Contemporary Church Planting Models
The following church planting models expressed in modern terms are still bible- based.
A. Program based strategy which focuses on the the following items:
youth, children, music, mission, men, women, social service in addition to evangelism and discipleship
B. Purposed based church planting strategy concentrates on outreach, worship, fellowship and discipleship
C. Seeker's based strategy targets specific seeker population and responds to their needs
D. Ministry based penetrates into a particular community; influences their lives and draws them towards the gospel of Christ
E. Relation based strategy- this new one attempts to solve the riddle of preaching the gospel
- the assembling of the saints
- the creation of single cell or house churches
F. Affinity based strategy eyes
- specific group/ population
- based on their ethnicity/ language
- world view
- socio economic factors
- life time preferences
Essence of Church Planting Strategy
Church planting strategy has the concept of " pushing the frontier of the kingdom beyond its present location to achieve the following purposes."
1. Assembling the saved souls
- there is a need to form a Christian community as brothers and sisters
- there is a unique bond towards achieving spiritual growth
2. Caring for one another spiritually and materially, Acts 4:34-35
- easier to teach them when gathered in one place
3. apostolic teaching/ discipleship, Acts 2:41-42
- they experience spiritual growth and spread the gospel
4. Congregational worship/ prayers, Acts 4:31
Relevance of Paul's Church Planting Patterns
1. His focus on large cities and towns had a great impact on the diverse communities
- center of activities, Acts 1:6-18; 2:1-41
2. He contextualized the gospel which was vital in reaching various communities
3. He established house churches as proven in the following references:
Romans16:5; I Corinthians 16:19; Philemon v.2 and Colossians 4:15
Conclusion
In a nutshell, church planting can be stated as " harvesting, warehousing disciples for refining, equipping them so that they become tools for evangelism and spiritual harvesters!"