The Missional Church Planter A Guide For The 21st Century Church Planter

Planting Missional Churches is an instruction book for planting biblically faithful and culturally relevant churches. It addresses the “how-to” and “why” issues of church planting by providing practical guidance through all the phases of a church plant while taking a missional look at existing and emerging cultures.

If the church is to thrive in the twenty-first century, it will have to take on a new form as it ministers to the 120 million unchurched people in the United States. Planting Growing Churches for the 21st Century is still virtually the only available text on church planting in North America and beyond. In this third edition, readers will find material on the importance of healthy, biblical change in our churches, updated appendixes, insight on our postmodern ministry context, and strategies for reaching new population demographics such as Generations X and Y. Pastors, ministry leaders, and church planters will find the information and advice found in this book invaluable as they carry out their ministries.

Planting a church is one of the most exciting adventures you’ll ever embark on. It’s also one of the hardest. It requires initiative, leadership, strategy, systems, and a lot of prayer. In this second edition of Planting Missional Churches, not only will you find a completely redesigned book with new content in every single chapter, but you will also find several new chapters on topics such as church multiplication, residencies, multi-ethnic ministry, multisite, denominations and networks, and spiritual leadership. So if you’re planting a church, be prepared. Use this book as a guide to build the needed ministry areas so that you can multiply over and over again. For additional resources visit www.newchurches.com/PMC.

Most books on church planting offer a model for churches to replicate--usually one that is tied to a particular style, generation, or demographic. But what churches really need is a process that is flexible, not bound to a particular time or current fad. In The Nuts and Bolts of Church Planting, trusted author and church-planting expert Aubrey Malphurs shares the basic steps any church planter will need, regardless of his or her generation now or in the future. These steps include establishing values, mission, vision, and strategy reaching the community making disciples recruiting a team determining location and facilities raising money for the ministry With instant practical takeaway based on proven techniques, this book will be invaluable to any church planter.

What does church planting look like in the 21st century? Is the goal to plant more churches or is it to plant new kinds of churches? In Planting Churches in the 21st Century, Stuart Murray suggests that church planting isn't just about numbers--it's about the renewal of the church and the development of new ways of being the church that are biblically rooted and contextually appropriate. With his gift for posing thought-provoking questions while writing in a clear, logical style, Murray provides stimulation and challenge to anyone who wants to see new churches come into being. But don't look here for stereotypes and ready-made blueprints; Murray's approach is open-ended and leaves ample room for personal reflection and creative responses. "Most of the literature on church planting in North America assumes that that the Christendom come-to-us model still works. That is true for a rapidly declining segment of the population and fails to reach the growing ranks of the never-churched. Stuart Murray has provided a much needed contribution to the study and practice of church planting by addressing the basic questions: Why plant Churches? Where? When? What? Who? and What Next? "In addressing each of these fundamental questions he both surveys a wide terrain and digs deeply, drawing from his long experience with a wide variety of traditions. He also writes as a practitioner and not just a theoretician. This is not a step-by-step, how to book that you can read and set aside, but a reference book that church planters will want to turn to on a regular basis." —Eddie Gibbs, professor of Church Growth at Fuller Theological Seminary and co-author of Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures "Murray provides the scaffolding church leaders need to extend an effective and incarnational witness to the reign of God. This book is a 'must-read' for all students and practitioners of church planting. Missional leaders who long to see the church become a nesting place for all will find good guidance for aligning the work of the church with the inbreaking of God's kingdom." —David Boshart, lead pastor at West Union Mennonite Church and mission strategist Click here to read a press release about the book. Click here to read an interview with author Stuart Murray. Click here to read the foreword by Rev. Anne Wilkinson-Hayes, North-West Metro Baptist Union of Victoria, Australia. Free downloadable study guide available here.

Church planting is hard work. Planters face a thousand pressures related to leadership, finances, identity, and more. Quick fixes don't produce sustainability. How can church planters and their congregations flourish for the long haul? Sent to Flourish is a unique guide to accompany current and prospective church planters as they respond to this essential but sometimes daunting call. Theologically grounded while remaining practically oriented, it combines biblical patterns and practice to equip men and women planters to develop their own holistic planting plans. Written by a diverse team of scholar-practitioners who have planted churches in a variety of contexts, cultures, and church traditions, this book provides a tested roadmap based on Fuller Theological Seminary's renowned church-planting program. In addition to coeditors Len Tang and Charlie Cotherman, contributors include: Carrie Boren Headington John Lo Tim Morey Johnny Ramírez-Johnson Scott W. Sunquist Nick Warnes JR Woodward Every church planter needs a healthy "root system" of three interwoven components: a biblical theology of church planting, personal spiritual formation, and robust intercultural competencies to navigate diverse ministry contexts. Each section of this book delves into these areas in turn, covering topics such as biblical, cultural, historical, and contemporary dimensions of church planting the missiology of Jesus' ministry and teaching on the kingdom of God resources to sustain the spiritual formation of church planters, leadership teams, and church members how to contextualize the gospel message and planting methods in different cultures and communities Filled with real-world insights, stories, and questions for reflection and discussion, Sent to Flourish gives church planters and their teams the tools to be theologically reflective, spiritually grounded, and missionally agile.

With nearly fifty years combined global church-planting experience, Craig Ott and Gene Wilson are well qualified to write a comprehensive, up-to-date guide for cross-cultural church planting. Combining substantive biblical principles and missiological understanding with practical insights, this book walks readers through the various models and development phases of church planting. Advocating methods that lead to church multiplication, the authors emphasize the role of the missionary church planter. They offer helpful reflection on current trends and provide best practices gathered from research and empirical findings around the globe. The book takes up a number of special issues not addressed in most church planting books, such as use of short-term teams, partnerships, and wise use of resources. Full of case studies and real examples from around the world, this practical text will benefit students, church planters, missionaries, and missional church readers.