plurality of leadership, first because there has always been a church planting dynamic from independent local churches and secondly they do not have access to denominational funds.

With limited resources we have set our priorities to assist church planting:

• in places where there is little or no evangelical witness.
• by churches who themselves have a vision to establish new church plants.
• by the 're-planting' of a new church where the old church has closed and a new church has been established under a new church planting leadership.
• by providing mentoring and pastoral care for church planters and through more effective networking.
• by providing some financial support for a limited time on a reducing scale when funding permits.

So far, with God's help, we have been involved in providing financial support to a dozen church planting locations where local Christians wanted to plant a new church or to 're-plant' in a new location or in the same building with a renewed vision.