Church Planting Emphasis Sunday: More churches needed to counter the secular tide -

By Brandon Elrod

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Oscar Ortiz was not worried that his new church was still young, still growing. He and his congregation knew that their neighboring town of Loíza, Puerto Rico, needed a Gospel-preaching church.

Though the congregation only had 27 members, they began praying for help reaching the community, and God answered in the form of Send Relief ministry teams who were helping homeowners rebuild in the aftermath of destructive storms.

“There are so many lost people in Puerto Rico,” Ortiz said in a recent story. “We have to start more churches, and it amazes me that even though our church plant in Río Grande is still small and new, we’re already able to be a part of that work.”

As volunteer mission teams with Send Relief, Southern Baptist’s compassion ministry arm, repair homes in Loíza, Puerto Rico, they’re helping church plant missionaries Oscar and Wendy Ortiz take the first steps toward planting a church there one day. “We didn’t know anyone in Loíza,” Wendy says. “But Send Relief coming in has really helped us build relationships.” (Photo credit: Ben Rollins)

What’s true of the need in Puerto Rico is true of North America.

Between 1972 and 2022, the share of Americans who identified as Christian dropped from 90 to 64 percent. The last half century has seen the United States and the rest of the continent secularize at an alarming rate.

One of the key methods of reaching the lost in North America is to raise up, train and send out missionaries who reach the lost, make disciples and plant churches. For Southern Baptists, Church Planting Emphasis Day is Sunday, March 22.

Thousands of churches have already been collecting funds for the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American missions. Along with encouraging donations, churches can also discover ways the North American Mission Board (NAMB) comes alongside pastors and churches to help them discover, develop and deploy the next generation of church planting missionaries.

Noah Oldham, executive director of Send Network, which is NAMB’s church planting arm, has described the need for more churches to partner in the effort to plant churches. “NAMB doesn’t plant churches,” Oldham said, “churches plant churches.”

To see approximately 2.75 million people reached through church planting in the next decade, Oldham wrote, “we must significantly grow the number of partnering churches in the Send Network family from the 4,500 we have today to 9,000 in the coming years.”

Ryan Burge, a researcher who specializes on the impact religion has on American life, warns in his published work that he expects Christianity will continue to decline. The demographic surveys indicate that younger generations are less religious than their parents and grandparents.

The spiritual soil in North America has grown harder in the last 50 years.

During the most recent Send Network Orientation held at the North American Mission Board (NAMB) March 3-5, 2026, 170 recently endorsed church planters walked through the values that drive Send Network to plant churches everywhere for everyone. (Photos credit: NAMB)

“Hard soil does not intimidate the Lord of the harvest,” Oldham said. “The story of Southern Baptists is not merely institutional – it is missional. It’s the story of ordinary churches and ordinary Christians, in ordinary places, watching God do extraordinary things as we keep sending.”

Despite the challenges, there have been signs of renewed religious interest, especially among younger people: the “quiet revival” in the United Kingdom, Gen Z leading the way in church attendance, and increased Bible engagement among millennials and Gen Z.

Southern Baptists in particular have seen year-over-year increases in baptisms for the first time in decades, hitting highs not seen since 2017. In regions outside the South where Send Network has concentrated their church planting efforts, Southern Baptists have gained ground.

New England Southern Baptists saw an increase of 10,000 people attending worship over the last decade. Churches in Ohio gave to the Cooperative Program in record numbers in 2025, and Michigan saw baptisms increase by 15 percent.

“Though we’ve faced strong cultural headwinds, now is not the time to let up,” said NAMB president Kevin Ezell. “We must continue coming together, to rally around the mission of fulfilling the Great Commission in North America and beyond.

“Newer churches bring a sense of urgency that generates more opportunities to engage their neighbors, but healthy, established churches are where missionaries are raised up and sent out to engage in those church planting efforts.”

Send Network provides an established pathway for churches and individuals to join in the work of reaching North American through planting new churches. Visit https://www.namb.net/send-network/get-involved/.

Elrod writes for the North American Mission Board.