Last year, Eddie Johnson came to Franklin to open the new church, but he didn't intend to struggle like a new, independent business owner. He wanted his church to offer the same familiarity people get from a restaurant chain, so he partnered with North Point Community Church, an Atlanta-based mega-church.

"Just like Chick-fil-A, my church is a 'franchise,' and I proudly serve as the local owner/operator," he wrote recently on his blog, www.videochurchblog.com.

The larger church provides the brand name, and eight months later, people familiar with that brand are finding their way to Cumberland Church services. Some have relocated from Atlanta, so they know what to expect.

But it's not happening just in Franklin. North Point-branded churches are opening across the country.

"North Point is looking to plant 60 new churches by 2010," Johnson said. "That seems to be the trend. These large churches — I hate to use the phrase — are franchising. They have a brand. That's why we've been able to grow so quickly. It's the brand with North Point."

This franchise approach is gaining popularity in the non-denominational community. Just as McDonald's and Starbucks have flooded the American consumer market, these churches are looking to do the same for the spiritual market.

More franchises to come

For the last four years, an organization called Stadia has helped start about 100 non-denominational churches in North America. Bob Harrington, pastor of the Franklin-based Harpeth Community Church, works part-time as a consultant for Stadia, and he said their plan is to keep opening churches wherever there's a need.

"We don't push numbers, but at times we've hoped and prayed we can plant 5,000 churches in the next 25 years," he said. "The churches we plant, they're just trying to take the Bible to people in ways that people can relate to what it teaches and help them be better people. And unless you're an ardent atheist, you've got to believe that's a good thing."

The planting trend also is visible locally. According to phone book records, the number of non-denominational churches in Williamson County has grown from about five in 1997 to more than 20 today. Many of these churches, like Spring Hill's WellSpring Christian Church, meet in local schools and cater to those who don't normally attend church.

Organizational support

The Williamson County school system allows churches to lease school space for up to six years, and WellSpring has met at Spring Hill Elementary since it formed four years ago. But that's only its meeting space. The church owns 10 acres and a large, white farmhouse at the entrance to the Chapman's Crossing neighborhood, and about 400 people now consider themselves WellSpring members. The church was one of the first Stadia plants, and senior minister Andy Hudelson said the support helped them during those first, uncertain years.

"I think it was pretty huge because a lot of the things you have to do to start a church are not the same kind of things you have to do to be a church," he said. "Like a business, once you're a business up and running, there are a lot of things that are already in place that somebody had to do the first time. And church planting is the same way. You walk into a church and there's equipment there and people, leaders in place. Procedures and processes. In church planting, it's a blank slate, there's nothing there."

Through Stadia's involvement, Hudelson was allowed to work as a full-time, paid staff member of the church. He used that time to do everything from getting the church's tax-exempt status to creating a logo and sending out 50,000 cards with the WellSpring name to the Spring Hill community.

It begins with planter

The Harpeth Community Church, which meets at Centennial High School and is building a church on the corner of Mack Hatcher Parkway and Lewisburg Pike, wasn't a Stadia plant, but they do support the organization through Harrington's work as a coach for recently planted churches and trainer for potential church planters.

"Your typical process begins when a church, or a group of churches, decide that they want to plant a church. Then what we do is search for a planter," he said.

As the search begins, Harrington said members of the churches are asked to devote a day to fasting and prayer. That's when they'll begin submitting names for possible planters.

"Candidates are interviewed. Then the next stage is that usually you pick one or two candidates and you send them to an assessment. Top candidates must pass a church planter assessment. There have been lots of guys who have gone to assessment and not passed assessment. It's the most loving thing to do to tell somebody, 'You're not really suited to this.' "

'Boot camp' teaches skills

If potential planters pass the assessment, it's off to Church Planter Boot Camp, where they learn the less visible part of maintaining a church — the business part. Stadia takes church planters step-by-step through the process of what they need to do, such as setting up their 501 (c) 3 status.

"It keeps you focused on the people. They (Stadia) will guide them through every step of that so they can focus on the people," Harrington said.

The support continues as the new church begins holding worship services.

"The church we're planting in Murfreesboro, we plan to send out our praise teams to help when they first start," Harrington said. "Our praise teams will help with the music. We'll send people to help serve as greeters, to help set up on Sunday mornings. The churches in the network are all working together."

Support breeds success

The support is key because many newly planted churches don't survive. Harrington said only about seven percent have an attendance of 200 people within the first three years. At least 50 percent of Stadia planted churches, he said, do grow to more than 200 people in three years. Harrington said the right support and location often determine this success.

"A lot of people are wanting to plant churches here in Franklin because it's a nice place to live," Harrington said. That's not necessarily the best reason to plant a church."

Hudelson, at WellSpring, said they are targeting people who don't already have a strong relationship with God. This planted church wants to reach the broken, the people who are trying to rebuild their lives. That's the group most planted or franchised churches are going after, and those are just the people who don't often rally around building a new church.

"We have more challenges than most churches and fewer resources," Hudelson said.