One thousand churches in ten years

The target

One thousand churches planted or measurably strengthened over ten years, assessed against approved church-health criteria.

Why this is not a counter

The obvious failure mode for a target like this is that it becomes a number on a homepage that only ever goes up. That produces two harms: churches planted badly in order to make the count, and a public figure that nobody can verify.

So the sequence is deliberately awkward. Criteria first. Verification process second. Figure third. We would rather publish nothing for a year than publish something we would have to withdraw.

What will count

The criteria are being approved by our board with church partnership input. The principles are settled:

• A supported church is not automatically a VOG church. A church that receives a documented intervention from us is a supported church. That is the honest description, and it is what we will report.
• An established church meets published health criteria. Governance, teaching, financial accountability, safeguarding and sustainability, sustained over a defined period — not a launch event.
• A plant is not counted at planting. It is counted when it meets the criteria, which takes years, not months.
• Nothing counts twice. A church strengthened and later replanted is one church.
• Partnership does not imply funding. Entering a partnership conversation does not mean a church has been approved for support or added to any count.

What will not count

Attendance at an event. A pastor on a mailing list. A church that has heard of us. A congregation whose leader attended a VOG programme, unless the church itself received a documented intervention and meets the criteria.

How it will be verified

Each reported figure will carry its evidence status: self-reported, verified by VOG, or independently verified. Where independent verification is available, we will use it and name the verifier. Where it is not, we will say the figure is unverified rather than implying otherwise.

The three routes

Partnership first

We are not a denomination and we are not planting our own network under our own name. Churches we work with remain accountable to their own leadership and structures. We do not seek members, tithes, pastoral authority or brand presence in return for support.