Apostolic Church Planting: Birthing New Churches from New Believers

by J. D. Payne

Overview

Church planting is not just about gathering new communities of people who are already Christians. In the book of Acts, church plants begin with sharing the gospel. Planting churches flows naturally out of making disciples. Pastor J. D. Payne explains the process and stages of church planting, with biblical foundations and practical steps for planting teams. He provides a pathway for the multiplication of disciples, leaders and churches. Here are church planting strategies and activities that are simple, highly reproducible and can be implemented by ordinary team members, not just by charismatic leaders.This guide can be used for planting in contexts among any given people group, domestically or internationally. It is an ideal resource for teams to work through together as they follow God's call in their community.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780830841240
Publisher:	InterVarsity Press
Publication date:	10/22/2015
Pages:	128
Sales rank:	738,597
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

J. D. Payne (Ph.D., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) serves as the pastor of church multiplication for The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama. He has pastored churches in Kentucky and Indiana and served as a seminary professor for a decade. The author of several books and articles, Payne also serves as the book review editor for the Great Commission Research Journal.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
1. What Is Church Planting?
2. How's Your Ecclesiology?
3. Practices of Team Members
4. Pathway To Planting
5. Stages of Planting
6. Planned Role Changes
7. Church Multiplication Cycle
8. Methods
9. Where To Begin?
10. Pastoral Development
11. Strategy Development
12. Ethical Guidelines
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
About the Author

What People are Saying About This

Van Kicklighter

"Church planting is not a new concept to many, even in North America. However, the idea of apostolic church planting will be new and novel to many. The idea of teams who start with evangelism, allow those they reach to become a body of believers, focus on growing leaders and do all of this with an eye to leaving represents an old-new idea—old as the New Testament, new to us. In a nation that is increasingly hostile to the things of Christ, J. D.'s work is a much-needed call back to a biblical pattern of seeing the church take root among people who do not know him. If you are looking for biblical and practical help in how to mobilize teams of people for church planting, this book is a wonderful resource."

George Patterson

"Many church planters who would say they follow the apostles' methods fail to see churches multiply as the apostles did. They must read J. D. Payne's Apostolic Church Planting! He graciously points out the shortcomings of conventional church plants in a way that does not appear 'anti,' untying the usual knotty problems and simplifying common complications. I love his phrase, 'Plant the church that is, not the church to come.' Had I read that when I was young, I'd have avoided years of foolishly trying to birth mature churches! You will find these gems throughout the book, but brace yourself to face challenges from Scripture, field experience and testimonies of a healthy number of highly effective practitioners."

Mark Custalow

"In this excellent work, J. D. Payne draws from his experience as a practitioner in the roles of church planter, sponsoring church mission pastor and planter coach to provide timely wisdom for those who are about to begin or are already traversing the church planting journey. Writing as a practitioner, his insights are practical and relevant. As a leading missiologist, his wisdom is well-grounded and trustworthy. In this book, Payne addresses some specific issues not covered in his earlier book, Discovering Church Planting. These two books should be tattered from use, highlighted, dog-eared and at the fingertips of every person leading any church planting endeavor."

David J. Hesselgrave

"Apostolic Church Planting is less like a how-to manual and more like a clinician's guidebook. It deals with the theology and theory of church planting as well as the practical steps involved. Few missiologists could have written it, but J. D. Payne is one of them. All who are in any way involved in church planting should study this book to be informed. All should read it to be refreshed."

James Kim

"In a concise and readable manner, J. D. Payne has written a foundational book for church planters. Whether ministering in North America or around the globe, this is a must-read for anyone who is called to plant churches. For veteran church planters, it could serve as a useful reminder of, and perhaps as an encouragement to recalibrate, the principles of their church-planting ministry."

Tom Steffen

"J. D. Payne strategically shows how sustainable and sanctified apostolic church planting (churches birthed from disciple making) is actually simple, and he skillfully does so without being simplistic."

Nathan Shank

"No American alive today has seen church growth keep pace with US population growth. This reality seems to suggest we should stop doing church planting our way. J. D. points back to the simple biblical cycle designed to multiply. Grasping this cycle demands we wrestle with serious questions: Can new churches be formed from new believers? Can new pastors develop and emerge from within new churches? Can faithful church planting include an exit to leave new churches to develop on their own? J. D. Payne not only defends the potential of such notions, he demonstrates the biblical expectation that church planting be done this way."

Jeff Iorg

"Church planting must always be grounded in evangelism—reaching people who are not yet Christians with the gospel. When church planting degenerates into gathering disaffected Christians or otherwise reshuffling the already-converted into new congregational forms, it really isn't church planting at all! This book clearly articulates a model of true church planting and calls us to fulfill its biblical mandate. Read it and be challenged!"

Editorial Reviews

"Apostolic Church Planting is less like a how-to manual and more like a clinician's guidebook. It deals with the theology and theory of church planting as well as the practical steps involved. Few missiologists could have written it, but J. D. Payne is one of them. All who are in any way involved in church planting should study this book to be informed. All should read it to be refreshed."

David J. Hesselgrave

"Church planting is not a new concept to many, even in North America. However, the idea of apostolic church planting will be new and novel to many. The idea of teams who start with evangelism, allow those they reach to become a body of believers, focus on growing leaders and do all of this with an eye to leaving represents an old-new idea—old as the New Testament, new to us. In a nation that is increasingly hostile to the things of Christ, J. D.'s work is a much-needed call back to a biblical pattern of seeing the church take root among people who do not know him. If you are looking for biblical and practical help in how to mobilize teams of people for church planting, this book is a wonderful resource."

Van Kicklighter

"In a concise and readable manner, J. D. Payne has written a foundational book for church planters. Whether ministering in North America or around the globe, this is a must-read for anyone who is called to plant churches. For veteran church planters, it could serve as a useful reminder of, and perhaps as an encouragement to recalibrate, the principles of their church-planting ministry."

James Kim

"No American alive today has seen church growth keep pace with US population growth. This reality seems to suggest we should stop doing church planting our way. J. D. points back to the simple biblical cycle designed to multiply. Grasping this cycle demands we wrestle with serious questions: Can new churches be formed from new believers? Can new pastors develop and emerge from within new churches? Can faithful church planting include an exit to leave new churches to develop on their own? J. D. Payne not only defends the potential of such notions, he demonstrates the biblical expectation that church planting be done this way."

Nathan Shank

"Many church planters who would say they follow the apostles' methods fail to see churches multiply as the apostles did. They must read J. D. Payne's Apostolic Church Planting! He graciously points out the shortcomings of conventional church plants in a way that does not appear 'anti,' untying the usual knotty problems and simplifying common complications. I love his phrase, 'Plant the church that is, not the church to come.' Had I read that when I was young, I'd have avoided years of foolishly trying to birth mature churches! You will find these gems throughout the book, but brace yourself to face challenges from Scripture, field experience and testimonies of a healthy number of highly effective practitioners."

George Patterson

"J. D. Payne strategically shows how sustainable and sanctified apostolic church planting (churches birthed from disciple making) is actually simple, and he skillfully does so without being simplistic."

Tom Steffen

"Church planting must always be grounded in evangelism—reaching people who are not yet Christians with the gospel. When church planting degenerates into gathering disaffected Christians or otherwise reshuffling the already-converted into new congregational forms, it really isn't church planting at all! This book clearly articulates a model of true church planting and calls us to fulfill its biblical mandate. Read it and be challenged!"

Jeff Iorg

"Though a rather short book, Payne covers nearly everything you could want to know about evangelism that leads to new churches, from a definition of church planting to ecclesiology to training team members to a description of the stages of church planting and beyond. It's both thorough in scope and thoroughly biblical. . . . Payne gives you a simple, highly reproducible and extensively biblical approach for planting new churches among the planet's most unreached people groups."

Tobin Perry

"In this excellent work, J. D. Payne draws from his experience as a practitioner in the roles of church planter, sponsoring church mission pastor and planter coach to provide timely wisdom for those who are about to begin or are already traversing the church planting journey. Writing as a practitioner, his insights are practical and relevant. As a leading missiologist, his wisdom is well-grounded and trustworthy. In this book, Payne addresses some specific issues not covered in his earlier book, Discovering Church Planting. These two books should be tattered from use, highlighted, dog-eared and at the fingertips of every person leading any church planting endeavor."

Mark Custalow

"Apostolic Church Planting is less like a how-to manual and more like a clinician's guidebook. It deals with the theology and theory of church planting as well as the practical steps involved. Few missiologists could have written it, but J. D. Payne is one of them. All who are in any way involved in church planting should study this book to be informed. All should read it to be refreshed."

--David J. Hesselgrave, professor emeritus of mission, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

"In this excellent work, J. D. Payne draws from his experience as a practitioner in the roles of church planter, sponsoring church mission pastor and planter coach to provide timely wisdom for those who are about to begin or are already traversing the church planting journey. Writing as a practitioner, his insights are practical and relevant. As a leading missiologist, his wisdom is well-grounded and trustworthy. In this book, Payne addresses some specific issues not covered in his earlier book, Discovering Church Planting. These two books should be tattered from use, highlighted, dog-eared and at the fingertips of every person leading any church planting endeavor."

--Mark Custalow, church planting strategist, central east and southeast Virginia, Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia

"Many church planters who would say they follow the apostles' methods fail to see churches multiply as the apostles did. They must read J. D. Payne's Apostolic Church Planting! He graciously points out the shortcomings of conventional church plants in a way that does not appear 'anti, ' untying the usual knotty problems and simplifying common complications. I love his phrase, 'Plant the church that is, not the church to come.' Had I read that when I was young, I'd have avoided years of foolishly trying to birth mature churches! You will find these gems throughout the book, but brace yourself to face challenges from Scripture, field experience and testimonies of a healthy number of highly effective practitioners."

--George Patterson, church multiplier, author of Church Multiplication Guide, Come Quickly Dawn and Train and Multiply

"No American alive today has seen church growth keep pace with US population growth. This reality seems to suggest we should stop doing church planting our way. J. D. points back to the simple biblical cycle designed to multiply. Grasping this cycle demands we wrestle with serious questions: Can new churches be formed from new believers? Can new pastors develop and emerge from within new churches? Can faithful church planting include an exit to leave new churches to develop on their own? J. D. Payne not only defends the potential of such notions, he demonstrates the biblical expectation that church planting be done this way."

--Nathan Shank, church planting catalyst in Asia, coauthor of The Four Fields of Kingdom Growth

"Though a rather short book, Payne covers nearly everything you could want to know about evangelism that leads to new churches, from a definition of church planting to ecclesiology to training team members to a description of the stages of church planting and beyond. It's both thorough in scope and thoroughly biblical. . . . Payne gives you a simple, highly reproducible and extensively biblical approach for planting new churches among the planet's most unreached people groups."

--Tobin Perry, On Mission, Spring 2016

From the Publisher