Vision of the Possible- Chapter 5

Overview

This chapter outlines the basic church planting phases that a church planting team will go through.  These are general guidelines and not a recipe book for how to plant a church.  They will guide you in an effort to leave behind an indigenous reproducing church.

Comments

I think the church planting phases listed in this chapter are especially useful for new teams which makes up practically everyone on our team.  A more experienced missionary who has planted several churches, for example, may have a better feel of how things can move and what can be done.  A new missionary hitting the field should find these steps useful as I do.  This task is not easy and often times we get stuck in thinking of the great things we want to do but we are not clear about the small steps, that often take lots of time(many years), before we can see the great thing happen.  I agree with Sinclair that this cannot be seen as a cookbook of mandatory “to do” steps on how to plant a church but rather a guideline to see where we are in the process of planting an indigenous church.  Using it as a tool or measuring stick to guage where we are and what is ahead is useful for me rather then just having a fuzzy,unclear idea of where I stand and where I am going next.

One other point that is noteworthy is his statement that it is common for works to go backward in the phase process due to persecution or problems amongst the believers and we may see the whole group fall apart.  We pray this won’t happen but we need to be prepared for it and maybe not be all that surprised and instead regroup and move forward again. 

He also points out on the FAQs (p.68) that evangelism is one phase we cannot leave behind.  We must model for the new believers/church that evangelism is key and must be part of our DNA.  How will they have a heart to start a new church in a nearby village if they do not see evangelism and reaching the lost as important.  It is everything!!  I see many of the churches in our area stuck in this phase.  They do not have a heart to reach others and are content with the group of 20-30 people they have.  If they do have a heart, they have no idea how to do it and in most cases(not all) do not see church leadership leading the way.  It is very sad to see how stuck most of the churches are and it has made an impression on me to do what I can to avoid the same in our ministry.