Church Planting

Chapter 2 is intended to be a primer for laypeople on a number of basic dynamics of church planting. As this book is less about church planting than it is about church planters themselves, this chapter provides a brief introduction to the contemporary history of church planting as a phenomenon. Drawing primarily on secondary sources, the chapter will give context to the issues raised in the rest of the book. Some of the basics of church planting—why denominations do it, forms church planting takes, the various customer bases for new congregations, and how new church plant locations and names are chosen—are described as well.

Supporting indigenous women missionaries An alternative paradigm for mission in the barrios of Tijuana

An alternative paradigm of mission that involves providing support to indigenous missionaries in situ, this case study exemplifies this method in action among the poorest of the poor in Obrero Segundo, a barrio in Tijuana, Mexico. The methodology includes supporting women with educational and/or living expense stipends in order to empower grassroots Christian ministry. Such support of indigenous women missionaries stands in sharp contrast to the two most prevalent mission paradigms in Tijuana, one of which is the “rich” US mission team who oversees long- and short-term missionary projects, and the other is the “successful” Mexican American who returns to Tijuana on weekends to run his church plant. But while there are real benefits in mission based on these paradigms, another paradigm is needed, one that addresses the specific needs and capabilities of the women already doing mission in their own neighborhoods and amongst their own people groups.

Reconstructing Reformed Identity

Recently some Reformed denominations have embarked on church planting in the major cities in the Netherlands. This was done mainly for evangelistic reasons. From a quantitative perspective this project has been rather successful. However, many of the new churches deviate in some respects from official doctrines and practices of their denominations, as a consequence of contextualization. This has provoked some protest, leading to the failure in at least one case of instituting a new church plant as a full member of one of these Reformed denominations. In this article we add research data to this experience, demonstrating that this is not an isolated discussion. Moreover, we use this experience as a point of departure for an ecclesiological discussion about the continuous reformation of the church. The conclusion is that church planting is an occasion for ecclesial reconstruction with a view to mission, and we make some suggestions how this should happen.

The reformed confessions: embarrassment or blessing to a missionary church?

The historic reformed confessions are sometimes blamed for the apparent lack of missionary zeal among churches of the RCSA, and called an embarrassment to the church. This article investigates these allegations and attempts a missionary read- ing of the confessions. Because of the specific focus of the con- fessions, they should not be expected to give guidance on the whole life of the church. However, careful reading of the creeds does offer a surprisingly abundant missionary harvest. They offer both the foundations and the limits for mission, and in defining the identity of Christians, also define the missionary identity of the church. As the community of fellowship with Christ, the church is both a unique instrument in the “missio Dei” and the end objective of mission (mission as church plant- ing). Creeds offer beautiful expositions of the loving, fellowship- seeking heart of God who has not given up on fallen humanity, but who continues to call people to fellowship with Him in his self-revelation in creation, Scripture and the incarnation of the Son. Surprisingly, it is the Canons of Dordt (2.5) which offers the only explicit call to mission in the three creeds!