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Multiplying Leaders ****
A survey of
the Bible with regard to salvation history repeatedly
demonstrates that when God works to deliver He first raises up a
deliverer. Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Josiah, Ezra, Nehemiah,
and ultimately Jesus are examples of this principle. Leadership
is foundational.
My father was a high school
teacher and coach. One of the maxims he often repeated was that
you could not coach talent. Only God can produce talent. All
we can do is refine it. He used to say, “boy remember this, a
nag ain’t never won the Derby”. Dad was right, and the same is
true for church leadership. If God has not called and gifted a
person they will be ineffective in leadership. No amount of
training can cause one to be a person of supernatural influence
whom God’s people are drawn to follow (the churches would be
well served if District staff spent 99% of the time devoted to
leadership identification, recruitment, and development).
“How shall
they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall
they hear without a preacher?” A core value of this
multiplication ministry is that there will be no launch without
a leader. The
manifestation of a church planting evangelist is the first step
in launching a new evangelistic outreach.
Recruitment
Recruitment is solicitation. Recruitment is
two-dimensional.
1. The first dimension is
mandated by Matthew 9:36. God must be the one to raise up
workers, and Jesus commanded us to pray for such. The
specific types of laborers for which we must pray are leaders
who can influence unbelievers and believers, otherwise called
church planting evangelists.
2.
The second dimension of recruitment is our
responsibility. As leaders are identified, we must be temporary
assistants of the Holy Spirit to help them confirm God’s call on
their lives. God uses leaders to call leaders. Isaac and
Jacob, Eli and Samuel, Samuel and David, David and Solomon,
Jesus and Peter are all examples of such.
God’s role
as recruiter is the first step of leadership development. Our
role as recruiter’s is to confirm those that God has anointed.
Identification
Identification
is talent scouting. It is discernment that is supernaturally
enabled. Leaders can recognize leaders. In our case there are
two primary ministries involved in this work:
District staff and local church
pastors.
1. Both district staff and local church pastors must
constantly have their “antennas up” on the lookout for potential
leaders. Quite simply put, leaders have followers. Without
integrity a leader is a despot, with integrity a leader is a
servant. Who are those men who exhibit Godly character
qualities and who have a healthy influence for Christ on others
(to often our leadership identification has been limited to
Christ like character without consideration of the persons
leadership abilities which has led to frustration and
ineffectiveness)?
2. Once potential leaders are
identified they need to be assessed. Assessment is especially
necessary as not all soul winning church leaders are necessarily
church planters. The typical (not necessarily universal)
assessment process is: A preliminary IDAK interview, formal
assessment with Dynamic Church Planting International, Director
of Church Planting (DCP) recommendation, and District
Superintendent (DS) appointment.
We will continue to run on this track. However,
regular exposure to other tools will be sought. Additionally,
the National Church Ministries Director of Church Planting (NCMDCP)
office is in consultation with recognized authorities in this
field and is in the process of developing a more extensive C&MA
assessment. I eagerly await its completion.
Training
Training is
skill enhancement. It is notable that Paul’s words in II Timothy
2:2 are set in the context of leadership training. Paul was
writing to his young disciple about principles of church
leadership. This should remind us that leaders need to be
trained and ultimately everyone needs some one - on - one
training.
1. All church-planting
evangelists will need to be official workers with the C&MA.
Having passed muster with the L&O committee one assumes that
theological competency based on adequate study and training has
been determined.
2. After appointment by the DS
church planters will be given the Self-Study Church - Church
Planters Tool Kit in preparation for Church Multiplication
Training Center Boot Camp. After completion of boot camp they
will be assigned a mentor and a coach and hopefully networked
with a New Church Incubator Group (Tran denominational).
On-going resources such as the Church Planting Institute at
Toccoa Falls College (TFC), and other specific training (based
on specific ethnic needs, skill development, etc.) will be
recommended on an as needed or desired basis. The one - on -
one mentoring and coaching will be evaluated on a yearly basis
to determine its duration.
Implementation
Recruitment
Obey Matthew 9:36 and regularly
pray for God to raise up leaders by including prayer for each
pastor to catch the vision of multiplying their effectiveness by
discipling and sending leaders.
Poll pastors
to determine their strategy for leadership development,
especially those who have a proven track record in multiplying
leaders.
Network with
affiliated and sympathetic Colleges and Seminaries to identify
potential church planting evangelists.
Have church planters set goals
and strategy for leadership multiplication with results included
in monthly ministry reports to the district office.
As churches
consider multiplication keep the Antioch principle (giving away
your best leaders to plant daughter churches) before pastors
Identification
DCP get
training to improve his assessment skills.
Develop a
pool of pre-qualified candidates that can be resourced by
churches looking to daughter.
Training
Insist that every church planting
evangelist be exposed to some specialized training (that
outlined above or it’s equivalent).
Survey
church planting evangelists regarding feasibility of a retreat
for them and their wives, for the purpose of mutual edification,
encouragement and leadership development.
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Multiplying
Disciples ****
An analysis
of the Great Commission passages shows that the first step of
discipleship is conversion and there is no conversion without
the preaching of the Gospel (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke
24:46-48; Acts 1:8). Furthermore, (as stated in the previous
“Biblical Order) for Paul and his companions preaching the
gospel to the unreached was the tool that Jesus used to build
His church in each community.
Our district
has made a commitment to planting evangelism based, conversion
growth congregations. I wholeheartedly affirm this emphasis.
Healthy pre-natal, conception, and post-natal church plants
should be conversion growth churches. Current statistics
indicate that approximately 1% of US congregations are
conversion growth churches. So, the priority for every
church-planting evangelist will be the ministry of evangelism,
and each church will seek to grow by conversions verses
transfers from other local congregations.
Furthermore,
it is my personal conviction that the strategy stated and
practiced by Paul “to the Jew first . . .”
is still valid. Therefore, an effort will be made to avail every
church in the district with an opportunity to attend a seminar
on Jewish evangelism led by Alliance Jewish Ministries in
addition to other personal evangelism training.
Implementation
As Director of Church Planting (DCP)
to “practice what I preach” and make a priority of living an
Eternal CPR lifestyle on a weekly basis, and “do the work of an
evangelist . ..”
A history of
and commitment to the ministry of personal evangelism must be
primary criteria for assessing church planting evangelists.
Using the criteria that a vital
witnessing opportunity is using the name of Jesus in a
significant way in a personal conversation, require each church
planting evangelist to set goals for a number of personal
witnesses per week with monthly accountability.
Explore opportunities with
existing church pastors to evaluate their congregation’s
evangelistic effectiveness, and make sure they have a strategy
to reach their Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria¼
Challenge every congregation in
the District to have: A personal evangelism training event or
program annually (Jewish Evangelism Seminar, Eternal CPR,
Operation Good News (OGN), Evangelism Explosion (EE), etc.); and
at least one major evangelistic outreach event per year.
Where geographically possible,
the District would encourage zones to work together with
community-wide outreach.
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Multiplying Churches ****
To
paraphrase F.F. Bruce regarding New Testament believers and
baptism, “the New Testament knows of no such thing as an
unbaptized - or unchurched – Christian”. Acts 14:23 shows that
the first thing Paul and his co-workers did with new disciples
was to congregationalize them.
Christianity is a team sport.
Furthermore, it was through the local church that leaders were
identified and commissioned. It was the church at Antioch that
established Paul as a leader and sent him to the “uttermost
parts”. At the heart of God’s plan for world evangelization is
the local church, and multiplication is the method. Note that
in addition to the church at Rome, many of the seven churches in
Revelation 2 & 3 are not mentioned in Acts as planted by Paul.
Obviously, someone other than Antioch or Jerusalem was sending
out church planting evangelists. Local congregations were being
multiplied as they obeyed the Master’s mandate.
This leaves
us with an intriguing question for the contemporary North
American C&MA church:
_ •
if we agree that the world
evangelization is our priority, if we agree that multiplication
of disciples is the Master’s Plan;
_ •
if we see in Acts that as the Gospel was preached and disciples
made Jesus multiplied the churches; if we agree that we are
responsible for Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost
parts; Why are so few of our churches reproducing? The answer
to this question is the key to mobilizing our churches for
multiplication.
_ •
Does Jesus hold you responsible for seeking lost people in your
geographic sphere of influence?
_ •
Is there a generational, ethnic, socio-economic or cultural
group within your church’s sphere of geographic responsibility,
which your church is incapable of assimilating?
If so, then
your church is fertile for conception and reproduction.
Obstacles to
churches planting churches are many. But the most obvious has
to do with vision and sense of need. If we can identify those
Unevangelized People Groups in our Jerusalem, Judea, and
Samaria, and remind ourselves that Christ holds us responsible
for their evangelization, and understand that each church cannot
possibly address all ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic needs
- church planting sells itself.
It is really
quite simple. The only way we can effectively evangelize the
Ohio Valley District is through the manifestation of a
multiplication movement. Unilateral, District initiated church
plants have been the norm and should be the exception.
Reproduction is Biblical, it is efficient, it is cost effective
(daughter churches require much less funding because resources
from the mother lessens start up costs), and it is the quickest
way to reach the unreached, finish the task, and Bring Back The
King. Unilateral, District initiated church plants have been the
norm and should be the exception. Reproduction is Biblical, it
is efficient, it is cost effective (daughter churches require
much less funding because resources from the mother lessens
start up costs), and it is the quickest way to reach the
unreached, finish the task, and Bring Back The King.
Implementation
Every pastor
(or if applicable zone) to identify:
The
geographic boundaries of their Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria and
the UPG's within those boundaries
The ability
of the existing congregation to reach identified groups
Based on the results, evaluate
willingness to lead their congregation to daughter an
evangelistic church planting outreach using one of many
available models
Organize
Parent Church Networks (PCN’s) for those churches responding
with intentional plans for evangelization.
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One Ministry ****
