Prodigal Kiwi(s) Blog: CHURCH PLANTING QUESTIONS

Basic church planting questions to ask:

From the conference notes of David and Colleen Anderson & Bruce and Yvonne Morey, Canberra. The conference? The Anabaptist Association of Australia & New Zealand’s 2002 Urban Church Planting Conference (featuring Stuart Murray who will be familiar to many of you).Thanks to the Anderson's and Morey's for note-taking. I found the notes very very useful.

1. What sort of church is relevant here?

We need to go in with as few preconceived ideas about church as possible. There is no set way, and there is a need for innovative and relevant expressions of the Christian church. In addition, do not plant fast; it is a long-term work.

It is important to take a humble approach, with a willingness to learn, and to be experimental and flexible. What we need is the type of church that is relevant in the community where you are planting, rather than the type of church you want. Moreover, we should open ourselves up to the surprises of the Holy Spirit moving, rather than having a grand strategy. Church planting is to not only bring God to the people, but to see where and how God is working and join in.

Another essential question to ask is "What will the ‘Good News’ mean in our community?"

Can we tell the Jesus story in a way that connects with people - fresh, sharp, challenging? "It is our conviction that we live in a society that is heartily sick of Christianity and of the institutional church but that has yet to encounter the radical Jesus. New ways of being church need also to be new ways of telling the story of Jesus and helping people to encounter him." (Stuart Murray & Anne Wilkinson-Hayes)

Other essential questions:

Some church plants attune well to the culture, but fail to look at their theology along with their analysis of their community. Like the Anabaptists, we should "stretch" theology a bit, questioning some of the accepted concepts and developing a theological rationale for new practices.

What do we mean by "discipleship"?
What is the relationship between evangelism and discipleship?
What do we mean by "Christian community"?
In addition, the fundamental question: What do we mean by "church"?

The word "church" should be seen as dynamic, an activity, a verb rather than a noun. One definition: Church is what happens when those who are excited about Jesus meet together. Another definition: A group which is aspiring towards three essentials: mission (which involves not just conversion but also transformation to being followers of Christ), worship, and being community.

We may agree church is people rather than a building, but we need to remember it is not just people in services - it is people dispersed as well i.e. people both gathered and scattered. This requires a more holistic attitude. Church planters should not be aiming at just planting worship services. Meetings in themselves are not church.

Full notes HERE. From the website of the Anabaptist Association of Australia & New Zealand. Check out their GREAT publication ON THE ROAD - link on the left hand side of my blog