PA 2008 - Day 3 (Tuesday)

Building a CPT
In the adult sessions we studied building a Church Planting Team. Most of us entering a field of service at the invitation of an existing team leader, so we won't be responsible for forming our own team. The value of the training, however, was that we role played the various steps of discussing the field, the type of church to form, and what team members to gather. During that process there was disagreement, negotiation, and debate. The process of bringing different ideas together, even disagreement while keeping a loving atmosphere was an important learning outcome of the day.

The session also exposed us to the different kinds of churches that can be started, their benefits and limitations. We all think about a typical church which is a called a centralized church. It's based in a church building and the members gather in this building for services and various ministries. This type of church is more formalized, more expensive to start and maintain, and less flexible. In some cultures it is the only legitimate form of church that people will recognize, and because of its size it allows for types of ministry like youth groups, feeding programs, etc.

The opposite end of the spectrum is the house church. These are just what they sound like. A group that meets in homes. It's much more informal and lends itself to intimate gatherings. The house church is flexible in that it can change location easily, and adapt itself quickly to meet the needs of the members. In a country that is hostile to Christianity, this may be the best kind of church to start as it allows new Christians to attend worship services without as much risk of harm or persecution. It also works best in cultures that highly value this sort of setting.

In the middle is the hybrid church in which house or cell groups are the core of the church, and they come together regularly for larger celebration meetings or for large group ministries.

The key is to examine the culture in cooperation with the national (local) Christians to determine what best fits. It's possible that in a large enough area, several different kinds of churches could be started to fit different sub-cultures within a society.

This is all with a view toward starting vibrant churches that can continue after the missionary leaves, and who will start new churches and send missionaries themselves.

Meanwhile at STAMP
Michael and Maryellen's training focused more on what it will be like to live and grow up in another culture. Part of their training included a talk from Ben Loftis on being a Third Culture Kid. For lunch they went to a Chinese restaurant, but were only allowed to order using Chinese words. Michael took the video camera along. Enjoy the five min. video below. It starts with the bus ride from ABWE headquarters to the church where STAMP is being held.




Adam