On Day one of training we discussed the core functions of church planters:
Preparing
Connecting
Gathering
Maturing
Those are the first four. Monday and Tuesday and part of Wednesday all focused on Preparation. The point being that effective preparation is of critical importance. Understanding the culture, and building the right team to meet the culture with the unchanging truth of the Bible is so very important.
The rest of the day was occupied with Connecting, Gathering, and Maturing.
Connecting or "pre-evangelism" is simply the process of building relationships within the community and earning the right to share your faith. Gathering grows out of connecting, and is the beginning of a church. It sounds simple, but many missionaries have held "Connecting" events that offend or simply don't interest the culture. At other times missionaries have held connecting events that don't lend themselves to starting close relationships.
It's also important that the connecting events "mirror" the Gathering style. If the intent is to start a church that is informal, lively and contemporary then the connection events should have that atmosphere. If the gathering or church services are intended to be more traditional, then somehow that must be reflected in the connecting events. In that way, there will be a natural transition into drawing people into gathering together for worship.
Maturing involves training the new congregation to stand on their own. Obviously no church group stands on their own. They stand in the enabling power of Jesus Christ, but it's important that the group be taught to continue in their growing faith without having a missionary team. We as missionaries "lead in view of leaving".
The end game of the vision is to establish churches that start other churches and ultimately that send out missionaries in their own country and around the world.
Showing posts with label PA 2008. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PA 2008. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
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
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
Monday, July 21, 2008
PA 2008 - Day 2 (Monday)
Our first day of training was designed to help us learn to seperate the functions of church from the form, so that we would not mistakenly impose American forms on another culture.
There are essential functions of the church. Some of them are:
There are essential functions of the church. Some of them are:
- Regular gathering of Christian believers
- Worship and pray together
- Bible teaching
Those are a few. Sunday morning church services are a form or way to carry out the function of regularly gathering the believers. In some countries it is not practicle to meet on a Sunday, so the wise missioary will schedule services on a different day.
More from the short video below.
Adam
Sunday, July 20, 2008
PA 2008 - Day 1 (Sunday)
Day 1 started early in the morning. We finished up packing and hit the road by about 8am.
We enjoyed the trip, but with stops and traffic jams a 10 hour trip stretched into 15. Watch the five min. video below, to find out.
We enjoyed the trip, but with stops and traffic jams a 10 hour trip stretched into 15. Watch the five min. video below, to find out.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Getting Ready For The Trip
Last year at about this time, Marge and I were recognized as ABWE missionaries to the Czech Republic durring a two week candidate seminar. I didn't blog about each day like I would like to have, but I tride to capture the rich depth of training, and the tension of being in the final phase of the . . . begining.
It's a year later and I feel like we are just starting in our pre-field ministry. Many have told us that one year in on pre-field is just starting and that 20% support is good progress, but I frankly don't intend to be on pre-field for four years.
I want to be sensative to what God's intensions are, but I am still working toward a late 2009 departure.
This week Marge and I are finishing up some required studies in preparation of EMC/CMI at ABWE. We do love our acronyms. EMC stands for Essential Missions Components and CMI stands for Core Missions Institute. It is intended for missionaries that are making progress in pre-field and the intent it to impart training and understanding on topics of church planting in other cultures.
That takes one week, and then before going home we are planning on spending several days in Washington DC. The children have never been there, and I'm excited about the whole thing. I want to take you (the reader) along for the trip. I plan on blogging each day, and including photos so that you can be part of the experience.
Keep your eyes on this blog!
Adam
It's a year later and I feel like we are just starting in our pre-field ministry. Many have told us that one year in on pre-field is just starting and that 20% support is good progress, but I frankly don't intend to be on pre-field for four years.
I want to be sensative to what God's intensions are, but I am still working toward a late 2009 departure.
This week Marge and I are finishing up some required studies in preparation of EMC/CMI at ABWE. We do love our acronyms. EMC stands for Essential Missions Components and CMI stands for Core Missions Institute. It is intended for missionaries that are making progress in pre-field and the intent it to impart training and understanding on topics of church planting in other cultures.
That takes one week, and then before going home we are planning on spending several days in Washington DC. The children have never been there, and I'm excited about the whole thing. I want to take you (the reader) along for the trip. I plan on blogging each day, and including photos so that you can be part of the experience.
Keep your eyes on this blog!
Adam
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