Main Takeaways

Chapter 1: Basics of Church Planting

1. Planting a church should have a missional goal to reach the field around it and to addapt it’s approaches while maintaining its theology.

2. Church planters can often be energetic entrepeneurs but should not lose touch with the fact that their jobs are one of spiritual direction. Christ and discipleship must remain front and center.

3. There are a plethora of mindsets as to why some are nay sayers to new church starts, but new church starts are now and historically essential to effective evangelism. It’s a biblical method that works. Some reasons for objection: 1. A bigger church is better, 2. One denomination per area is enough to reach all the different people groups, 3. The pastor has to be a legit professional, seminary trained (not so!) 4. We need to work on the dying churches instead, 5. This area/nation/city is already evangelized.

Chapter 2: Redeveloping a Missional Mind-set for North America

1. The North American church has put contextual relevancy in the church above transformational impact. It’s a “come and see” attitude above “go and tell.” There is emerging, and needs to continue, a missional movement outward into the culture of our own zip codes. We are a missionary wherever we go and everywhere is God’s mission field. We still need a good balance between being culturally relevant and biblically based (churches can relate to the world but have strong basic tenets of the faith). “liberal” churches are all contextualized, no transformation. “Conservative” churches can’t tell the difference between the liberal churches and the ones who are balanced, while their own traditions are actually a form of traditional/cultural contextualization, void of biblical fidelity.

2. Be a body of people sent on mission. Don’t try to bring the past back. Bring the Gospel into the present. (Acts 17:22-23)

3. In the reformation Protestants put a lot of attention on Catholics and de-emphasizing apostolic succession. Ironically, the Catholics were so focused on missions they were effectively reaching the ends of the earth. Showing that apostleship is more than a position – it’s a posture. The reformed lost touch with teh God who sends.

4. Churches should be “indigenous” – they should look like the people they are serving. Change is used by God to move us forward, but change is resisted. We need to be able to change and adapt. Be careful to exegete the culture. In looking to be culturally relevant a church can become bound to the cultures that are not Kingdom cultures.

Chapter 3: The Biblical Basis of Church Planting

1. The Great Commission pattern – was given to disciple and baptize new believers. This task was given to churches. Believers understood they too were part of the Great Commission and so went outwards and also founded churches. We are coming into and continuing the work of Jesus. The command is to go to all nations – but these nations are made up of many people groups, families, . . . and even hobbyists like bicyclists, liberals, and conservatives. . . Repentance is also highlighted – the cross should be the only stumbling block to the unsaved and unchurched. From Jerusalem to the ends of the earth – [upholding God’s promises to Israel] but also moving from one’s hometown outward.

2. Many churches are calling the righteous rather than the sinners. . . but heaven rejoices when the sinners come home. Having a theology of harvest.

3. Imitate Paul: 1. Prepared by God for ministry in training and connection to God and in stepping out with a teachable spirit and a holy lifestyle (2 Cor. 2:7-9; Acts 9:20-22, 11:25-26; 1 Thess 2). 2. Evangelist (Acts 9:19-22, 16:25-33, 13:44, 14:1, 19:9-10), 3. Entrepreneurial leadership who had a vision and call from God and selected the people he wanted on his teams and was not afraid to ask others to make sacrifices, received precise directions from God, established his church planting pattern (Acts 9:15; Rom 15:20-23; Acts 16:2-3, 15:38, 14:23, 18:19, 19:22, 16:6-10). 4. Was. a team player (Acts 13:1-5, 15:40, 16:6, 20:4), 5. Pioneer who took risks for God (1 Cor. 9:19-21, Rom 15:20, 11:1; Acts 13). 6. Pastored/shepherded people and invested in people’s lives (Acts 20:31, 1 hess 2:7-11; Acts 14:22; 2 Tim 1:2). 7. Empowered others by delegating leadership and training leaders (Acts 16:1-3, 13:13, 21, 14:21-23; Titus 1:5). 8. Committed tot he Gospel even at the cost of extreme sacrifice, never gave up, and maintained a thankful attitude (Acts 14:19-20, 16:25; 2 Cor 11:23-28). 9. Able to let go of a church plant to move on to plant more (Acts 18:9-11, 20:31, 19:10, 20:32; Acts 17:14, 13:6-12, 13:1-4).

4. Church Planting in the book of Acts in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and in the World can be demonstrated from it’s origin, functions, growth, organization, church plan, and more. See pages 48-50 for a detailed breakdown.

Chapter 4: Models of Church Plants and Church Planters

1. Church planting can look many different ways. Generally, there are three models. The first would be an apostolic harvest church planter, like apostle Paul, who goes to various places to plant a church and a lay church member becomes the pastor. The second would be a founding pastor model where the planter becomes the longterm pastor and sponsors new congregations. Usually this pastor does not have a strong gift mix for church planting, but is high in shepherding. Still, all churches should have a model to grow outwards and produce new church starts. An entrepreneurial planter / church founder can be restless and not have the patience for formal training. They are criticized for starting ministries and building them up only to leave 4-5 years in to start new ones. Though statistics show that pastors who stay with churches long term, these entrepreneurial pastors are essential for kingdom growth. The third model is Team Planting where a group works to plant a church, kind of like Paul with the companions he travelled with who would help him in ministry.

Chapter 5: What Makes a Church Planter?

1. The only qualifications we see in the Bible for a church planter is “evidence of the grace of God” (Acts 11:23). 
2. Typically individuals planting churches is rare to find in the New Testament, outnumbered by teams. Lay people made up these teams, so it is a ministry for laypeople as much as it can be for pastors. As for a pastor or elder, they certainly were part of the early churches and the requirements for them were godliness and an ability to teach. So, laypeople can plant and bring in a pastor or serve as pastors. Agencies and Denominations also plant churches and sometimes churches become mother churches to daughter churches. Though sometimes issues of control exist, there is no evidence that it is discouraged and the church of Antioch was a multiplying church and a sending church. 
3. Church planting is a unique gifting o people that tend to have passion and burden for outreach, have spiritual gifts of the Spirit, have entrepreneurial abilities, have a personality type, and have experiences to assist in his or her ability to do a church plant. 
4. The Ridley Assessment is a study developed to determine how many people succeed in church planting. The thirteen behavioral characteristics are: 1. Visionary abilities to imagine the future or dream, 2. A self starter who is intrinsically motivated, 3. One who instills in others a sense of responsibility in ministry (reproduces leadership), 4. Who relates to the unchurched and breaks barriers with unchurched people, 5. Has a marital partnership in a balanced ministry with family life and agreement, 6. Effectively builds relationships and can take initiative and build deep relationships, 7. People who are committed to church growth values to increase the number and qualities of disciples, 8. Responsive to the community and is able to adapt ministry tot he culture to reach outwards, 9. One who uses the giftedness of others and releases others to minister on the basis of their spiritual gifts, 10. A starter who is flexible and adaptable and can adjust to change, ambiguity, shifts, and handle multiple tasks, 11. Builds group cohesiveness and is able to bring a group to work collaboratively and can handle disunifying situations, 12. A starter who is resilient and is able to sustain himself or herself spirit, soul, and body through life’s seasons, 13. One who exercises faith and can translate convictions into misery
5. Taking an assessment can help a church planter understand aspects of church planting that will need extra attention. It can be done at a Church Planting Assessment Center.
6. Other than these, there is in 1 Timothy 3 a certainty of calling, a call to a certain people group, and an extraordinary faith.
7. Some wrong reasons to become a church planter: a strong desire to preach but no opportunity, a frustration because you can’t do what you want to, a lack of invitation to pastor an established church, a strong individual spirit who wants to prove himself or herself, through desiring experience to practice ministry, or delusions of grandeur in pursuit of one’s own reputation or ego. 

Chapter 6: Church Structure

1. A church structure or government has to come into account, not just the messaging. Huge adjustments later can really shake up a church’s confidence and create divides
   
2. Church structure shouldn’t be the main focus, but following God – still a church needs structure. Some options are: 1. Elders where there is a plurality of governance with no chief leader, 2. Pastors and elders where the pastor is a first among equals, a pastor and board where the pastor is a leader but looks to the board to share in leadership and decision making. The board can be made up of deacons or elders, 3. A Pastor where only one pastor is followed and who makes the decisions. There are inherent dangers to this but some texts can be interpreted to support it. An obvious one is that, if anything happens to the pastor the church may not be equipped to move forward. 
   
3. Scripture references: John 17:23; Acts 14:23, 20:17, 28-32, 21:18; 1 Cor 11:17-18; Gal 610; Eph 4:3; 1 Tim 3, 4:14, 5:1-2, 17-19; Titus 1:5-9; James 5:14-15; 1 Peter 5:1-5
   
4. Let the purpose of the church shape ecclesiology to keep order and yet not be the center of attention. 
   
5. 1 Tim 5:17 not all elders both teach and preach and pastors are described as shepherds. Peter called himself a fellow elder. Some in church leadership should function as teaching pastors. Moreover, Peter remind the elders that they are shepherding God’s flock – not their own. Deacons serve in assisting the church do ministry and can be translated as servants. It’s a ministry role to oversee the church’s ministry outwards and should have a certain lifestylee and behavior . Paul greeted deacons as leaders of the church and they serve under the leadership of the church’s pastor-elders. 
   
6. Some use neutral terms instead of pastors or elders or deacons, like “admin team” or “ministry leaders”. They may make people think of the church as a business because the Biblical terms emphasize the call of God and biblical models. On the other hand, neutral names are more understandable today as they are associated with various denominations or may not have any association. Some recommend using terms that are formed by the cultural context. Recommendation of the author is to work it out and use the biblical terms. 
   
7. Call out in a new church plant who the pastor-elders are and lay pastors so there can be proper accountability and effective leadership.

Chapter 7: Planter-Pastor Leadership Issues

1. Not all church planters are naturally prayerful, leading them to moments of desperation in prayer . . . so they should keep their own spiritual formation and soul care at the front of the line. Administration can usually take 10 hours a week and ministry 15, but in the beginning a church planter may not have the resources to offer counseling to so many people and should be realistic with where they are at as a church and when they can offer more resources or be a resource.
   
2. Establish and remember when your “ebenezer” call came from so when tiredness, fatigue, and culture shock sets in you can remember God is committed to, and started this work. Also keep a strong support group around you who can support you.
   
3. Having strong leaders in your life to keep you accountable and have deep relationship will cause you to be healthy and cause the church to be healthy as well.

Chapter 8: Involving Lay Leaders

A new church will need many lay leaders to give leadership to many aspects of church life including a children’s ministry, evangelism department, a welcome coordinator, a spiritual gifts mobilizer, and especially a pastor. Make sure not to throw anyone into any leadership role and only move forward with the ministry or department as you are able to train up and place leaders.

The five key leaders Stetzer names as being essential to a new church start are: 1. The pastor, 2. The worship leader, 3. A pre-school children’s minister, 4. An assimilation coordinator, 5. An evangelism networker, 5. A spiritual gifts mobilizer, A welcome coordinator, and 6. A financial organizer.[1] The pastor’s job is to be a visionary, charismatic leader and although other giftedness is helpful, other leaders in his team can make up for his weak spots. The worship leader should be able to help form a worship team who can create meaningful, structured, and appropriate encounters with God.

 The preschool children’s minister should give child-care to preschoolers in a professional, safe, and secure manner. The assimilation coordinator is in charge of intentionally helping visitors and members of the church get more involved in the areas of ministry, small groups, relationships, and serving. The evangelism networker is to focus on outreach to the lost and unchurched and to also equip the church to reach the lost. The spiritual gifts mobilizer helps assess the spiritual giftings of people in the church and get them plugged into ministries where they may serve according to their giftings.

The welcome coordinator helps those who come through the doors feel at home and wanted along with helping them with basic assistance, such as finding a seat or the bathrooms. Finally, the financial organizer is a capable person who safeguards and manages the finances of the church. Ideally, he or she should work within a system of accountability.

There are resources to test what giftings people have in your congregations. Like purposedriven.com, networkministries.com, placeministries.org, or lifeway.com

Chapter 9: Understanding Cultures and Models

Churches are typically made up of various demographics, but demographics tend to over simplify people. A better way to understand the people in your congregation is by their generation and upbringing. For instance boomers are more diverse and are known to be the most educated generation, and yet many had absentee fathers. They have been through a few wars. They are less formal and enjoy practical living and emphasize worship.

Chapter 10: Church Planting in Emerging Culture

While cultures are changing a church must remain focused on being missional. This will mean rejecting some cultural things and keeping others, while understanding the root of what makes a new emerging culture different. What are the underlying values? A church cannot become post modern or move with the times, however it is important to not pretend that a new generation does not exist. Instead, it is likely that new churches will emerge from this culture with methods and music styles and messaging that speaks to the heart of these cultures. Postmodern cultures have veered away from large narratives to small ones. Truth for this small group over truth for the larger group. Evangelism becomes an attempt to persecute. They want to see Christ lived out in a humble way with visual and compelling worship that is personal, vunerable, experiential, and real. A church manifests the love of God within community that provides a safe place for people to seek God.

Chapter 11: Choosing a Focus Group

Looking to save the entire world is a very large task. Although a church fellowship can be of every tribe, tongue, nation, etc., it should also have a community focus that it can actually execute. It needs to learn about these people and what would help them be brought into church community and what would hinder them. How do they think, what music do they like, what is their lifestyle like? Still, not all felt needs are true spiritual needs. Focusing should not create an exclusivism, but it should help create true, effective outreach.

The first of six actions identified by Stetzer for “missionizing the unchurched,” is to identify people who are receptive. By identifying the people in the church plant’s community who may be receptive of an invitation, the planter can implement a plan of reaching out to them. For instance, the church can purchase the information of address of those who have recently moved into town and reach out with a letter to welcome them. The second action Is to have informal discussions with those who do not attend church. This will help inform the church planter about what kinds of experiences members of the community has had, or what they wish for. Thirdly, Stetzer says, “when all else fails, ask, then listen.” An affirming way to conduct missions among the unchurched is to listen to them without a pretense or answer. Sometimes people just need to feel valued and heard instead of given answers, invitations, and solutions.

                  The fourth action point Stetzer names to missionize the unreached and unchurched is to find opportunities to meet the needs of the community. This may look like offering classes or pastoral counseling or recovery ministries. Ultimately, this is an effective invitation for those who have needs to find that Jesus is the answer. A fifth point Stetzer makes is to pay attention to what kind of music the people enjoy and what plays on the radio most. It may be best to implement this music style into the worship. Finally, and lastly, Stetzer names considering the styles and values as a way to reach the unchurched in a community. Being aware of trends, social activities, or political issues can help the church planter create strategies to reach the unreached.

Chapter 12: A Church Planting Fault Line

There is a movement that may be going on currently where more and more Christians are living a missionary lifestyle and are not attending traditional church structures. Non denominational ties are growing and may be creating more and more house churches. More churches are closing in America. While Scripture does not change along with having a covenant community, true meetings, biblical leadership, and preaching, the equation of a pastor + program + building no longer = church. Instead of starting with a church vision and then planting, a Planter should start with the people and allow it to organically grow into a church, whatever it may look like, while keeping biblical standards.

Chapter 13: Missional/Incarnational Churches

The 411 NYC is a church planting movement whose focus is on outreach to the community. They are experiencing many churches grow out of this movement because missionaries see themselves in positions right where they are at. Their main focuses are how to pray for the people they are doing outreach to, what are the spiritual strongholds that they face, where is God already moving among them, and what real charity is needed?

A missional/incarnational church both moves outwards and beckons the unchurched to come in. They both operate as a church and as a system of sending, where members regularly interact with the world around them. They are not confined to the four walls of a building and are able to both spread the Gospel and spread church planting because of the vastness of their impact and presence in the communities around them. In contrast, the evangelistic/attractional church assumes that people will come to their church based on it’s mere existence. Evangelism takes place within its own culture and does not effectively engage the wider cultures or communities. Bringing the power of an entire church community into effective evangelism, rather than the “lone crusader,” is the new way forward according to Stetzer.

Chapter 14: Koinos Churches

Koinos churches emphasize one on one relationships and are typically Christians sharing all things in common under one roof. This even happened during the Jesus Movement. As a missiologist the author doesn’t see it as the most effective model to reach the lost but sees that it does have potential to do so. Some call this into focus in talking about a “third reformation” of the church. Biblically and historically Christianity thrives in home churches but they are still should be able to meet in larger gatherings when possible. The Koinos churches do not get larger, they expand outward into other homes. They are more unique than house churches, and Frank Viola describes about 11 streams that can describe what makes up a Koinos church. It is truly a church though it can face some challenges. It often has a refreshing outlook on living out simple faith.

Chapter 15: Evangelism in Church Planting

Be intentional by having strategies to reach the lost both outside and inside the church. If church members bring in a lost person the church ought to already have some way of reaching and discipling them in place. The Engle scale has a good way of determining where a person is at between evangelism and true converio. From awareness of God but not the Gospel all the way untol Repentance, faith in Christ followed by a lifetime of growth in Christ. An effective evangelist can recognize where a person is at in coming to faith. However it is more linear and less helpful sometimes than the Gray Matrix which shows how much knowledge or lack of knowledge someone has in respect to either an open or closed attitude. This can help inform our approach. The Stetzer Evangelism Journey helps people journey along a path of understanding who Jesus is and their need of salvation which can come out of misperception into a journey or else into rejection. It can be applied to many different backgrounds and religions and is an attempt to improve the Gray Matrix and teh Engle scale. On the other hand, bringing already churched people into a new church is easier which can kill a church’s impact in evangelism. There are many ways do conduct evangelism and a team should come together to strategize for the specific field in front of them.

Chapter 16: Developing a Launch Team

Develop a core who can help with the start up of the church for perhaps six months. These are temporary volunteers that can be reached in a wide variety of ways from advertizements, to door to door asks, or from one’s own connections. Having this core team called a “launch” team can help people understand that they are temporary for when they leave, so no offense is taken.

Chapter 17: Small Groups

Small groups are a healthy part of every church where members can be truly known and grow in faith in community that is tighter than a large church service can allow. This time can be a Bible study after a time of worship with prayer and discussions that are facilitated. Don’t rush to delegate until trust is built with each leader, and yet do this early on so that people know that the pastor is not the sole go-to person. There can be a main group that models the study and groups that grow out of that only when necessary rather than recommended. Multiply with excellence and meaning where people with spiritual giftings can be most nurtured.

Chapter 18: Funding and Handling Finances

God has the cattle on a thousand hills, but many church starts have no money because they ask not or they ask amiss (James 4:2-3). There are many ways to raise funds for the initial church plant including having a fundraiser for people to pay for the stamps for the vision to be shared with networks, talking to donors, teaching biblical stewardship to the congregation, or even by getting a job. Safeguarding funds is extremely important and it is ideal to have a treasurer and financial secretary where one can cash checks and the other can write checks. Checks make it possible to maintain a good record as well.

Chapter 19: Choosing a Name and Logo

A church name should convey it’s theological meaning, commitment to reach and serve, its reliability. The word church is more recognized than mission, chapel, or fellowship so its best to not use a neutural term. Include “church”. A logo will give a very strong impression so take care that it communicates strong and important emotional and intellectual responses from the community. Consider how it will look on a wide array of products like door mats, envelopes, and transportation. Likely it won’t be that great to unbelievers, but at least it doesn’t have to be a deterrent.

Chapter 20: Finding a Meeting Place

Ultimately, all church or worship services and gatherings will need a building of some sort, but the possibilities are almost endless. People can meet in a house or rent spaces in various businesses from movie theaters to hotel conference rooms. You can continue to rent or you can buy a church with cash or with a loan. Maing sure that no more than 1/3 of its weekly income goes towards these costs. There are programs for buying used church equipment. A church doesn’t need to be a brick building on acres of land – and in some cities this would be impossible. Ultimately, the place God provides is a gift for ministry.

Chapter 21: The Launch – Birth of a New Church

Announcing a church launch before regular services begin, you can advertise in various ways. Mailers with options to get in touch are a good way, while emails and phone calls may face alot of rejection and can be offensive. The launch shouldn’t be a crowd that is more than 10x the size of your core, because it can have a deflating effect.

The book does not discuss using social media, which is a great way of using a core team and media team to bring awareness.

Chapter 22: Worship in the New Church

Some seeker friendly churches cater to the unchurched by having Sunday services aimed to be very friendly to newcomers, and having a more mature service in the middle week. Better yet, each church service should be God centered and empowered. True worship is part of evangelism and a perfect Gospel presentation doesn’t necessarily bring in more believers than a normal church service that they may be visiting. Also consider developing themes and teachings that can be foundational to unchurched people and having your services cater to the unchurched. For instance, some worship songs can be very confusing to the unchurched and be distracting.

Chapter 23: Preaching in the New Church

Good preaching is given up to be more relevant and friendly. A preacher does need to be able to speak to botht he churched and unchurched, but the word should be biblical in its principles as well as rooted in the story of redemption. Theological truths and revelation married to application and relational application. Biblical preaching is expositional preaching where there is presented the meaning of the passage. Ultimately, this should proclaim the truth to people. The most common types of expositional praeching are verse by verse, thematic, narrative, and topical (least recommended). Good sermons have a clear purpose, are memorable, have illustrations, and are encouraging. It’s also very important to allow the listeners to shape the message, to have their current thoughts or traumas inform the message (say when there is a national tragedy for example).

Chapter 24: Spiritual Formation in the New Church

A person who has been successfully assimilated into a new church plant should have a good handful of friends and acquaintances, be apart of a small group, should be in touch with their spiritual giftings, and should be giving tithes (among more characteristics identified by expert Win Arn). Discipleship and Christian habit building should be deeply wihting the church’s culture. They can be discipled by the environment or even by a program. A nonsequential discipleship strategy happens when the church encourages church goers to get involved in all aspects of worship, ministry, evangelism, education, fellowship, and missions. Some attendance will be lost with high expectations and commitment but these churches can expect more from theri members. For those who are spiritual infants, a regular church service cannot disciple them totally. They will need more support and instruction than on Sunday. Having a fundamentals course for this purpose is great.

Chapter 25: Growth in the New Church

When a new church grows it can be challenged by those within the church who now have their own vision for the church despite the work that the core team has put into it. This is unavoidable, but what is key is to keep the entire church understanding the vision and given opportunities to work towards that vision.

Chapter 26: Children in the New Church

Even if a children’s ministry cannot be an immediate priority it should be planned for. Kids should be in a safe environment with safe and trustworthy, professional protocols. People who serve must have background checks and there should be alot of communication with parents about the snacks given, etc. When kids get picked up the typical questions asked will be if they had fun and what they learned. The time spent with kids should ultimately be to disciple them closer to Jesus in a way that is engaging and fun for them.

Chapter 27: Congregational Formation

Develop a Statement of Faith anda. Constitution that can express the beliefs and values of the organization. Make it a non profit to encourage giving and get a nonprofit bulk mail permit before your first mailing. Getting it incorporated an protect you from lawsuits. Otherwise, the ministers and officers can be personally responsible. Insurance for liabilities, vehicles, misconduct, etc. should be explored.

Chapter 28: Churches Planting Churches

There are many reasons why a new church should sponsor a daughter church including reaching the unreached, meeting other group needs in the community, and to glorify God. To become a sponsoring church you can take a series of steps that can ensure the smoothest transition into building it up. Most importantly the mother church should be directly involved in finding and assessing the church planter