What is a Church Planting Movement?
A Church Planting Movement (CPM) is defined as many indigenous churches rapidly planting churches among a particular people group or segment of the population. The key here is rapid and widespread church planting.
Understanding CPMs is increasingly important in modern missions. Many churches and organizations are now exploring or actively involved in CPM strategies. To engage effectively, it’s crucial to understand the dynamics of these movements.
This article will define CPMs in more detail, explore their defining characteristics, discuss the challenges that can arise, and offer some points to consider if you’re thinking about getting involved.
What is a Church Planting Movement?
A Church Planting Movement (CPM) can be defined by its speed and scope. It’s not just about planting individual churches; it’s about creating a rapid, self-sustaining expansion of churches within a specific people group or geographic area.
Core Characteristics of a CPM
CPMs are characterized by the following:
- Rapid Reproduction: Churches planting churches quickly and consistently, faster than what’s seen in traditional church planting.
- Indigenous Leadership and Ownership: Local leaders from within the community take ownership and responsibility, fostering sustainability and relevance.
- Lay Leadership: Empowering everyday believers to lead and plant churches, rather than relying solely on professional clergy.
Key Elements Contributing to CPMs
Several key elements contribute to the success of Church Planting Movements:
- Extraordinary Prayer: Intense, sustained prayer seeking God’s guidance and breakthrough.
- Abundant Evangelism: Widespread sharing of the Gospel to reach as many people as possible.
- Intentional Church Planting: Deliberate strategies and proactive efforts to start new churches.
- God’s Word Authority: The Bible serves as the foundation for faith and practice.
- Rapid Reproduction: Churches quickly planting other churches, facilitating widespread expansion.
- Healthy Churches: A focus on planting healthy, reproducible congregations that will, in turn, plant more churches.
Strategies and Approaches in CPMs
Church planting movements rely on a variety of strategies to gain momentum and see exponential growth. Here are some common approaches:
Common Methodologies
- Training for Trainers (T4T): This scalable approach is all about equipping people to train others. It helps to rapidly multiply the number of trainers and leaders.
- Disciple-Making Movements (DMMs): These movements focus on making disciples who, in turn, make more disciples. They emphasize obedience-based discipleship, creating a culture of multiplication.
- Four Fields of Kingdom Growth: This model emphasizes:
- Sowing: Evangelism and initial contact.
- Watering: Discipleship and nurturing new believers.
- Harvesting: Gathering believers into communities.
- Multiplying: Training leaders and planting new churches.
The Importance of Contextualization
CPMs understand the importance of adapting to the local culture. This means presenting the Gospel in a way that’s culturally relevant, avoiding unnecessary cultural barriers, and making sure the message is understandable and relatable.
They also focus on utilizing existing social networks, leveraging relationships for evangelism and church planting, working within existing community structures, and building trust and credibility.
Examples of CPMs in Scripture
The Bible provides examples of what could be considered church planting movements:
- Jesus Sending the 72 (Luke 10): Jesus sent out a large group of disciples to prepare the way for him, demonstrating the potential for widespread impact.
- Paul’s Ministry in Ephesus (Acts 19): Paul’s ministry led to many conversions and the establishment of numerous churches, illustrating the power of a focused and strategic approach.
Challenges and Considerations
Although church planting movements can be effective ways of growing the church and spreading the Gospel, it’s important to be aware of potential pitfalls.
Potential Pitfalls
- Superficial discipleship. When the focus is on rapid growth, there may be a lack of depth in spiritual formation. This can lead to churches that are weak or unstable.
- Syncretism. The desire to connect with the local culture can sometimes lead to mixing Christian beliefs with local traditions, which can compromise core doctrines. It’s important to maintain theological integrity.
- Burnout. Church planting can be taxing, and the rapid pace of church planting movements can be exhausting for those involved. It’s essential to provide adequate support and opportunities for rest.
Maintaining Theological Integrity
To avoid syncretism and ensure the health of new churches, it’s important to focus on:
- A strong Christology. Teaching a clear understanding of Jesus Christ, emphasizing his divinity, humanity, and atoning work.
- Sound missiology. Developing a biblically grounded approach to missions, focusing on God’s mission and his purposes for the world.
- Healthy ecclesiology. Building churches that reflect biblical principles, emphasizing community, worship, and service.
Long-Term Sustainability
To ensure that church planting movements continue to thrive, there should be a focus on:
- Developing sustainable leadership pipelines. Ensuring a continuous supply of qualified leaders by investing in leadership development programs and mentoring emerging leaders.
- Fostering financial independence. Encouraging churches to become self-supporting, avoiding dependency on external funding, and encouraging local giving and stewardship.
Wrapping Up
Church planting movements are marked by rapid growth, local leadership, and involvement from everyday church members. When these elements come together, the church can expand organically and exponentially.
If you’re considering participating in a church planting movement, it’s important to move forward with care. Seek a balanced approach that allows you to grow and make disciples.
Ultimately, churches and individuals should prayerfully consider whether to participate in church planting movements, seeking God’s guidance and wisdom every step of the way.