Global Church Planting: Biblical Principles and Best Practices for Multiplication

With nearly fifty years combined global church-planting experience, Craig Ott and Gene Wilson offer here a comprehensive, up-to-date guide for cross-cultural church planting. Combining substantive biblical principles and missiological understanding with practical insights, this book walks readers through the various models and development phases of church planting. It emphasizes the role of the missionary church planter, advocating methods that lead to church multiplication. The authors offer helpful reflection on current trends and provide best practices gathered from research and empirical findings around the globe. They take up a number of special issues not addressed in most church planting books, such as use of short-term teams, partnerships, wise use of resources, and contextualization.
Full of case studies and real examples from around the world, this practical text will benefit professors and students in church planting, cross-cultural, and missions courses;church planters and missionaries;and missional church readers.
Contents
Prologue: The Parable of the Apple Trees
Part I: Biblical Foundations
1. The Task of Church Planting
2. The Reasons for Church Planting
3. New Testament Beginnings
Part II: Strategic Considerations
4. Church Multiplication and Indigenous Church-Planting Movements
5. Apostolic Church Planters
6. The Shape of the Church
7. Pioneer, Reproduction, and Regional Approaches to Church Planting
Part III: Development Phases
8. The Developmental Phases of a Church Plant: An Overview
9. Preparing, Part 1: Targeting and Commissioning
10. Preparing, Part 2: Understanding and Strategizing
11. Launching: Evangelism and Discipleship
12. Establishing: Congregating and Maturing
13. Structuring: Expanding and Empowering
14. Reproducing: Strengthening and Sending
Part IV: Critical Factors
15. The Personal Life of Church Planters
16. Church-Planting Teams
17. Developing Servants, Leaders, and Planters
18. Partnerships and Resources in Church Planting
19. Planting Churches with Kingdom Impact
Epilogue
Works Cited
Index