The Orchard Group

In 1984 the Fuller Evangelistic Institute held its first "How to Plant a Church" seminar, and the science of church planting was born. Thousands of new churches were studied in dozens of different denominations. As church planters learned from one another, it became apparent new churches could be planted that would grow more rapidly than in the past. New methods of church planting were unveiled that made a real difference in the communities in which they served. .Among the innovations were the following:

Starting new churches with a multiple staff of ministers.
Using telephone calls or mass mail cards to kick off the first services of a new church.
Beginning services with contemporary music and a full children's program.
Starting a new church without a nucleus of believers from an existing "mother" church.

When Paul Williams became the third director in the history of the "Go Ye" Chapel Mission in the summer of 1989, the organization began working on church planting goals for the 1990s that included starting at least three churches utilizing the new church planting methods. A fascinating statistic drove that idea. According to Lyle Schaller, in 1970 thirty churches of fifty members each brought more people to Christ than one church of fifteen hundred members. By 1995, however, that one church of fifteen hundred members brought far more people to Christ than thirty churches of fifty members each. It was simple. Americans interested in looking for a church were being drawn to larger churches. Therefore, it seemed appropriate to start new churches that could begin with over 200 in attendance, and grow even larger.

With that reality in mind, plans were made for a new multiple-staff church in Princeton, New Jersey. The church would utilize telemarketing for their first service, and begin without a nucleus of believers. The church was started in December of 1992, and by their fifth anniversary in 1997, PCC was averaging around 300 in attendance, and was already in a beautiful 1.5 million dollar facility next to a major interstate highway in New Jersey. The church was self-supporting from the Mission within three years of its start.

The second multiple-staff, English-speaking church of the decade was another joint venture, involving the churches of New England and the Northeast, as well as East 91st Street Christian Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. CrossWay Christian church was born on October 15, 1995 in Nashua, New Hampshire, about one hour north of Boston. David Smith was the founding minister of the church. At 2 ½ years of age the church was already averaging almost 400 in attendance. They are now 100% self-supporting, and are heavily involved in planting additional new churches in New York and New Hampshire.

The third multiple-staff, English-speaking church of the 90s was begun in the fall of 1998 in Brooklyn, New York. During this time three additional New York City churches were planned for the new millennium.

Non-English-Speaking Churches

New York City is the most ethnically diverse city in the nation. With 178 different ethnic groups speaking 116 different languages, New York City is quite a mosaic. One of every two New York City dwellers is foreign-born. One of every six immigrants into the United States settles in New York.

While the "Go Ye" Chapel Mission started its first "Ethnic" ministries in the 60s, we changed the name of that outreach to "Non-English-Speaking" in the early 90s when we realized that all groups, including English-speaking Anglos, are ethnic groups. We wanted to more accurately name our outreach to newly arriving immigrants.

Early in the 90s the GYCM asked Jim Phegley to oversee our non-English-speaking church planting work. Jim had already successfully planted a Hispanic church in Glen Cove, New York, after serving in Costa Rica as a missionary for several years. After starting the Hispanic church Jim also began ministering with the English church in Glen Cove, and brought significant stability and growth to that ministry.

Under Jim's direction the Mission started additional non-English-speaking churches, including the first Brazilian Christian church in the New York City area, Antioch Christian Church.Claudio Divino, a graduate of Emmanuel School of Religion, planted that church and saw growth quickly accelerate to an attendance of 500.

As the 1990s concluded, the Mission was well on its way to its most aggressive decade of church planting ever. The new millennium would bring rapid expansion and several dynamic new churches in New York and the Northeast.

2000 - Present

The new millennium brought the birth of Christ's Church of the Valley in the Philadelphia suburb of Collegeville. Begun in a movie theater complex, the congregation experienced rapid growth from its inception, and was running over 1000 by the time it moved into its first permanent building in the summer of 2006.

The new millennium also brought the birth of Harbor of Hope Christian Church, in the northern suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts. By 2004 this congregation had beautiful leased facilities in an early 19th century mill, with granite walls, exposed beams, and the look and feel of a giant "Starbucks." In 2005 the congregation offered space to become the main office of Orchard Group.

2001 brought the birth of Journey's Crossing Christian Church in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Gaithersburg, Maryland. By its 4^th birthday the church had already started its second campus location.

2002 brought the first foray back into Manhattan, as an intern was placed in a new congregation started at "Ground Zero" called Mosaic Manhattan. The joint venture with Saddleback Valley Church and others, proved a great proving ground for the new churches to be planted in New York City during the first decade of the new millennium.

Two additional churches were started in New York City in 2005. The Church at Park Slope began in a very family-oriented artistic community in Brooklyn. Brad Canning is the senior minister of this growing church. The congregation also operates a coffee shop in their neighborhood called Postmark. The coffee shop serves as a nerve center for the congregation.

Forefront Christian Church was started on the East Side of Manhattan in the Fall of 2005. Brian Moll is the senior minister of the new church, meeting in the performing arts center of Baruch College, on 23rd street, between Lexington and 3rd Avenue. The congregation was already averaging almost 200 in attendance by its first anniversary.

During 2006 Orchard Group helped a total of 13 new churches through service on management teams, administrative services, and/or direct church planting support.

Antioch Christian Church, Mamaroneck, NY
Bethesda Christian Church, Kearney, NJ
Church! of Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY
Forefront Christian Church, Manhattan, NY
True North Community Church, Port Jefferson, NY
NorthShore Christian Church, Riverhead, NY*
Mosaic Manhattan, Manhattan, NY**
Discovery Christian Church, Cranberry, PA
South Side Project, Pittsburgh, PA
Waterworks Project, Pittsburgh, PA
Bellefonte Project, Bellefonte, PA
Journey's Crossing Christian Church, Gaithersburg, MD
Silver Spring Project, Silver Spring, MD
Community Christian Church, White Marsh, MD

* Planted through our wholly-owned subsidiary, Church Planting Services

**Orchard Group has helped to provide an intern and staff member for this congregation.

The new churches started in the Northeast between 2000 and 2006 are cumulatively averaging over 5,000 in attendance, with hundreds of baptisms during the year. Hundreds of thousands in New York City alone have been served in some practical, tangible way by one of our new churches and members of missions teams from around the country!