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It is not uncommon for conservative Mennonite churches to send a handful of families to a new area in order to plant a church. I am planning to be moving in May/June as part of a church plant, and I would like this thread to be for ideas, advise, anecdotes, etc., not necessarily only for me, but for others as well, and not necessarily only by people that have done this, but also comments from people that have observed these projects.
Our church is planning to move 10 families 3 hours away to Central Oregon. One of our other churches in Washington is planning to send 8 families somewhere also, probably after school. I heard that a church in Arkansas is thinking of sending some families to Arizona for the same thing.

RZehr wrote:I heard that a church in Arkansas is thinking of sending some families to Arizona for the same thing.

Why? We barely have any anabaptist churches in Arkansas

KingdomBuilder wrote:

RZehr wrote:I heard that a church in Arkansas is thinking of sending some families to Arizona for the same thing.

Why? We barely have any anabaptist churches in Arkansas

Couldn't tell you. I thought about you when I heard about it.

RZehr wrote:Couldn't tell you. I thought about you when I heard about it.

I appreciate it. Glad to know someone is thinking about us lone Arkansan anabaptists

Arizona sounds interesting.

It blows my mind to think I am in the same fellowship as the church in Wickenburg AZ.

I'm looking forward to reading this thread. It's a blessing to see the Word of God spread by dedicated disciples.

so glad you started this thread. thank you.
looking forward to reading more+more!

Most advice I would have to give would vary depending on the DNA of your group and I don't know your DNA.
However there are a few things that could probably apply across the board.
Here are a couple...
1. Don't overtax the women and make them "hewers of wood and drawers of water". You'll want them to stay physically, emotionally, and spiritually healthy. You need them to bring life to the church and the new community.
If you overtax them and don't provide opportunities for them to continue growing spiritually, it will effect the whole community, especially their children, and you will waste a lot of time and energy.
The men and the sending church should be willing to provide/hire help for the women as desired/needed.
2. Have a plan for how to handle minority viewpoints, disagreements, and appeals that you can use whenever normal organic relationships break down. Include and agreement on what will be done if some in the church eventually no longer wish to fellowship with you. You may never need to use the plan but it is good to have it in place and that each person in the church agrees to the plan whenever they join.

You may already be doing this, but from what I have observed, it seems good for the group of families who are relocating to meet and fellowship together while still in the sending community. It seems to help the new fellowship to get off to a running start and could make for fewer surprises.

You will find an initial burst of interest in the community when you first get there. Be sure to take the time to capitalize on this to make friends and get to know people. I was involved in an effort like this and I've often wished I would have done more. After we lived there for a while, we just became a normal part of the community and we didn't have the same opportunity.