Planting Missional Churches Critique - Book Report/Review Example

PLANTING MISSIONAL CHURCHES Planting Missional Churches Church planting ministry constitutes one of the most rewarding ministries in the current era although it is the most complicated and stressful to undertake. The process of planting new churches is complex and requires extra input in terms of time, finances, and personal qualities1. Church planters do not just wake up and begin a church even if they could be having access to adequate resources for the church project; interested church planters need to posses the required traits in order to succeed in their missions. Church planting has gained widespread popularity; this popularity that creates challenges for church planters as new requirements are coming up to ensure success in the church planting endeavors. Church planters, therefore, need to undergo and pass a proper assessment test to check the extent of their preparedness2. Planters who participate in assessment are believed to make better planters and stewards of people and their money in the church. The variables that are measured in the church planter assessment include experience in the ministry, exposure to and experience in church planting, secular work experience, and long-term goals of the ministry. Experience in the church ministry is one the critical elements against which interested church planters should evaluate themselves. Experience in the ministry equips planters with desirable knowledge and skills for starting and running a church organization. Church planters who are equipped with knowledge and skills in the church ministry have the potential to develop an accurate strategy for the execution. A proper strategy is the primary ingredient of successful church planting processes. Church planters are required to recruit people who have participated in church ministries, as they understand critical elements of church development and management. During the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, the profile of a church planter in terms of skills and experience was not as strict as it is currently. Personality tests, church planting assessments, and sophisticated church planting ministries that never existed have been devised to test the church planters in terms capabilities to begin and run churches. Exposure to and experience in church planting is another subset of assessment that church planters are required to undergo before they embark on church planting activities. A number of people involved in church planting have began to realize that the fundamental elements of church planting are not just funding, location and oversight; the vital element is the person who has been chosen as a senior minister of the church3. This process begins with selecting and recruiting the most suitable people who have experience in church planting. The church planter must demonstrate ability and exposure to matters of church planting before getting people who can buy into their vision. Secular work experience is vital for church planters since it exposes them to the other side of the world apart from religion. Not all jobs church planters can do, but there are secular jobs available for church ministers. Secular jobs enable church planters to earn extra money in order to make ends meet4. This is desirable as long as the secular job does not interfere with the sole duty and progress of church planting. However, there are some jobs that church planters cannot, especially those that contradict the Christian norms. If the congregations who are opposed to such jobs realize that the church planter is doing such works, they may develop a negative attitude to the church and avoid it altogether. Jobs that Christian morality rules out include porn production and assassination. Secular market is where Christians belong to since they are not meant to constitute an isolated sub-culture. Experience in desirable secular jobs is vital, and should constitute one of the elements of assessments criteria that church planters undergo. Church planters should focus on the long-term goals of the church ministry. Competitive long-term goals of the organization maximize the ability of the church planter to attract and retain a dedicated congregation. A devoted church planter should cast the vision of the church widely such that whenever people in their network are discussing about evangelism, discipleship, and mission, they refer to the church of the planter5. Church planters who are consistent in casting their vision in helping people to see how church planting fits into the mission of God have higher chances of survival in the ministry than those who do not focus on their vision. In addition, casting and communicating a wide vision of the church not only creates partners for the church team, but also mentors future church planters. Church planters can ease work by recruiting and empowering other people such as pastors, seminary professors, missionaries, and denominational workers as they crucial in casting the broad vision for the church planting. Book Critique Stetzer, Ed. Planting Missional Churches. Nashville, Tenn: Broadman & Holman, 2006. Summary the reading The book, Planting Missional Churches by Stetzer, comprises of twenty-nine chapters that stresses the need for positive acculturation and intentionality in the ministry. The book gives practical advice across all aspects of the church planting process. Throughout the book, Stetzer describes the purpose and critical goals of church planting endeavours while consistently supporting his methodology as far as church planting is concerned. Stetzer begins his book by explaining that the primary objective of missional church planting is to reach as many people as possible. The aim of seeking to reach people, according to Stetzer, is to assume a collective responsibility in glorifying God, growing His Kingdom and developing His Church through accumulation of converts. These tasks involve touching, winning and returning God’s lost people to the Ministry. Stetzer further explains the role of the church as a place for exalting God, edifying believers, and evangelizing the word of God to the whole world by use of hearts that have been empowered by prayer, the Holy Spirit and Jesus’ presence. Stetzer describes the basics of church planting and supports his suggestions by referring to various biblical scriptures. The structure of the church the larger part of the Stetzer’s Planting Missional Churches where he focuses on the church planters and the process of church planting. Stetzer focuses on church planting in relation to critical requirement of church planters, leadership, and lay leadership; these elements lead to building of church planting teams. Stetzer discusses the necessity of focus groups in missional churches and evangelism. Church structures, especially in the form of small groups and Koinos are emphasized in the book. Stetzer further focuses on the importance of finances, worship, spirituality, post-launch growth and continued church planting in the church ministry today. Critique the text The text by Stetzer is filled with spiritual and personal insights that are vital for both current and prospective church planters. Apart from his experience in church planting, Stetzer’s book commands close attention to readers. Stetzer concentrates on positive aspects of church planting such as methods, obstacles, international considerations, and ways of dealing with diverse cultures. Methods of church planting proposed by Stezter are practical. He recognises the existence of church planting models available in the scriptures together with the early New Testament church planters such as Paul, Peter, Philip, and Timothy. From these models, Stetzer discusses effective methods of planting churches that can meet the current day needs. In addition to teaching people how to plant churches, Stetzer explains to them important church matters such as expository preaching, ample leadership, and styles of worship such as Bible Studies, Koinos and small groups. Another major issue that Stetzer deals includes obstacles that may hinder the progress of church planting, their sources and ways of dealing with them. He also recognises that new churches are prone to dangers caused by two extremes of irrelevance and syncretism. Stetzer describes the concept of intentionality of evangelism and church planting. He recognizes that intentionality is evidenced by the way church planters build beneficial relationships with the prospective members of the church. The suggestions Stetzer offers for building the church are characterised by practicality and thoughtfulness evidenced by reminding planters that a planter is called by God, Jesus commands the church planting initiative and the whole process of church planting is for the Lord. Culture consideration is a critical aspect in church planting since planters deal with people from across several cultures. Stetzer gives a great deal of information concerning culture and suggests resources and tools for planting churches, either domestically or in a foreign country. Church planters must adapt to Postmodernity culture without compromising the message since in every culture, there are elements that need to be adapted, adopted and rejected. Stetzer, however, seems to be emphasising on effectiveness when evaluating the merits of various models; this implies that the ultimate measure of success in the mission is effectiveness in reaching the people and saving them. This leads to the assumption that models of church planting are evaluated on numerical terms. Stetzer concentrates on productionist outlook considering the way he tries to give the number of people attending churches in North America. Stetzer warns people against the danger of unspiritual pragmatism, but succumbs into it by believing that church planters have the responsibly of advertising and promoting their churches. Evaluation of the Text Stetzer’s book has greatly added to my understanding of the subject of planting churches by exposing me to the models of church planting, ways of dealing with diverse cultures during missional callings, necessity of coming up with a clear and wider vision for the church , church planting obstacles and techniques of overcoming them. I also learnt that the concepts of advertisements and promotions of the church are crucial since people cannot be aware of the existence of a church without communicating to them. The text by Stetzer makes immense contribution to the modern church ministries as it enables ministers to identify the postmodernist cultures and ways of tailoring the church services to meet its needs. I would recommend this text to religious students, prospective church planters, current church planters and all church leaders since it is worthy to understand the concepts of the book to understand the whole process of church planting. Bibliography Roberts, Bob. The Multiplying Church: The New Math for Starting New Churches. Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan, 2008. Searcy, Nelson, and Kerrick Thomas. Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch. Ventura, Calif: Regal Books, 2006. Stetzer, Ed. Planting Missional Churches. Nashville, Tenn: Broadman & Holman, 2006. Hesselgrave, David F. Planting Churches Cross-Culturally North America and Beyond. Grand Rapids: Baker Pub. Group, 2000. Read More