English
Português
Español
Français
Answer
The Association of Related Churches (ARC) is a church-planting organization based in the United States with branches around the world. The nondenominational organization has planted over six hundred churches while partnering with hundreds more.
ARC’s strategy lies in starting big by offering church planters funds and support to launch large initial gatherings. Through the support of ARC, church planters are given training and resources to successfully launch new churches.
The Association of Related Churches began in the year 2000, founded by six pastors. According to their website, the venture began when Pastor Greg Surratt of Seacoast Church in Charleston, South Carolina, told his congregation that he felt they were supposed to plant two thousand churches. Surratt, however, did not possess the knowledge of how to do so.
Meanwhile, church planter Billy Hornsby had been in ministry since 1975. Hornsby possessed significant experience in church planting, having worked with churches across Europe, then returning to Louisiana to serve as a pastor at Bethany World Prayer Center, where he launched hundreds of small groups and trained churches in cell church ministry.
Hornsby considered Surratt’s church a good model to be emulated. Thus, when Rick Bezet and Chris Hodges of Bethany World Prayer Center set out to plant churches and needed both funds and a workable model, connections were made. Surratt offered Bezet and Hodges each $25,000 and any money they might need to meet their budgets for the first year. The two planted their churches in February of 2001.
As part of the church-planting strategy, these two churches were instructed to recycle the same amount of funds used to plant their churches and use it to plant new churches, starting a chain reaction of churches funding churches.
Greg Surratt, Billy Hornsby, Rick Bezet, and Chris Hodges were joined by Dino Rizzo and others.
Scott Hornsby and five others became the founders of the Association of Related Churches. Billy Hornsby served as the organization’s president from 2001 until his passing in 2011.
ARC experienced significant growth during its initial decade. Initially, only a few churches were established annually in the early 2000s. By 2008, this number had increased to twenty-five, reaching an average of fifty by 2009.
In 2012, Surratt assumed the role of president of the Association of Related Churches. Subsequently, the Billy Hornsby Center for Church Planting was inaugurated in 2015 as ARC’s hub for recruiting, interviewing, and training church planters for the organization’s global ministry.
As a non-denominational church-planting entity, ARC does not present an elaborate doctrinal statement. The Statement of Faith is concise, primarily centered on the principles of the Nicene Creed and the infallibility of Scripture. It includes a segment emphasizing the importance of monogamous heterosexual marriage and the acknowledgment of only two genders. Notably, the Statement of Faith does not touch on topics such as baptism, women in leadership, communion, predestination, or other denominational distinctions.
The Association of Related Churches does not exert authority over its church plants. As of 2021, the homepage of ARC’s website clarifies, “New church plants and existing churches partnering with ARC in planting churches are legally autonomous, led independently, operated separately, and solely accountable to their leadership, distinct from the ARC organization.”
Presently, the Association of Related Churches continues its expansion and church planting efforts. ARC offers substantial resources and training for both new church plants and existing congregations. ARC Global supports international church plants, while ARC Women provides assistance to women in ministry and pastors’ spouses.
The methodology of the Association of Related Churches diverges from traditional church planting practices in several aspects. Typically, church planters commence with a small group gathering in a living room or similar setting and then aim to expand gradually. In contrast, the ARC strategy involves starting on a larger scale, with ample opportunities for growth.Of funding and other resources, with the idea that the immediate momentum will help the church sustain itself.
The general nature of the ARC statement of faith may be problematic. However, each church is unique, and each one needs to be examined on its own merits. For anyone who is searching for a home church, here are five principles to follow:
1) Choose a church where the Bible is taught correctly and thoroughly (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
2) Choose a church where Jesus Christ is honored, and the gospel is central.
3) Choose a church where the people strive to love and serve one another.
4) Choose a church where the pastor is authentic and loves his congregation.
5) Seek God’s wisdom «If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. », (James 1:5) and pray for a church home.
