WANTED – 1000 Reformed Charismatic Churches

Last updated on: July 6, 2018 at 10:49 am by Adrian Warnock

WANTED – 1000 Reformed Charismatic Churches 2018-07-06T10:49:38+01:00 Adrian Warnock

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

In case the title of this post completely mystifys you and you have not heard of this group of Christians, I have written previously about them in “What is a Reformed Charismatic?”

The phrase “1,000 reformed charismatic churches” has been going around in my head on and off for awhile now. Because several different applications of that number are running through my mind, I thought I’d share each of them with you here.

The first thought I had was simply this: although often considered to be a small minority, the number of reformed charismatics is increasing. I therefore wondered if there are now 1,000 reformed charismatic churches around the world? I suspect there must be. According to my interview with Terry Virgo, Newfrontiers is now nearing 600 churches, so surely there must be at least 1,000 if you add to that Sovereign Grace Ministries, Acts 29, and of course, other individual churches and networks, some of which, no doubt, I have not yet even heard about. (Incidentally, I’d particularly like to hear about any of you out there who go to a reformed charismatic church that isn’t part of one of the three groups I just mentioned—drop me an e-mail at [email protected].)

We probably can agree that there must be at least 1,000 reformed charismatic churches in the world. But are there 1,000 reformed charismatic churches in any individual country in the world? I doubt it very much. I am certain we don’t have 1,000 such churches here in there UK. I would be very surprised indeed if there were that number in the USA.

But why do I mention 1,000 reformed charismatic churches when it comes to an individual country like the USA or the UK? In the UK, Newfrontiers now has 220 churches, which because we have 60 million people, works out to one church per 270,000 people. So, along with other groups, we have made some small impact, although surely there is still much work for us to do, even in the UK. But here is where it gets interesting. A church for every 270,000 people in the USA would work out to aproximately 1,000 churches. So I guess we have still further to go in America. I suspect, however, that there are many reformed charismatic churches in the USA which are not part of any network with which I’m familiar.

But the number 1,000 is featured in other ways as well. The Acts 29 Network’s audacious goal is to plant 1,000 churches themselves over twenty years. I fully expect them to reach that goal given their current rate of growth. Also, a number of years ago a prophetic word led Newfrontiers in the UK to dare to believe God for 1,000 churches in our own nation. Within Newfrontiers meetings we often hear the challenging goal for church planting and growing large churches — “1,000 churches and churches of 1,000 people.”

Do we need lots of reformed charismatic churches? I believe we do. Firstly, we need reformed charismatic churches to show Christians that there really is a third option between arid intellectualism and brainless experiential showmanship. It’s not that the caricatures we tend to make of both cessationists and charismatics are entirely accurate; it’s just that churches that are unashamedly both reformed and charismatic can give confidence to others to make that plunge, or at least ensure they do not meet the caricature defining their end of the spectrum. I believe that it is a good thing to have different churches in any given town that can provoke each other and learn from one another.

But I also believe that reformed charismatic churches are often uniquely placed to become genuinely missional churches that can reach out and grow largely by salvation. We live in a culture that has, for the most part, turned its back on traditional church. Why shouldn’t we offer the world a church whose methods, music, style, and experience are totally up-to-date, but where the message remains old-fashioned and traditional in the sense of being solidly biblical?

One man with a vision to plant churches that will affect thousands of people is John Lanferman. He speaks of having on his laptop a list of the top 100 cities of the USA where 87 per cent of the people live. The cry of his heart is that 100 reproducing missional reformed charismatic churches be planted by Newfrontiers USA in those cities. Here’s what he said about it in an interview with me. I had asked him what a missional church was:

“A church that understands that it exists for the express purpose of carrying the gospel to the next door neighbor, to the person in the next block, to the person in the next city, state, and nation, and they exist for the purpose of being carriers of the gospel. So they are involved, not only in proclamation, but they are involved in changing the whole culture of a community. They would be people who would be involved in cross-cultural evangelism. They would be people who would be involved in changing the social justice—be involved in that ministry to the poor—so they have a desire to see the whole community that they are involved with, the towns they are involved with, changed and made into a kingdom community. It’s people who understand, “We do not exist for ourselves, but we exist for them.” So the way we spend our money, the way we staff our churches, the way our churches feel, the way they operate, have that outward appeal. And it’s a God-centered approach to humanity rather than an inward, “What about me and my needs?” It’s a man-centered approach . . . If we can get outstanding churches in each of these 100 large cities, and out from that, begin to reproduce ourselves—because I’m fanatical on reproducing churches. We must not just plant churches, but we [want to] see churches that view themselves as reproducing churches multiply themselves, raise up leaders, give themselves away, spread out in the communities and the nations beyond.”

— John Lanferman

Here is a list of those 100 cities. With the new sense of urgency in our movement following the Brighton conference, you could be finding a reformed charismatic church starting near you sooner than you think if you live in one of them. I would be only too happy to pass e-mails on to the relevant people if YOU live in one of these cities and would like to play a part in seeing this vision come to fruition. Attending one of our USA conferences would be a good first step.
Please join me in mentioning each of these cities before the Lord in prayer as you finish reading this post. May each of them soon have a reformed charismatic church. Actually, most of them will need more than one church given their size. This table shows three columns—the city, its state, and the population. In the last column, I will also gradually add links to Newfrontiers churches and church plants in these cities:

1 New York New York &0000000008250567.0000008,250,5

2 Los Angeles California &0000000003849378.0000003,849,378 3 Chicago Illinois &0000000002833321.0000002,833,321
Fusion Church, Chicago 4 Houston Texas &0000000002144491.0000002,144,491 5 Phoenix Arizona &0000000001512986.0000001,512,986 6 Philadelphia Pennsylvania &0000000001448394.0000001,448,394 7 San Antonio Texas &0000000001296682.0000001,296,682 8 San Diego California &0000000001256951.0000001,256,951 9 Dallas Texas &0000000001232940.0000001,232,940 10 San Jose California &0000000000929936.000000929,936 11 Detroit Michigan &0000000000918849.000000918,849 12 Jacksonville Florida &0000000000794555.000000794,555 13 Indianapolis Indiana &0000000000785597.000000785,597 14 San Francisco California &0000000000744041.000000744,041 15 Columbus Ohio &0000000000733203.000000733,203 16 Austin Texas &0000000000709893.000000709,893 17 Memphis Tennessee &0000000000670902.000000670,902 18 Fort Worth Texas &0000000000653320.000000653,320 19 Baltimore Maryland &0000000000640961.000000640,961 20 Charlotte North Carolina &0000000000630478.000000630,478 21 El Paso Texas &0000000000609415.000000609,415 22 Milwaukee Wisconsin &0000000000602782.000000602,782 23 Boston Massachusetts &0000000000590763.000000590,763
Abundant Church and Fenway Church 24 Seattle Washington &0000000000582454.000000582,454 25 Washington District of Columbia &0000000000581530.000000581,530 26 Denver Colorado &0000000000566974.000000566,974 27 Louisville Kentucky &0000000000554496.000000554,496 28 Las Vegas Nevada &0000000000552539.000000552,539 29 Nashville Tennessee &0000000000552120.000000552,120 30 Oklahoma City Oklahoma &0000000000537734.000000537,734 31 Portland Oregon &0000000000537081.000000537,081 32 Tucson Arizona &0000000000518956.000000518,956 33 Albuquerque New Mexico &0000000000504949.000000504,949 34 Atlanta Georgia &0000000000486411.000000486,411 35 Long Beach California &0000000000472494.000000472,494 36 Fresno California &0000000000466714.000000466,714 37 Sacramento California &0000000000453781.000000453,781 38 Mesa Arizona &0000000000447541.000000447,541 39 Kansas City Missouri &0000000000447306.000000447,306 40 Cleveland Ohio &0000000000444323.000000444,323 41 Virginia Beach Virginia &0000000000435619.000000435,619 42 Omaha Nebraska &0000000000427872.000000427,872 43 Miami Florida &0000000000404048.000000404,048 44 Oakland California &0000000000397067.000000397,067 45 Tulsa Oklahoma &0000000000382872.000000382,872 46 Honolulu Hawaii &0000000000377357.000000377,357 47 Minneapolis Minnesota &0000000000372833.000000372,833 48 Colorado Springs Colorado &0000000000372437.000000372,437 49 Arlington Texas &0000000000367197.000000367,197 50 Wichita Kansas &0000000000357698.000000357,698 51 Raleigh North Carolina &0000000000356321.000000356,321 52 St. Louis Missouri &0000000000353837.000000353,837 53 Santa Ana California &0000000000340024.000000340,024 54 Anaheim California &0000000000334425.000000334,425 55 Tampa Florida &0000000000332888.000000332,888 56 Cincinnati Ohio &0000000000332252.000000332,252 57 Pittsburgh Pennsylvania &0000000000312819.000000312,819 58 Bakersfield California &0000000000308392.000000308,392 59 Aurora Colorado &0000000000303582.000000303,582 60 Toledo Ohio &0000000000298446.000000298,446 61 Riverside California &0000000000293761.000000293,761 62 Stockton California &0000000000290141.000000290,141 63 Corpus Christi Texas &0000000000285267.000000285,267 64 Newark New Jersey &0000000000281402.000000281,402 65 Anchorage Alaska &0000000000278700.000000278,700 66 Buffalo New York &0000000000276059.000000276,059 67 St. Paul Minnesota &0000000000273535.000000273,535 68 Lexington Kentucky &0000000000270789.000000270,789 69 Plano Texas &0000000000255009.000000255,009 70 Fort Wayne Indiana &0000000000248637.000000248,637 71 St. Petersburg Florida &0000000000248098.000000248,098 72 Glendale Arizona &0000000000246531.000000246,531 73 Jersey City New Jersey &0000000000241789.000000241,789 74 Lincoln Nebraska &0000000000241167.000000241,167 75 Henderson Nevada &0000000000240614.000000240,614 76 Chandler Arizona &0000000000240595.000000240,595 77 Norfolk Virginia &0000000000238832.000000238,832 78 Greensboro North Carolina &0000000000236865.000000236,865 79 Scottsdale Arizona &0000000000231127.000000231,127 80 Baton Rouge Louisiana &0000000000229553.000000229,553 81 Birmingham Alabama &0000000000229424.000000229,424 82 Madison Wisconsin &0000000000223389.000000223,389 83 New Orleans Louisiana &0000000000223388.000000223,388 84 Chesapeake Virginia &0000000000220560.000000220,560 85 Orlando Florida &0000000000220186.000000220,186 86 Garland Texas &0000000000217963.000000217,963 87 Hialeah Florida &0000000000217141.000000217,141 88 Laredo Texas &0000000000215484.000000215,484 89 Chula Vista California &0000000000212756.000000212,756 90 Lubbock Texas &0000000000212169.000000212,169 91 Reno Nevada &0000000000210255.000000210,255 92 Akron Ohio &0000000000209704.000000209,704 93 Durham North Carolina &0000000000209009.000000209,009 94 Rochester New York &0000000000208123.000000208,123 95 Modesto California &0000000000205721.000000205,721 96 Montgomery Alabama &0000000000201998.000000201,998 97 Fremont California &0000000000201691.000000201,691 98 Shreveport Louisiana &0000000000200199.000000200,199 99 Arlington Virginia &0000000000199776.000000199,776 100 Glendale California &0000000000199463.000000199,463

Source:
Wikipedia—List of United States Cities by Population

Previous Post

July 21, 2008

SERMON - Living to Know Jesus (Philippians 3)

Next Post

July 23, 2008 TOAM08 - Summary Post and MP3 Availability

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 1 and 2 Corinthians 1 and 2 Thessalonians 1 and 2 Timothy 1 John 300 Leaders A Life of Joy Abortion Acts of the Apostles Adrian on radio Adrian on TV Adrian's Story Albert Mohler Amazing Grace Arminocalvinist Spectrum Assurance Atonement Atonement Series Attributes of God Barnabas Best of the Blog Bible Bible Software Bible Translation Biblical Inerrancy Billy Graham Bob Roberts Books C. J. Mahaney Calvinism Cessationism Charis Warnock Charismatic Spectrum Charles Simeon Charles Spurgeon Church Leadership Colossians Complementarian - Egalitarian Spectrum Complementarianism Conferences Culture Daniel Debates Deuteronomy DGM08 DGM13 Discernment Doctrine Don Carson Ed Stetzer Eddy Leo Ephesians ESV Bible Translators Interview Evangelism in a Post-Christian World evolution Exodus Expository Preaching Ezekial Faith and Feelings Family Florida Galatians General Genesis Get Wisdom - Proverbs sermons Gifts of The Holy Spirit Gifts of the Holy Spirit 2006 Global Faith Forum Godly Attitudes Gospel Gospels Grace Greg Haslam Grudem vs Piper: The Baptism Debate Healing Heaven Hell and Rob Bell Hebrews Henry Tyler Henry Warnock Holy Spirit Holy Spirit Baptism Hope Reborn Hugh Palmer Irresistable Grace Isaiah J. I. Packer Jack Hayford Joel Joel Warnock John John Lanferman John MacArthur John Newton John Owen John Piper John Smyth Jonathan Edwards Josh Harris Justification Justin Taylor Kenneth Ulmer Leadership Leadership Lessons from 1 & 2 Samuel Lex Loizides Liam Goligher Lig Duncan Limited Atonement Lou Fellingham Mark Dever Mark Driscoll Martyn Lloyd-Jones Matt Chandler Mental Health Missionary Methods: St Paul’s or Ours? My Story N. T. Wright Nehemiah NWA08 NWA09 NWA10 Opinion OT History Books Pentateuch Personal Personal Revival Philippians PJ Smyth Podcast Politics Preaching Prophecy Proverbs Psalms Raised With Christ Reformed Charismatic Regeneration Relationships Resurrection Resurrection & Salvation Revival Rice Broocks Rich Man and Lazarus Rick Warren Rob Rufus Roland Allen Romans Sam Storms Sanctification Series Sermons Sermons on Philippians Serving Jesus at Work Sexuality Sin St Paul Steve Chalke Strange Fire Suffering T4G T4G Statement TAB09 Tamasin Warnock Teamwork Terry Virgo The Atonement Debate - Chalke book The Soulwinner The Spirit-Filled Church The Traitor Within Theologcial Spectrums Theosis Tim Challies Tim Keller Titus TOAM06 TOAM07 TOAM08 TOAM09 TOAM10 TOAM11 Todd Bentley Tope Koleoso Total Depravity Video Water Baptism Wayne Grudem Worship

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 May 2025 April 2025 January 2025 November 2024 October 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 August 2023 May 2023 April 2023 February 2023 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 August 2021 May 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 January 2019 December 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 June 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 June 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Haggai" mean in Hebrew?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Festive The Rock The Lord Saves God's Messenger

Books by This Author Books by Adrian Warnock

See All Titles »