So you’re going to have a baby!

When expecting a child, families make preparations:

• Locate a doctor
• Eat right; exercise
• Find pray-ers
• Prepare the siblings
• Purchase supplies
• Paint the bedroom
• Plan for childcare
• Talk about the finances
• Tell family and friends

How might these ideas apply to birthing new congregations?


How might you be helpful to your synod or conference when a new congregation is planned?

Pray without ceasing

Prayer partners—congregations who pray every Sunday in corporate worship and individuals who commit to praying everyday—are needed and wanted for potential new congregational starts:

• that the site chosen for this ministry will be effective in reaching people;
• that a Spirit-filled mission developer be found;
• that this ministry be grounded in prayer;
• that God might soften the hearts of potential worshippers;
• that other congregations in the community be welcoming and supportive;
• that God-inspired lay leaders be a part of the core group; and
• that sufficient funding be found to support this ministry.

See www.elca.org/newstarts for a list of congregations for whom you might be praying.


Help plan new congregations:

• Offer your skills to the synod Director for Evangelical Mission,
• Pray,
• Share where you see God already at work in your community,
• Pray,
• Note the needs—spiritual, physical, educational—of your synod’s area,
• Pray,
• Make a list of the assets—spiritual, physical, human—available in synod congregations and the larger community, and
• Pray some more.