Why

* A Gallup poll estimates the American unchurched population is 195 million (making the U.S. the third largest unchurched nation in the world)

* No county in America has a greater percentage of churched people today than a decade ago.

* Half of all churches last year did not add one new member through "conversion growth".

* North America is the ONLY continent where Christianity is NOT growing!

All New Testament churches exist to fulfill the Great Commission and Great Commandments. The difference in Discovery is the generation God has placed us here to reach. Our target is all of postmodern culture of South Jersey that has little or no understanding of God. Not many churches are structured to meet that group of people.

In fact, instead of reaching the unchurched, most churches start and experience most of their growth as the result of church splits or transfers from other churches. The pollster Barna says “4 out of 5 churches grow by taking people from other churches.” That’s not what Discovery is all about!!! Our rallying cry is, “working as a team to turn irreligious people into fully devoted followers of Christ.” That demands that we reach the crowd that sleeps in on Sundays.

Now I don't say this with a judgmental spirit, I say it with a spirit of sadness, deep sadness: The average church on the corner of Elm and Main Streets, scattered all over the Western world and even all around the world, the average church is mainly captured with the idea of just protecting and taking care of their own congregation, the already convinced, just kind of making sure existing sheep stay in their pens. Most evangelical churches do not target irreligious people - they cater to the already convinced. That is a fact supported by the language of the sermons, the music, the Sunday morning topics and the percentage of budget and outreach that goes toward reaching their area as well as the world.

Don't believe me? I challenge you to take a look and listen at your church this Sunday. Examine the words to your music, look at your budget, listen to what the majority of discussion at your leadership meetings are centered on, listen to the language of your sermons, study the list of your last 20 visitors, look at your communication pieces - then ask yourself, who are we really reaching here? The average church is structured to reach the already convinced.

But Discovery doesn't want to be just an average church. The target Discovery is called to reach and then teach is the unchurched. We want to reach irreligious people! We are not about stealing people from other churches. Jesus said we are to be “fishers of men” not swappers of fish from aquarium to aquarium. We are not looking to borrow believers from other churches, we are looking to attract those that slept in and missed church. We need multiple churches to do this. In fact, we could put a church on every corner and still not do the job! 40, 60, 100 churches would only begin to do the job of reaching the unchurched as well as teaching and discipling believers.

The latest demographic study has shown that approximately over 377,000 people live in a ten mile radius of where Discovery-Swedesboro / Mullica Hill will meet. Most of these people are unchurched. Even though many unchurched people are spiritually hungry, they are mostly biblically illiterate. Many of them are families with young children, for whom they wish to provide a solid foundation. Many are spiritual seekers wondering about truth. Others are believers wanting to grow deep and discover “life to the full” as Jesus described it. Some are wealthy. Some struggle to make ends meet. Some are highly educated. Some are not. Some are young. Some are less young or quite older. We all share one thing in common: we are pilgrims on a spiritual journey during one of the most complex and amazing and exciting times in human history. We need vibrant, relevant churches to steer us toward the right destination.

Third, we believe the best way to reach these 377,000 people and get them to visit Discovery is by invitation. Friends invite friends! While we have many attenders who drive from these communities to one of our current campuses. While these people are just fine driving to Discovery, they are finding that their unchurched neighbors are much less likely to accept an invitation to drive up congested 295 or Rt 322 to Evesham or Washington Township . This new launch places Discovery right in the middle of one of the fastest growing areas in South Jersey , a short Sunday drive from Mullica Hill, Swedesboro, Woodstown or Pennsville. It's even within driving distance of Delaware or West Chester .

Fourth, there are many churches structured to the 19th century or even the 20th century. We certainly aren't saying such a structure is wrong. It takes all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people. Your church reaches people Discovery can't. At Discovery, we stand here on the edge—at the dawn of the 21st century. We hear the voice of God, and are captivated by the call to be a group of churches for such a time as this. We are called to structure ourselves to reach the 21st century.

Finally, since the average church size in America stands at 100 it seems to me we could use not just a few more churches, we need a lot more!

At Discovery we dream of being part of something earth-rocking. We believe God is going to do it…one more time – this time in Swedesboro / Beckett / Mullica Hill. How will it work? We've prepared and planned but only God really knows for sure, but we can’t wait to find out!

Woolwich Township. Why in the world would we want to launch another church (we call it a “campus”) in Woolwich? Things are just getting nice and cozy where we are. Well, here are just a few reasons...

3. Woolwich is the fastest growing county in the Northeast. There are only a few churches in Woolwich and only a small percentage of people attend these churches. We have more people and less churches!

* A Gallup poll estimates the American unchurched population is 195 million (making the U.S. the third largest unchurched nation in the world)

* No county in America has a greater percentage of churched people today than a decade ago.

* Half of all churches last year did not add one new member through "conversion growth".

* In 1950 there were 17 churches for every 10,000 Americans, in 1996 there were only 11 churches for every 10,000 Americans

4. Launching gives us a chance to establish new life and to break new ground. You are a cultivator and gardener of spiritual life. Launching is the Great Commission at its best!

5. New churches tend to grow much faster than older churches. 4 out of 5 older churches have plateaued or are in decline.

6. More people get to exercise their SHAPE (see Class 301) as they contribute to growing a new church.

You can see why one of the driving forces at Discovery is to launch new churches! We need to reach the world we live in and new churches do just that. Most of all, churches are the best way to reach people and lost people matter to God (get the point?)