Church Planting Models

Posted on November 14, 2008

There are a variety of Church Planting Models. If you think you don’t fall into one of these, you’re probably ignorant or arrogant. I wanted to break the mold when I started planting. Then, I realized that God uses all of them. All these models, correctly or incorrectly assume that the planter is gospel focused. My hope is that, by laying these out, you will get a sense of where you are and how you might need to correct in the planting process to plant a better church, to cultivate a more missional people.

  1. Program-driven: mission by program, by generation
    Southern Baptist Churches
  2. Purpose-driven: mission by purpose, by paradigm
    Saddleback Churches
  3. Community-driven: mission by people, by relationship
    House, Cell, Missional Communities
  4. Seeker-sensitive: mission by profile, by target group
    Willow Creek Churches
  5. Ministry-driven: mission by mission, by ministry
    Community Development, Evangelistic/Gatherables

Which do you identify with and why? Are all of the models missional? In what sense?

[1] Adapted from The Church Planting Village, North American Mission Board: http://www.churchplantingvillage.net/site/c.iiJTKZPEJpH/b.784555/k.D77/Church_Design_Models.htm

Lewis on Community

Posted on November 14, 2008

He works on us in all sorts of ways. But above all, he works on us through each other. Men are mirrors, or carriers of Christ to other men. Ususally it is those who know Him that bring Him to others. That is why the church, the whole body of Christians showing Him to one another, is so important. It is so easy to think that the church has a lot of different objects – education, buildings, missions, holding services … the Church exists for no other purpose but to draw men to Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any
other purpose.  – C.S. Lewis

Not sure how this quote came together, Doug? Part of it is from Mere Christianity.

Kanye West the Jordan of Music?

Posted on November 14, 2008

In a recent interview Kanye West claimed what Jordan is to basketball, Kanye is to music. No surprise from the hubris-inflated pop star. Par for the course. But then he went on to make the following claim:

I realize that my place and position in history is that I will go down as the voice of this generation, of this decade, I will be the loudest voice,” he said in an interview on Wednesday.

Kanye West–voice of this generation? What do you think?

Review of Graduation