This burden began early in his ministry. Five years prior, he preached a sermon entitled “Preach the Gospel” for the purpose of stirring up men from his congregation to preach and start churches. “I have preached this sermon especially, because I want to commence a movement from this place which shall reach others. I want to find some in my church, if it be possible, who will preach the gospel.” Spurgeon stated that he would send men to start and pastor other churches until he did not have a man left. “Spurgeon encouraged his people to be out carrying the gospel on Sundays. During his career, he frequently arranged to have a group of members leave the Tabernacle to start a new church, and often one of the prominent men of the Tabernacle went with them to provide leadership” (Dallimore, Spurgeon: A New Biography, 1984, p. 137). We have never sought to hinder the uprising of other churches from our midst or in our neighborhood. It is with cheerfulness that we dismiss our twelves, our twenties, our fifties, to form other churches. We encourage our members to leave us to found other churches; nay, we seek to persuade them to do it. We ask them to scatter throughout the land to become the goodly seed which God shall bless. I believe that so long as we do this we shall prosper. I have marked other churches that have adopted the other way, and they have not succeeded. — C.H. Spurgeon from sermon no. 626, “The Waterer Watered,” delivered on Sunday morning, April 23, 1865, at the Metropolitan Tabernacle In fact, they sacrificed to pay young men to pastor congregations throughout England. “Believers — Lights in the World” was preached in 1862 and mentioned the start and financing of four churches during that year. Cheerfully you give week after week for the support of our young ministers, and I think our friends will continue to do this. At any rate the Lord will provide and friends far away may be moved to assist us. I want still more aid, for the field is ripe and we want more harvest men reap it....Four Churches of Christ have sprung of our loins in one year, and the next year shall it not be the same, and the next, and the next, if the Holy Ghost be with us, and He has promised to be with us if we be with Him. It is estimated by Doug McMasters that 200 or more churches were founded by Spurgeon, members of his church, and students at his Pastor’s College. There were over 40 of these in London alone. May God send a mighty revival of evangelism and church planting in the USA! Reseeding America – Spring 2017 3