Frontier Church Planting

1. Frontier Church Planting • Early Church Planting Movement: • Lessons We Can Learn

2. What are weaiming for? • Are we hitting our target? • “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end.” Matthew 28:19-20

3. Acts 6:3-4,7 • “Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to ministry of the word.” • “And the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great man of the priests were obedient to the faith.”

5. “No person can be a great leader unless he takes genuine joy in the success of those under him.”

7. Historic Growth of Denominations During Great Awakening • Gold Rush to California • Massive population shift to the West • Regions previously unpopulated in 1776 contained 1/3 of nation’s population by 1790

8. Second Largest: Baptists • Baptists & Methodists leveraged their growth • Methodists had 30 small societies (churches) in 1776 • By 1860 had grown to almost 20,000 • Baptists continued growing steadily and passed the Methodists by 1900 with more churches

9. Growth Comparisons • Methodists had 30 churches in 1776 • Began with the fewest of all denominations but by 1860 they had grown to 19,833 • Methodists had 8,612 more churches than Baptists as of 1860

10. Denomination 1750 1850 1950 • Congregationalists: 600 1,600 3,200 • Methodists: 0 1,200 5,800 • Baptist: 200 8,600 77,000

11. A True Church Planting Movement • Between 1795-1810 approximately 3,000 churches were planted • What lessons can we learn? • Is it time for change?

12. Methodist Model:Observations • 1. Pro-Active Approach: • The circuit rider didn’t wait for a call--he looked for the people and went to them • Effective Planters are aggressive in reaching out to new people, wherever they may be

13. Methodist Model:Observations • 2. High Commitment: • Circuit riders were described humorously on days of bad weather, “There’s nobody out today but crows and Methodist preachers.” Willing to pay the price of great personal effort • Willingness to intentionally step into roles and expend their life for a great cause • “Fatigue is the price of leadership. Mediocrity is the result of never getting tired.” J. Oswald Sanders

14. Methodist Model:Observations • 3. Empowering Leaders: • Circuit riders could not pastor all these plants so usually “farmer preachers” served as under-shepherds. They are the ones who actually led the congregation.

15. Baptist Model:Observations • 4. A Holy Spirit Driven Vision: Baptists had no enduring evangelistic program until the start of the nineteenth century • 5. A Simple Process: No permission required to start a new church • No Permission Required: “farmer-preachers” just went out and did it • The calling process was based on effectiveness

16. William Miller Process,“An Invitation” • If you felt impressed that God had called you to preach you made it known to the church • You preached a trial sermon, if they approved of his “gifts” a license was then given to preach in a single church • After further trial if his “gifts” proved real and he proved even more effective he was given an even larger area of more churches • If he did not seem to improve however, he was advised to make no further attempts to preach

17. Are We Over-Protective?

18. Around the Room • How could we streamline the process of calling and ordinating pastors to lead smaller churches? • How could it impact the harvest? What problems might we encounter? • Would it be worth it?

19. What is the Holy Spirit’s role in maintaining doctrinal and scriptural purity? Acts 26:9-16 • “For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth.” 2 Corinthians 13:8

20. “New methods must be introduced. God’s people must awake to the necessities of the time in which they are living. God has men whom He will call into His service,—men who will not carry forward the work in the lifeless way in which it has been carried forward in the past....In our large cities the message is to go forth as a lamp that burneth. God will raise up laborers for this work, and His angels will go before them. Let no one hinder these men of God’s appointment. Forbid them not. God has given them their work.” Evangelism, 70

21. “There are whole families who might be missionaries, engaging in personal labor, toiling for the Master with busy hands and active brains, devising new methods for the success of His work. If families would locate in the dark places of the earth, places where the people are enshrouded in spiritual gloom, and let the light of Christ’s life shine out through them, a great work might be accomplished. Let them begin their work in a quiet, unobtrusive way, not drawing on the funds of the conference until the interest becomes so extensive that they cannot manage it without ministerial help.” Christian Service, 183

22. Paul, reporting to the council at Jerusalem: • “The liberal contributions lying before them added weight to the testimony of the apostle. The men who, while numbered among those who were in charge of the work at Jerusalem, had urged that arbitrary measures of control be adopted, saw Paul’s ministry in a new light and were convinced that their own course had been wrong, that they had been held in bondage by Jewish customs and traditions, and that the work of the gospel had been greatly hindered by their failure to recognize that the wall of partition between Jew and Gentile had been broken down by the death of Christ. AA 402

23. Observations • Methodist & Baptist churches were locally run • Leaders were empowered on the frontier to be involved in every area of church life • Church discipline, worship, preaching, and all ordinances

24. Church Growth Process • At first a few would gather for scripture readings and listen to sermons by lay ministers • Soon, a dozen or more people, or several families would gather for meetings under a big oak tree • Eventually meetings moved to the leader’s home • The group developed into a church adding singing, testimonies, children’s ministries, etc • Eventually a church building was raised up

25. From Minors To Missionaries • Those who went to the West were seeking economic opportunity • As they went they became missionaries

26. From Growth To Decline • As Baptists and Methodists and other groups eventually formalized into denominations, they often became less focused on reaching new people • Instead, more energy went into maintaining existing churches. Led to, “Why not just help strengthen and grow the existing churches we already have?”

27. From Fit To Fat? • Average Protestant congregation in America has 75 regularly participating people • Growing churches are rare regardless of size • Only 20% are growing • The other 80% are plateaued or declining

28. Healthy Choices • A “fit analogy;” what exercise is to body, evangelism is to the church? • What effect has more pastors had on the Church? • Have we become pastor-dependent, spiritually obese? • We need to practice our “push-backs” • Push back from the TV, sports, entertainment

29. Early Christian Church • Olympic Athletes: “Run in such a way to get the prize.” • “ Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” 1 Corinthians 9:24, 26-27

30. The “plecostomus syndrome” • Seeing ourselves the way we “used to be”

31. Growing Contemporary Models: Vineyard • At its peak they were planting at a rate of 75% • How did they do it? • “If you were a Christian and God had worked in your life, you had a job to do! These people might have been in church only two weeks, but if they understood their call, they knew they had something to share with everyone they met--with the whole world”

32. Contemporary Models: Pentecostal Holiness Church • 2004-2008 they planted 395 new churches • 93% of the net new members • 1998-2008 started 1,157 new churches • Averaged 115 new churches per year • 10% growth rate • Cast a vision, provide training, build a national network for pastors who want to plant a new church from and existing congregation

33. Contemporary Models:Christ the King • Started in 1999 with 134 people • By end of first year there were 38 small groups • End of 2005 they were sponsoring locally 26 services on 17 campuses in different towns with 3,000 weekly worshipers

34. The Goal • Make a model that was simple and replicable • “We’re not so much about multiplying campuses as about multiplying leaders.” “When you multiply leaders, you need more places for them to lead, and therefore more campuses.” • Leaders start a small group, start two or more small groups, and then pull them together as a church • Closely resembles strategy of the frontier preachers

35. Recruited Leaders • Simple ad: “Are you an entrepreneurial Christian leader? Ready for a new kind of church in your area? Willing to be a strategic partner to make it happen? If your mission, vision and values intersect with ours, then we’re praying that you’ll meet with us.” • Many leaders approach them wanting positions • Interviews follow; core group established • Leader is identified, coaching ensues, team is developed and then multiplies this initial group

36. Ethiopia • “After the new believers/leaders are baptized they are so on fire we simply cannot hold them back. They fan out all over the country starting Bible studies, and a few weeks later we begin to get word back how many have started. It’s the craziest thing we ever saw! We did not start it, and we couldn’t stop it if we tried.”

37. China • “Over a four-year period (1993-1997), more than 20,000 people came to faith in Christ, resulting in more than 500 new churches.”

38. Walter Allred • 713-824-1444 • wdallred@hotmail.com