EM712-4 - Cross Cultural Church Planting

  • 0 Standard Tuition Fee
  • 4
    Credit Points
  • 0.125 EFT 
  • 8
    AQF level
  • evangelism missiolUnit Discipline

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will

A. Know and understand

  • Biblical and theological principles that inform church planting
  • Contemporary models of and approaches to church planting across cultures
  • Stages in the cross-cultural church planting process and their accompanying questions and issues

B. Be able to

  • Evaluate approaches to church planting in specific cultural contexts
  • Research a potential context for church planting using demographic data and ethnographic methods
  • Design a strategy for church planting in a specific cross-cultural context

C. Be in a position to

  • Communicate a vision and rationale for church planting in  specific contexts
  • Implement a strategy for planting churches in  particular regions or communities

Content

1. A theological rationale for church planting
2. Biblical principles that guide the practice of church planting with a focus on the book of Acts
3. The essence of a church and its contextualisation in various cultural contexts
4. Analysis of case studies of church planting in a range of cultural contexts
5. Models of cross-cultural church planting and evaluating them for a range of cultural contexts
6. Components of the church planting process, together with questions and issues encountered at each stage and possible responses to them
7. Tools for researching a particular community or region with a view to church planting
8. Elements and questions involved in the design of a strategy for church planting for particular context

Set Readings

Prescribed

Ott, C., and Wilson, G., Global Church Planting: Biblical Principles and Best Practices for Multiplication (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2011).

 

Recommended

Comiskey, J., Planting Churches that Reproduce: Starting a Network of Simple Churches (Moreno Valley, CA: CCS Publishing, 2008).

Garrison, D., Church Planting Movements: How God is Redeeming a Lost World (Midlothian, VA: WIGTake Resources, 2012).

Hesselgrave, D., Planting Churches Cross-culturally: North America and Beyond. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2000).

Hibbert, R., “The Place of Church Planting in Mission: Towards a Theological Framework.” Evangelical Review of Theology 33(2009): 316-331.

Johnson, J., We are Not the Hero: A Missionary’s Guide for Sharing Christ, Not a Culture of Dependency (Sisters, Ore: Deep River Books, 2012).

O’Connor, P., Reproducible Pastoral Training: Church Planting Guidelines from the Teachings of George Patterson (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2006).

Payne, J.D., Discovering Church Planting: An Introduction to the Whats, Whys, and Hows of Global Church Planting (Colorado Springs, Colo.: Paternoster, 2009).

Sinclair, D., A Vision of the Possible: Pioneer Church Planting in Teams. (Waynesboro, GA: Authentic Media, 2006).

Smith, E., Church Planting by the Book (Fort Washington, PA: CLC Publications, 2015).

Smith, S., and Kai, Y., T4T: A Discipleship Rerevolution (Monument, CO: WIGTake Resources, 2011).

Watson, D., and Watson, P., Contagious Disciple Making: Leading Others on a Journey of Discovery (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2014).

Woodford, B., Master Plan: Biblical Foundations for Living Churches (Taupiri, New Zealand: EastWest College of Intercultural Studies, 2007).