How to Start a Church Planting Movement:
Knowing the three things that have to reproduce across multiple generations
A church planting movement is marked by one primary characteristic—multiplication. If one church plants five new churches, it is still only accomplishing addition. There can be no spontaneous church planting movement when we are just adding new churches. But if a church plants a second generation church that starts a third generation church that starts a fourth generation church, then multiplication has been activated.
2 Timothy 2:2 commands multiplication to the fourth generation. Paul taught Timothy who was to teach reliable men who would teach others. We know we are reproducing in biblical way when we see fourth generation disciples and churches.
Everything living multiplies as each generation produces succeeding generations. “Be fruitful and multiply” was God’s first command to people. To have a church planting movement in the United States we need to produce multiplication in several areas: disciples must produce new disciples, churches must produce new churches, and Christian households must produce new Christian households.
The key to multiplication in each of these areas is simple, reproducible, and effective strategies. These strategies are always geared to produce behavior in believers that will lead to multi-generational multiplication.
Pray that God will help you to be part of biblical multiplication and allow you to see fourth generation disciples, churches and Christian households.
Reports From the Field…
Church Planter Training Event at Passaic Spanish
On Saturday, August 13 about 65 people gathered at Passaic Spanish Church for teaching on starting a church planting movement. The day consisted of presentations by several speakers. David Harvey presented a summary of the Mt. Bethel Church planting system that we have learned from Bruce Bennett. Then Josh Fajardo, missionary to Spain, who is implementing the Bruce Bennett system in Spain talked about using this system among Hispanic people. Finally two people from Joel Guzman’s church planting class who have started new groups in new communities presented the work that they have been doing. We were blessed to hear these two lay people speak with passion about the ministry of church planting that God has called them to, and to hear amazing stories of what God is doing in these new churches.
We believe that God is raising up many church planters among the Spanish churches. God is blessing their emphasis on training and turning that training into a desire to plant new churches. Many lay people have been through some type of training for ministry and are now asking how they can use that to start new groups. Pray that new churches will be planted as a result of this day of training.
Thanks to Joel Guzman for translating and to the Passaic church for supplying lunch.
Church Planter Training bears fruit at El Remenete in Bronx, NY
As mentioned above, Pastor Joel Guzman has been teaching a church planter class with about 20 people attending regularly at El Remenete Church in Bronx, NY. Joel translated Bruce Bennett’s entire “Church Planting Manual” into Spanish and taught that to his group. Now Pastor Joel is taking them through the five volumes of the Omega Church Planter materials. But not only is he training people; these classes are bearing fruit. Three new churches have already been planted out of these classes and several more new groups are in the early formation stages. These materials, including Bruce Bennett’s Manual and the Omega Church Planting Course are free and can be downloaded at www.Reframeconference.com.
Church Planter Cohort continues to meet
During Reframe Conference a small cohort of interested pastors and lay people met with Bruce Bennett during meal times for some individualized coaching. This group agreed to continue to meet once a quarter for sharing and encouragement. On Thursday, August 1, 2013 this group of about sixteen people gathered at Camp Timberledge. Each person shared what they had been doing since Reframe conference to start new churches. There were reports of several new groups that have been started since Reframe, reports on training happening in several churches and identification of future church planters and the communities to which these planters will be going to start new churches. Several maps were presented with the communities targeted for new churches clearly marked. There was also good discussion and cross-fertilization of ideas and strategies that are being used by different persons. The group also talked about the purpose of this cohort gathering and agreed to continue meeting once a quarter for sharing, encouragement, and accountability. The group included pastors and lay people from the Wilkes-Barre District in Pennsylvania, from Storm Hutchison’s work in the Schyulkill County region of Pennsylvania, and from Pastor Larry Light’s church in Walton, NY.
Be With Him…
This quote is from “Discipleship Cycles,” a summary of a Church Planting Movement (CPM) by someone using the T4T system. This quote contains “No.1” on a list of eight requirements for a CPM to be successful.
“At first glance, John’s Training for Trainers (T4T) is deceptively simple. He offers no radical insights or unusual theological principles. However, if you fail to catch the hidden elements within John’s Church Planting Movement dynamite you’ll never grasp why it is so effective. Here are a few of the hidden elements that you must not miss if you want to pursue this very user-friendly methodology:
1. John is serious when he says two hours a day in prayer are necessary to be an effective navigator of Church Planting Movements.”
Or, in the words of Abraham Lincoln…
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”