IN BRIEF . . . short articles in their entirety from various ASCP fields
Saturation church planting requires ministry that is focused, fertile, and fast! Such qualities raise questions. Where will leadership come from and how well can leaders be trained in such a short time? How can evangelism and discipleship take place so effectively? Where will the finances come from to support the ministry? These and other questions were raised whenScott Friderichand I (both of the ASCP's Regional Resource Team) visited three churches in North centralKazakhstan in March. All three churches have leaders with less than one year of Bible school training . . . two leaders entered ministry less than 12 months after coming to Christ, and one began to pastor just 13 months after conversion! What kind of ministry philosophy generates such results? Are there not serious problems in these churches or at least a serious shallowness of faith? Some common ministry of philosophy threads run through all three churches . . . For the most part, evangelism and discipleship take place relationally and individually with the support of small (but strong) house groups. House groups are discipleship, worship, and ministry centers, and each owns its responsibility to evangelize its part of the city. Generally, a new believer will visit a house group before coming to the larger corporate church gathering. Potential leaders are those who show signs of transformation. They are trained to lead small groups that grow by evangelism and discipleship (nine months of Bible school training is offered to leaders with the greatest potential). House groups take the vision of planting churches seriously and sometimes become the foundation for a new church. Most leaders have been believers for less than 3 years, but they are committed to the activities and values of the Great Commission. Immature and/or fleshly behavior does express itself at times, but the focus is never compromised. In the last eight years, 35 people have been sent out to serve other churches as pastors or on leadership teams. Except for a few stipends, the churches require no regular financial support from outside the country. They are driven by multiplication and not by resources or facilities. How can we assist these churches to become even more powerful without causing dependency? How can we help these churches without removing the struggles that God may be using to strengthen their faith? How can we resource them and not inhibit their ability or passion to reproduce their ministry? David Toth,
ASCP Regional Resource Team
IN DEPTH . . . more extensive articles found via link to the ASCP website
For more from Neil Cole, check out his book Cultivating a Life for God:
IN PLAY . . . articles which encourage interaction on various topics related to SCP
by Scott Friderich Scott Friderichis Research Consultant to the ASCP (sent by Perimeter Church) and an integral part of its Regional Resource Team inBudapest. Along with conquering virtual civilizations and devouring books on history, Scott is passionate about training national church planting researchers. In AprilScott helped complete a research project for the Antioch Movement in Ukraine. To learn more about Scott's convictions on the value of research and church planting, follow this link to his article Research with Feet. Click here to interact with Scott Friderich on this article.
UPCOMING EVENTS Alliance Field Leaders' Consultation
Featuring David Garrison, author of Church Planting Movements More details to come...
ANNOUNCEMENTS Omega Course Giveaway Because of the popularity of Omega Course (practical training for church planters) in electronic form, the ASCP must liquidate its paper stock of English manuals (five-manual sets). The ASCP offers these manuals for FREE if you will pay the actual shipping/handlings costs to your USAaddress. You may even request whole cases (approximately 15 copies of one manual). Consider receiving and storing extras for your own at-cost distribution. Please contact Christine Powers at Bible League, to arrange payment
and shipping; The same offer applies to other ASCP hard copy resources, Prayer that Strengthens and Expands the Church and Mentoring Guidelines for Church Planters. Click here for more information on these resources.
Questions? North America Field
|
Homepage | Who We Are | What We Believe | Where
We Work | Prayer Requests |
