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Planting, Watering, Growing: Planting Confessionally Reformed Churches in the 21st Century
Product Description
As a response to the unique challenges facing the twenty-first-century American church, church planting has become a popular topic. But at a time when churches that spread the seed of the Word through preaching, the sacraments, and prayer are greatly needed, much of the focus has been on planting churches that adapt pop culture to meet “consumer demand.” In Planting, Watering,Growing, the authors of this collection of essays weave together theological wisdom, personal experiences, and practical suggestions, guiding readers through the foundations and methods of planting confessional churches that uphold the Word of God.
Endorsements:
The Reformed churches confess a missional faith. We confess that God the Son came voluntarily and was sent (missio) by the Father to be the Redeemer and that He has, in turn, sent His church to proclaim the good news, to plant churches, to administer the sacraments and discipline. Few books on church planting and mission combine a passion for the glory of Christ, a heartfelt concern for the lost, and a commitment to the means of grace. This volume does just that and therefore is essential reading for those seeking to serve Christ’s mission Christ’s way.
R. Scott Clark, Professor of Church History and Historical Theology
Westminster Seminary California
When so many seek to plant and grow churches with slick marketing, demographics studies, and decaf cappuccinos, Hyde and Lems bring a robust, Christ-centered, and confessionally Reformed approach to church planting. Scripturally informed, confessionally sound, and practically minded, this book offers sage counsel for anyone interested in home missions and church planting.
J. V. Fesko, Academic Dean and Associate Professor of Systematic Theology
Westminster Seminary California
The twenty-first-century Western world is seen by many as having moved into a post-Christian era. The church is divided and declining and increasingly is becoming a despised and persecuted minority. However true that may be, there is another sense in which there has never been a century that is more like the first century than this one. In the days of the book of Acts, the culture was pluralistic and the church was all the things that it is today; yet never was there a time of greater gospel growth and of the church being more widely established within a single generation. That was a century of opportunity, and ours is too. The contributors to this volume on church planting in the twenty-first century see today’s world very much in the light of the world in which the apostles labored. Each one of them, directly or indirectly, has been involved in seeing new churches planted, and together they provide the church with a resource that makes us look with optimism and confidence at the opportunities we have to see Christ continue to build His church. They challenge the church of our day to lift its eyes and see a harvest that is there to be reaped.
Mark G. Johnston, Senior Pastor of Proclamation Presbyterian Church (PCA), Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Table of Contents:
Foreword: Was the Reformation Missions-Minded?—Michael S. Horton
Introduction—Daniel R. Hyde and Shane Lems
™ Part 1: The Foundation of Planting Churches
1 The Fruitful Grain of Wheat—Brian Vos
2 The Sovereign Spirit of Missions: Thoughts on Acts 16:6–10 and Church Planting—Daniel R. Hyde
3 The Reformed Confessions and Missions—Wes Bredenhof
4 No Church, No Problem?—Michael S. Horton
™ Part 2: The Methods of Planting Churches
5 Church Planting Principles from the Book of Acts—Daniel R. Hyde
6 Heart Preparation in Church Planting—Paul T. Murphy
7 Church Planting: A Covenantal and Organic Approach—Paul T. Murphy
8 Planning the Plant: Some Thoughts on Preparing to Plant a New Church—Kim Riddlebarger
™ Part 3: The Work of Planting Churches
9 On Being a Church Planter—Daniel R. Hyde
10 Being a Welcoming Church Plant—Kevin Efflandt
11 Flock and Family: A Biblical Balance—Shane Lems
12 Declare His Praise among the Nations: Public Worship as the Heart of Evangelism—Daniel R. Hyde
13 “How’s the Food?” The Church Plant’s Most Important Ingredient—Michael G. Brown
14 Church Membership and the Church Plant—Michael G. Brown
15 Shepherding Toward Maturity, Part 1: The Authority in Church Planting— Spencer Aalsburg
16 Shepherding Toward Maturity, Part 2: Identifying a Mature Church Plant— Spencer Aalsburg
17 Motivation: The Planting Church and the Planted Church—Eric Tuininga
™ Part 4: The Context of Planting Churches
18 Church Planting in a Melting Pot—Shane Lems
19 The Cultural Factor in Church Planting—Mitchell Persaud
20 Growing Contextually Reformed Churches: Oxymoron or Opportunity?—Phil Grotenhuis
21 Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?—Michael S. Horton
Epilogue—Daniel R. Hyde and Shane Lems
Appendix A Church-Plant Timeline: A Big and Brief Picture of a Plant—Daniel R. Hyde and Shane Lems
Appendix B The Steering Committee—Spencer Aalsburg
Appendix C Guidelines for the Steering Committee—Spencer Aalsburg
Selected Bibliography
Contributors
Scripture Index
Confessions Index
About the Editors:
Daniel R. Hyde and Shane Lems are the church planters and pastors of the Oceanside United Reformed Church in Carlsbad/Oceanside, California, and United Reformed Church of Sunnyside in Sunnyside, Washington.
Contributors:
Michael S. Horton, Brian Vos, Wes Bredenhof, Paul T. Murphy, Kim Riddlebarger, Kevin Efflandt, Michael G. Brown, Spencer Aalsburg, Eric Tuininga, Mitchell Persaud, Phil Grotenhuis
Product Reviews
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Great for Reformed brethren
Posted by Paul Simpson on 20th Oct 2011
"Planting, Watering, Growing" is a consortium of writers from a Presbyterian/Reformed background discussing pertinent topics related to planting a church. Part one discusses the "why" of planting a confessionally reformed church. Part two goes into methods. Part three digs into the work of planting dealing with the heart of a church planter, strengthening the worship service, and making membership important. Part four gets into the topic of making the church relevant to culture without losing its roots. It begins in the theological and biblical context, moves towards methodology, and finishes with the details and specifics.
I am a Southern Baptist by choice, we own the market on church planting. To a Southern Baptist, there is nothing more important than this! I am not a church planter, but I am Pastor of a small church re-start. So although I have not read alot of church planting material, you don't have to go to far in Southern Baptist life to be thoroughly exposed to it. It is in everything we SB's publish.
As I read Hyde and Lems (editors) book I did not read anything new. I read a complete discourse on how to start a church as an Orthodox Presbyterian minister of the United Reformed Churches in North America (URCNA) or the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), or as a member of the North American Presbyterian and Refomed Council (NAPARC). This should not discount your reading this fine book. They cover every known topic that a church planter would need to know, but it must be remembered that it does so from a Presbyterian/Reformed viewpoint.
This is not a knock against my Reformed and Presbyterian brothers. I learned alot from this book. I have come to have an even greater depth of appreciation of corporate worship. SB's could learn alot from Micheal Horton, one of the contributors and a fine theologian! His chapter, "No Church, No Problem," was worth it alone! The chapter on public worship made me embarrassed as a SB. SB's have put such weight on pragmatism, that our denomination would do well to read this chapter and its implications for us today. Two chapters towards the end of the book on culture and contextualization again sounded the alarm in my ear to the danger of contextualization becoming the dominant force in church life.
Although this book presented no new details for me to institute in my own church, it did a very reasonable job of pointing me back to the Book and the roots of the Christian faith. For this I give a hearty thanks to Daniel R. Hyde and Shane Lems for producing it.
I received this book free from the publisher through a book review/bloggers agreement. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html>
: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.
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The best book I have read on Church Planting
Posted by Reformed Reader on 11th May 2011
Daniel Hyde and Shane Lems’ Planting, Watering, and Growing takes the reader through the beginning stages of church planting to important aspect for maintaining a healthy plant. The book begins with Michael Horton making a solid argument for how the reformation was mission-minded. Horton explains how several missiologists argue that the reformation was devoted to theology and not to the missions/church planting. Horton demonstrates how the church is in need of looking to the reformers as examples of mission/church planting should be done. Hyde and Lems explain that the church and church planting currently devote themselves to being culturally relevant. There are seeker-sensitive churches, cowboy churches, emergent churches, emerging churches all filled with blue-tooth wireless headsets and bar stools instead of pews. One does not have to drive very far down the street to find a church that fits his niche. In the midst of all this Hyde and Lems call pastors to be faithful to preaching the gospel. The book is divided into four parts: Foundations of Church Planting, Methods of Church planting, Work of Planting Churches, and the Context of Church Planting.
The foundation of planting churches begins by giving a theology for missions and church planting. Too many Church Planting books begin and end with practicology divorced from scripture and theology. Part one of the book explains why church should plan towards the future plant. Part I also discusses how planting is a work of the Holy Spirit through local churches. In an age filled with people who believe that Christianity is all about me and Jesus, part one demonstrates how this individualism is antithetical to Christianity. Church Planting is the means by which the mission of the church, reaching the nations for the glory of Christ is accomplished. Part II of the book addresses where to begin if one is considering planting. Church Planting arises out of a people in need for a solid biblical church. Often times, people will move to an area due to a job and find out that there are no reformed churches in this area. In this common situation there are two options: either planting a church or moving to another area. The authors encourage those who may be in an area where there are no reformed churches that if possible move to an area where there are reformed churches. This concept may seem strange to some people, but we often move because of jobs, family, and ect. Why would the church we attend be any less an important reason to move? If church planting is an option the authors give a great deal of helpful advice for beginning a plant. Once one has determined to plant a church, he should establish a core group of families to meet and plan the plant with. Part II of the book gives a great deal of practical advice on preparation for the plant. For those who are considering planting or are already planting I would highly encourage you to buy the book just for part II of the book. Part II of the book gives great advice for shepherding even for those who are not planting. Part III then establishes what the service and the life of the church planting team should look like. Part III gives a theology for the life of the church and advice on how to shepherd your congregation to maturity. Part III discusses issues such as hospitality, be a welcoming church, and being culturally sensitive to the areas which you may be planting in. Part III would be extremely helpful even for pastors of established churches and not just church plants. Part IV discusses the difficulty of planting a church in a post modern, moralistic, therapeutic society. Part IV warns of the importance of not gearing our churches towards unbelievers (e.g. Willow Creek Community Church). Part IV also has a helpful section on different ways to present the gospel in different contexts (e.g. direct, indirect, family evangelism, ect). In this section the authors provide practical ways to share the gospel with your community (e.g. free breakfast, giving away books, library at your church, a hand written letter, ect).
I would highly recommend the book to anyone considering church planting or even to the seasoned pastor of an established church. The book is filled for incredible practical advice for church plants. The book also is filled with great citations. What I mean by that is that there are not any church planting books, that I know of, who quote Bavinck, Kuyper, and Van Til. Generally those names are not associated with good church planting books, but I have found that they truly are. This is book is certain to go down with the great titles in church planting (e.g. Keller’s Church Planting Manuel, Patrick’s Church Planter, Stetzer Planting Missional Church, ect). Just to re-iterate this book is amazing and I think it would be a great addition to any pastor’s library.
