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| Church planting can be more closely compared to a long distance race than to a short sprint. It is necessary to make many single steps in order reach the finish line. Endurance is an imperative ingredient in achieving success. Following are 12 concise steps towards planting a church. These steps are not meant to be followed strictly in chronological order. They are to be seen as milestones in the process of planting a church. They should also not be understood as "the method" to planting a church, but rather as spiritual principles that, in differing degrees, play an important role in church planting. 1. Receiving a vision and burden Church plants as a rule, are not started as a result of a committee decision, but rather through the vision of people. Often, it is an individual, or a small group of people (eg. home group or prayer group), who have a burden or vision for a location God has laid upon their heart for the purpose of planting a church. We hear many reports, where it was the result of many years of prayer and holding fast to a vision, which prepared the spiritual soil for planting a church. 2. Imparting the vision A vision needs to be communicated in order to be caught. People of like mind discover one another. It is important that the church leadership and where possible, the whole church develop a vision for church planting. This vision must be preached and imparted, because faith grows out of the proclamation. Through communicating the vision, more people in the church can catch the vision. 3. Clarify who is responsible It is not good that any child be born without responsible parents. The same goes for the planting of a new church. From the beginning, it is important, that the church understands its responsibility if it plants a daughter church. That includes intercession, coaching, investment and the releasing of members, co-workers, leaders and finances. If one church feels overwhelmed with this responsibility, it can join together with another church in providing this responsibility. Without support, covering and protection from the outside, a church planting initiative is much more difficult. 4. The formation of a prayer ministry Because of the large spiritual challenge faced in all phases of the process of planting a church, a strong prayer support is imperative. While Joshua fought the battle against the Amakelites, Moses, Aaron and Hur were on the mountain interceding. (Exodus 17) Every church plant needs the support of a network of intercessors, in order to win the battles and experience God's guidance. A flow of regular communication between the church planting team and the intercessors is of utmost importance. (eg. prayer letter) The more feedback the intercessors receive from the church planters, the more they will identify with the project as a whole. 5. Local research The goal here is to gain perspective of the local situation through demographic, geographic, cultural and spiritual research. The following questions for example, will be considered:
6. Building a church planting team Highly dedicated and motivated people need to come along side of divinely called and enabled church planter, if the church plant is going to be successful. The team meets regularly for sharing prayer, as they seek God's guidance for the next steps. It is important that this team grows together into a spiritual unit. They carry one another's burdens, as well as protect and complete one another. In this phase, the regional GGW network, could be of great assistance in training, coaching and consulting the church planting team. 7. Evangelism From the very beginning, the purpose of the church plant is to reach unbelievers with the gospel. There are different ways in which the population can be systematically reached. For example: street evangelism, information stand, house to house evangelism, Alpha Course, teaching meetings with relevant themes, social or sport activities, children's festivals, Royal-Rangers, concerts, tent evangelism etc..... In this phase, many teams start holding regular church services. For example, they might hold a monthly evangelistic or praise service. 8. Small groups Through the formation of home groups, home cell groups or similar small groups, the fellowship with one another is nurtured. The purpose is to help one another in practical discipleship, Bible study, prayer, spiritual growth, the growth of relationships and the development of an evangelistic lifestyle. New believers are to be won and integrated into the group. It is important that leaders and co-leaders are developed and mentored, in order that the small groups can multiply as quickly as possible. 9. Building a core group With numerical growth comes the necessity of expanding the group of co-workers. A core church develops. This core group is comprised of committed members and co-workers of the future church. Ministries are developed. Eg. teaching, preaching, childrens ministry, worship ministry, counselling ministry, evangelism, administration etc. In this phase, the core values and their understanding of church life is clarified. Questions like "What kind of church do we want to be? " are clarified. Theological issues, form of worship, leadership structures etc. are discussed and clarified. 10. Formation of the leadership team Through the observation of many church plants, it has been proven true, that it is not wise to set in leaders too quickly. It is better to set a temporary leadership team in place (eg. consisting of members of the church planting team and leaders of the mother church) in order to give the necessary time for personal development and maturity. The leadership structures must be clarified with the mother church. (eg. Leadership team, leader, the setting in of elders or deacons…) Three important criteria are important in setting in leaders.
11. Clarifying administrative questions Here it is important to clarify what kind of legal structure the church is to have. For example, a question that should be asked is what criteria are necessary in order for the church plant to be considered autonomous (e.g. Number of members, leadership structure, ministries, and financial budget....). A good and transparent bookkeeping system helps to produce trust with regards to the finances and can encourage the mother church to release the daughter church. 12. Making it official Through a good public relations ministry, contacts with other churches, local politicians and the media are formed and nurtured. Suitable space will be chosen for the church services. Important considerations include adjoining space for the children's ministry as well as available parking space. In order to avoid unnecessary financial burdens in the initial stages, many church plants do without long term rental agreements or purchases. Instead, they rent available space from public institutions or hotels for their church service and meet in their homes during the week. Public officials, representatives from other churches and the mayor are invited to the dedication service of the new church. The organisation of a service to send out and bless the new daughter church could complete the initial process of the church plant. The first important milestone is reached. The church is birthed and now things really get started. Manfred Lanz, Leader of the "Church Planting Ministries" (GGW) |
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