Bold church planting movement is launched

ORLANDO, Fla. — He oversees a work force of 56,000 spread over 47-square-miles at Walt Disney World. His enthusiasm about the Magic Kingdom and all things Disney may only be surpassed by his zeal to expand God’s kingdom in a mammoth church-planting effort that may go worldwide.

“God’s vision is to reach the world with His gospel through church planting,” said Al Weiss, chairman of the board of Vision USA.

Weiss, the son of a pastor and church planter, worked his way up through the Disney organization in Florida. Beginning as an hourly cast member in 1972, he ultimately became president of Walt Disney World in 1994, where he directs everything from theme parks to golf courses, water parks and the Disney Cruise Line.

Weiss sees some troubling signs for the church in the United States. Each year the U.S. suffers a net loss of 2,400 churches.

“There are no churches being built in many of the subdivisions and commercial areas of high-growth cities,” Weiss said. “If there is land available, it’s out of reach for a lot of churches. It’s not considered critical infrastructure by developers.”

Additionally, church attendance is not what some believe.

“There’s a huge myth about the number of people who go to church,” said Steve Johnson, president of Vision USA. He cites a national study by Covenant researcher Dave Olson revealing that only 18 percent attend church regularly, not the 40 to 50 percent commonly believed.

“If we don’t plant churches the U.S. will go the way of Europe,” he said. “Someone has to stand up now and do something bold.”

In response, Vision USA raised $5.7 million in just six months to plant churches in the Orlando area. Its initial plan was to start 20 “flagship” churches in Orlando, purchasing 20 parcels and devoting $225,000 to salaries and start-up costs for each church.

“It seemed big but doable,” Weiss said.

Going big
Then he sensed God wanted to expand their boundaries.

“I think the Lord said: ‘I want to challenge you to do 50 high-growth cities.’”

Their new target is to raise $300 million and plant 1,000 churches in cities throughout the U.S.

“The scope has gotten way beyond what human beings could even think about and realize,” Weiss is quick to note. “God said to walk forward in faith and He will provide. That’s what He’s been doing—opening door after door and performing miracle after miracle.”

Vision USA is a multi-denominational movement birthed with initial support from the Baptist General Conference.

“We’re interested in partnering with anyone,” Johnson said, conditioned upon adherence to the doctrinal statement known as the Lausanne Covenant. “We see this as a nondenominational, non-competitive city-reaching ministry.”

One of the biggest challenges for Vision USA is to find church planters with experience.

“Our target is someone who has started a church and grown it to 1,000 people,” Johnson said. “We compensate them at the level they were earning in their last church. They don’t have to go out and raise money—we do that.”

In Orlando, they have their first five church planters identified.

“We’re looking for people with a high skill-set,” Johnson said. “The people we’re talking to are amazingly gifted and they’re surprised at the opportunity they’ve been given.”

Expanding the reach
In return for grant monies received from Vision USA, church planters are asked to give back 5 percent of their offerings to perpetuate the movement.

Weiss hopes the church planting mentality pervades the new churches, leading them to plant five more churches.

“If each one planted five churches over the next 10 years we’ll need 6,000 church planters,” he said. “There are not enough qualified church planters in the U.S. and around the world to fill the need. We realize we’ll have to have a training center.

“I don’t think financial resources will hold us back,” Weiss adds. “It’s finding the right leadership. Something very special is going on here. A lot of lives can be touched for the Lord’s kingdom. That’s why people are so excited.”

Published, August 2005

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