The question, “Why plant more churches in Oklahoma when we already have so many compared to other places in the United States?” has been asked more than once. In response to that question, please consider the following.

             It is easy to drive down any street in most cities and towns in Oklahoma and see churches. Some may take that information and assume that we do not need to start any new churches. While it is true that there are many states in the United States that have fewer churches per capita, the need to plant new churches still exists.

            In 1990 Oklahoma Free Will Baptists had 262 Churches while the population in the state was 3.145 million people. Currently, Oklahoma Free Will Baptists has 224 churches and the population is 3.687 million. This translates to a population increase in Oklahoma over the past twenty years of approximately 11.5%. During that same time there has been a decrease in Oklahoma Free Will Baptist Churches of 13.3%. That is a net loss of influence of almost 25%.

            It is clear to see that there is a bigger need to plant new churches than one might first see. It is also a proven fact that new churches win more people to Christ than older churches. According to Brian McNichol in his book Churches Die with Dignity, “Churches over fifteen years of age win an average of only three people to Christ per year for every one hundred church members. Churches three years to fifteen years old win an average of five people to Christ per year for every one hundred church members, but churches under three years of age win an average of ten people to Christ per year for every one hundred church members.” These two factors alone are enough to make the case for church planting but there is at least one more compelling reason. We must plant healthy, evangelistic, growing churches so we can continue to undergird our ability to send missionaries around the world. Without a strong church planting strategy at home, we will not be able to send missionaries to other places in the world.

The State Mission Board recently approved a fundraiser to help build up our Perpetual Land Fund. The Perpetual Land Fund is a fund that allows mission churches to borrow money for land or buildings interest and payment free for five years. After the five year period, the church should be strong enough to borrow the money from a bank and pay back our Land fund so the money can be loaned out to another mission work.

Two of our State Mission works are currently in need of building. The Foundation FWB Church (Grove) has outgrown the small building they currently occupy. They are in need of building a new building for growth and future expansion. Last summer this church had VBS and had 5 children commit their lives to Jesus Christ! More than twenty people have been saved in the year and a half this church has been in existence. The Epic Church (Piedmont) currently has 15 acres of land but no building on it! They are meeting in a school and are in need of a multipurpose building so they can have a permanent meeting location as well as room to do outreach events, etc.

To help raise money for our Perpetual Land Fund, we have had envelopes printed. Each pack of envelopes have 50 envelopes numbered from $1 to $50. We are encouraging churches to take one or more packs of envelopes and ask their church members to take one or more envelopes and put the corresponding dollar amount inside and turn it back in to the church. If every envelope is taken and returned, each church will raise $1275! If all 228 churches in Oklahoma would participate, we could raise $300,000! If your church would be willing to help, please call or email so we can send you a pack of envelopes.