AEC2001
Plenary Session 3:
The Ten Most Important Things
I’ve Learned
about Church Planting
Part 1
Stuart Murray
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1. Select the appropriate church planting
model
There are many different ways of planting churches. In an
earlier session I mentioned the "mother/daughter" model, where a
sizable number of church members from one local church are seconded to establish
a new church. This is a very popular method, but it has both advantages and
disadvantages. I also referred to a different model, used by the Urban
Expression initiative in London, where a much smaller team is used drawn
from several local churches. This too has weaknesses as well as strengths.
When I teach at the seminary in London on models of church
planting, I introduce my students to twelve different models or strategies,
several of which can be sub-divided into further models. I do not have time to
do this here, but I do want to underline the importance of recognising the
diversity of strategies available and thinking carefully about which might be
appropriate in different contexts. I do not advocate one model as superior to
all others. Each can be appropriate in different situations, depending on the
culture, the kind of church, the available personnel, and other factors. Some
can be used only by larger churches; some can enable much smaller churches to
participate in church planting. Some are useful for establishing another
congregation of the same kind in a nearby area; some might be effective in
planting new kinds of churches in urban areas where more traditional churches
are not thriving.
