Church Planting by Producing Multiple Congregations - Research Paper Example

Religion and Theology Research How can the Church Planting by Producing Multiple Congregations be used to reach ethnic minority young people in Leeds for the gospels. Introduction The church planting method used by any ministry should not be determined by a solid loyalty to the rigid style. However, the planting method used should be determined by the group of people and the culture in which these people live (1Cor. 9:19-23)1. For example is a ministry takes the mindset of planting a church in the Western countries and goes with the same mindset in the Eastern countries, there is a high possibility of failure of such ministry. The main barrier to church planting is trying to bring the strict and outdated models to bear which was successful in the past generation and hindrance our cultural dynamics. No matter what type of change in a given targeted group of people, any method that is used needs biblical warrant2. There are very many ways of church planting, but most are shallow and gimmicky. These methods will die with time for not giving the converts a good foundation of doctrines and intimacy with Christ. Fads will pass, however, planted churches which externally from a scriptural patterned core of dynamics offers a great potential of forming a lasting presence. It is vital for the ministries to develop an Oak tree that is lasting and not a mushroom that is fading. Church planting in Leeds uses a method that is simple which takes advantage of the present open doors. It is of interest to see a church planting movement that is free from gimmicks and fluff witnessed in most of the movement. At the same time, to see freedom from some of the organization paralysis that are over-loaded that are witnessed by most of the groups of church planting in the West. The chosen method should not be considered as the only best method of each and every situation but as a successful method for like people and cultures groups. Target community The research proposal will focus in one of the minority groups in Leeds which will be the Indians. The research will focus on Indians of the age 10 to 21 years old and will consider both the boys and girls. In Leeds, the population of Indians is about 16,130 which about 2.1%. This makes them the second largest single BME community in the city. Moortown ward has the highest number of Indian people of about 1,680 which accounts to about 7.4 of the population of the residence in that ward. The second ward with a large number of Indians is Alwoodley consisting of 1,506 people contribution to 6.6 percent of the population of the residents. In Leeds, Over 40% of Indians in the city lives in five wards; 8.4% in the City and Hunslet, 10.5% in Moortown, 6.9% in both Calverley and Farseley and in Roundhay and 9.3% in Alwoodle3. Most of the Indians are of Hindu religion4. First it is very important to understand that Indians life and culture is very simple5. Thus, the lifestyle of the church planter in these villages also needs to be simple. Second is the humility- if man arrogant character is displayed by the messengers, there is a high possibility that the messenger will not be provided a chance by the youths to preach the gospel6. A massager who has humility will be received very well by the youths. However, most of the westerners preachers act differently as there society applauds the cocky and arrogance. In each fabric of the Indian culture, humility is woven. The third is respect- the church planter should be a person who has respect for the Indian community, their ways, beliefs, humanity, and culture. Evangelism that is shock jock will never work. Indus will reject any massager who has no respect and is not humble7. The forth is Hindus openness- Hindus religion is a belief system that is pluralistic8. As long as the Hindu youths are shown some respect, they will gladly accept the gospel presentation (Acts 17:19-21)9. The sixth is community- For Indians, the community takes priority over individuality. The culture of India functions more as a community despises any model of individuality. This is very different from the Western culture. Any attempts by the messengers to have individuality will receive resistant from the youths. If any person stresses his or her rights over that of the community, he or she will become an enemy of the community. Proposition The research will want to answer the question how can the Church Planting by Producing Multiple Congregations be used to reach ethnic minority young people in Leeds for the gospels? For this question to be perfectly answered there is a need to use participant observation, hold meetings and carry out interviews with the youths and there parents. The meetings to be held will focus on the truth of the gospel by conveying the message about the love of God and the Cross of Jesus. Focus is given to biblical history sequential flow and Jesus Christ ministry to offer redemption. The different types of meeting to be held will include: First is tracts and personal witnessing- tracts are to be provided in the native language and distributed among the villagers. These tracts will be messages that will provide a gospel about the salvation and the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. Second is street singing and preaching- there will be the provision of singing in the streets of City and Hunslet, Moortown, Calverley and Farseley and Roundhay and Alwoodle10. The songs that are to be sung will proclaim the call to follow Jesus and the message of the gospel. When the crowd will be gathered, there will be need for gospel presentation and the hearers invitation to receive the good news. The third is preaching and personal care in which medical care for the youths that comes from a poor family will be provided with11. During this time, the youths receiving the care will be invited to hear the gospel message. The forth is preaching and feeding which will be mainly to demonstrate the love of God to the youths who are from very poor families, meals will be provided to feed the hungry12. The only thing that will be asked of them is for them to come and hear the gospel message. By showing their plight compassion through feeding, the Holy Spirit will revile the uniqueness of Christs love and hence prepare their heart for the gospel. Fifth is telephone outreach- telephone outreach meetings will also be carried out. These are messages whereby the teaching about Jesus will be preached to the gatherings13. These messages will become of great appreciation to people because they hear the message in English and at the same time hear its translation in their native language. These approaches have proven very successful. The sixth and final is video outreach on some occasions, the use of videos recorded that the ministries conferences will be vital. Problem Statement A good number of studies have acknowledged that youths in the minority communities in Leeds are facing allot of challenges that need to be addressed urgently. Some of these challenges are substance abuse which can easily be avoided. However of all the studies carried out, none of the studies have identified that communicating the gospel to the youths can make them stop substance abuse. Leaders need to come up with strategies that are effective that may communicate the good news to the youths for then to start having a better life when they are still young.14 Referring to the book of proverbs, because the youths are energetic, they have a better of fully serving the almighty God. For this to be adequately achieved, the church leaders should be wise in selecting the kind of gospel that will make a change in the life of youths.15 However, this proposal provides an opportunity for the analysis of the best strategies and approaches for preaching the gospel to the youths in a society that is modern.16 Significance of the research The research is vital as the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is going to reach the souls of most of the youths. The modern youths of today are facing allot challenges that is being brought by the today’s advanced technology. There for a good strategy for addressing or preaching gospel to the youths is important. The only way that the preachers can reach the heart of the youths is by using the best strategy for communicating gospel to them. Statement of research objectives a. The proposal project objective is to establish a youths following the pattern of the New Testament. b. To identify some of the good strategies used by the leaders of the church in preaching to the youths. c. Secord is the establishment of Church Planting by Producing Multiple Congregations. That is to mean that we pray to witness new planters of the church raised up from the yield of souls. They will be identified by the planters and be trained to reach other youths to plant new churches. d. Identify what the minority group youths need spiritually. Research questions How can the ‘Church Planting by Producing Multiple Congregations’ be used to reach ethnic minority young people in Leeds for the gospel? How will the church planters behave for them to be accepted by the Indian Community? What type of church planting model is to be used by the church planters? What are some of the primary and secondary research questions to be used in this study? Literature review Books Scott Morton, "Funding Your Ministry" provides the church planters with a good briefing on developing a strategy for fundraising for the ministry17. The book first talks of the obstacles, myths, and the attitude that a person needs to have for raising a financial support. He further continues to provide a biblical reason for raising a financial support. To make this book a vital resource for financial backing for the ministry, he provides practical issues which includes, holding face to face meeting, budgeting, writing newsletters, stewardship principles, seeking funding for churches, phone call campaigns and how to keep the giving by the donors. Launch by Kerrick Thomas and Nelson Searcy provides a practical strategy that will save energy, time, and money for those who want to plant a church18. Based on there experience for first-hand planting, The Journey Church in New York City with no members, no money, and staffs. They talk about the methods they utilized that contributed to their church planting attempt that was successful. Of importance to the writer are the buildings of the staffs, planning the first service and gathering of a lunch team. The author emphasizes on the determination of the demographic to target in their main area of the ministry based on the unreached, most prevalent, and that can associate well with the lead church planter. Viral Churches written by Ed Stetzer and Warren Bird suggests that for the churches to remain feasible in light of church closures and population increases there is need to make a shift from only church planting to a movement of multiple church planting movements19. This book will help the leaders in incorporating the core values and thinking exponentially of multiplication into each ministry from the beginning of the churches. Bill Easum and Jim Griffith, "Ten Most Common Mistakes Made by New Church Starts" gives the readers thirty years of direct church experience in planting, consulting and coaching20. The book will help in training the launch team to methodically and strategically avoid the mistakes that church planters have encountered. Sections that are brilliant includes those on spiritual warfare, stressing on keeping the evangelism central to both post and pre-launch effectiveness and talking about money before it is not late. Planting Missional Churches written by Ed Stetzer is a church planting resource that is very comprehensive that talks about almost every aspect of starting a new church. This is mainly starting a new church from the biblical moorings and attributes of lead church planter that is effective to the multiplication of additional churches being shaped into a movement of church planting21. Building leaders written by Will Mancini and Aubrey Malphurs is a book prepared for church planters who need to form a church planting movement because it provides a drawing and a pal to develop and identify leaders22. The author has prepared a five level plan that will prepare leaders to every church level. Further discussions have been provided to help the leaders in placement, discovery, evaluation, training, and rewarding of the leaders. Spin-Off Churches written by Don Overstreet, Tom Cheyney and Rodney Harrison is an important book that will help in the multiplication of other churches from the original church plant23. The book guides church leaders who have an interest of starting another church but dont know where to start from. Five various spin-off models are covered in the book. In the book is also how the new work can be resourced, and the four phase of developing that the church that is sponsoring has to go through to a spin-off church that is successful. Deliberate Simplicity written by Dave Browning provides a ministry model that eliminates procedural and programmatic access to be in a position to replicate rapidly, easily, and frequently24. A philosophy of less is more and more is better is developed by the book by the expansion of six factors of a simple church: multility, reality, intentionally, minimality, scalability, and velocity. Each of the factors is contained in the chapter that explains the concepts. Furthermore, anecdotes are provided that shows how each of the elements is flashed out in Christ the King Community Church ministry. Transformational Church written by Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer provides a new standard in which churches current health and vitality can be assessed25. The books subtitle Creating a New Score Card for congregations; the other rejects the traditional means of determining vitality such as cash, building, and attendance. However, the author focuses on spiritual factors that are transformative like vibrant leadership, missionary mentality, international relationship and prayerful dependence. This chapters provided in this book will be helpful in creating a culture of vibrancy and spiritual health. Articles According to the article of "local churches with high capacity church multiplication center" written by Linder Stanley, distils a five years pilot project result gathering high capacity church planting churches and guiding them to form the multiplication center of the fifteenth over a given period26. The findings prove that the possibility for churches exponential growth as 266 international churches and 466 domestic churches were planted by these centers. Five Ss of effective church multiplication has also been delineated by the article. These Ss includes sure identity, strong leadership, and systematic process, strategies for the long run and effective resources. The article of Glocal Church Ministry written by Mark Gallis is a Christianity interview with Pastor Bob Roberts of Northwood Church that is in Keller, Texas27. In the article, the vision of Roberts is who changed from trying to be the largest church in the region to churching the area through church planting. In the article, the focus then turns towards reaching the world through the mobilization of the laypersons by the local church to have an impact that is global. This mindset of kingdom multiplication is vital to the new church plants that are determined to be a movement. An article that is entitle Exploring new Paradigms for Effective Evangelism written from the Leadership Network by Brand Dolfo says that the evangelism invitational model that was efficient for twenty years is evidenced to be ineffective in our culture28. Brand believes that the salvation paradigm of become, believe, bless and belong is more successful when taken as a process that is dynamic and organic. He further encourages many conversations about the story of Jesus. Also, the non-Christians of today first respond by belonging, then believing and then joining the mission trip to bless others so that there service can confirm the message. In the article of church planting and the mission of God that is written by Ed Stetzer articulates the need of the church to see church planting as ingredient that is essential to the efforts for the local church to fulfill Gods mission. He further brings out the difference between churches that start from people who become unsatisfied and walk away from the existing churches and those that strategically planted based on mission29. In the article, it is very clear that the agenda of Gods Kingdom will only prosper by loving Jesus and His bride, the church. Web Verge Network is a church palters website who are determined to be missional in there ministry approach30. Leading voices in the missional movement such as Mike Breen, Francis Chan, Jeff Vanderstelt, and Alan Hirsch and host other helpful articles, interviews and videos that have been contributed free resources are also available on the site. These resources include digital access passes, short movies, videos, and e-books that are reflecting on these dynamics and are dealing with current issues. The network of relating Discipleship is a ministry that is created by the ministries of real life whose main aim is to create an emphasis that is renewed and is on effective discipleship happening in churches31. The vision that is stated is the Jesus disciples reproducing Jesus disciples, churches reproducing churches. Their mission that is stated is that the churches that will be trained and equipped are those that will make disciples in a relational environment. Also on this website that is helpful is training resources that range from conference to curriculum, leadership articles, effective disciples and matters on church management. Effective Church refers to a church growers reserve that is involved in the provision of training resource wealth under such vital class like discipleship, evangelistic and church growth32. Started by Dr. Bill Easum and Bill Tenny-Brittiam., all coming up with lessons understanding and idyllic decades, the website brags a store and supportive object scores and reserves connected to practical church developing matters. Tell Starts talks of inexpensive and efficient equipment to telephonically picture demographical regions of a fresh church plant to gather for eager views that are not churches33. Tell Start carries out a Market research study on the major target regions using the latest technology and a serious staff. It then names for individuals within the confined regions and to make public ones church plant. The callers who need more information regarding ones church or want to be distant from the calling list they are given directions to dial the correct number to do so. If the callers needed to hear more information about ones church they dial a different number to get more thorough information. Callers are given the chance to leave a message if they are in need of someone to make a call to them through the church planting team member. Tell Start staffs collect this information on the daily basis and gives an Excel sheet of crucial information for tracking. This can be applied in the bringing together a foundation squad and to publicize church initiation. Leadership Network involves ministry with objectives to collaboratively give assets through inventive leaders of the church for church leaders34. This progressive psychic website gives a genuine fortune chest of leadership source from items, downloads and podcast arranged in groups under tiles like restore, lead, explore, develop, and learn, multiply. Converge Worldwide as a website includes leaders who initially introduced inter-denominational center, city-oriented policy to reach urban regions all over the U.S referred to as vision 36035. Since their beginning, this ministry has advanced to get involved in ministry programs including planting and assembling churches, leaders development, liberal living, and sympathy showing and getting in touch with nations. Church Planters will get reviews, instruction, assets and networks to access their community more efficiently. Hill County Bible Church is a rural church in Austin, Texas acting as a mock-up for churches targeting reaching their cities by way of new churches launching36. Their eldest pastor -guide policy involves tutoring, exercise, evaluating and financing strong churches planters to develop the influence of their ministry up to 50,000 fresh people shifting to Austin yearly. This church has conceitedly put 20 Churches and together with on their websites and has come up with an entire education center and staffs for church plants promulgation. North American Mission Board refers to a flagship web site providing support church planter from The Mission Board of North America of the Baptist Convention at the37. This site gives various training and encouragement resources for providing sponsorship to churches, church planters and developing churches. Ed Stetzer is an author website and veteran church planter Ed Stetzer38. Stetzer gives blogs that are insightful, useful links and research connected to church planting in his president of Life way Research function. Currently also are tutorial discussions with guiding theologians and church planting practitioners working with various Kingdom development programs. This useful resource should give support and learn for the veteran and hopeful church planters identical. Methodology This project will involve analysis of the research of others. The vastness of the present facts is based on the anecdotal of practitioners that are experienced. Some of the church planting articles, books, journals will also be reviewed. The qualitative study39 for this proposal will be conducted by a team of surveyors who will focus on the youths. They will survey about two hundred church-planting churches, forty-five church planting network, and one hundred leaders from forty denominations, twelve experts that are nationally known, eighty-one organic church leaders and eighty-one seminaries and colleges. Church planting model The church planting model for this project will be church planting by producing multiple congregations one of the church planting approaches40. This approach is the best one because it will be a driver to the establishment of a standard service for youths and children. For the success of this research, the researcher will need the help of other members of the congregation to assist in the identification of the youths. Apart from the identification, they will help in bringing the youths together for them to study the bible together, worship together and pray together. In this church planting approach of Church Planting by Producing Multiple Congregations, there will be a special worship service that is particularly designed to utilize the use of the youth sub-culture using some forms of art and music. During the service the preacher will be preaching in English as most of the people understand English. However there will be a translator who will be translating from English to Hindu for those youths who will not be conversant with the English language. Conclusion Many attempts by most of the preachers have not been successful when it comes to communicating the good news to the youths. This is majorly because they don’t understand the divers’ nature of the youths and the appropriate approach they can use to communicate to them. This research is going to bring an end to the confusion the church leaders have been having. This will majorly provide the preachers with the defined behaviors of the youths and the effective way of teaching them the gospel. Much of the attention by the ethnography will be on the youths as they are the critical group for the modern church. Church leaders need also to understand that the youths are special and need to be given a special consideration. 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English letters and Indian literacies reading, writing, and New England missionary schools, 1750-1830. Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press. http://site.ebrary.com/id/10642747. Read More