In September of 2008, I heard God call me to plant a church that would help plant other churches (I tell the story a little bit here). For two years, my wife and I prayed, read books, listened to podcasts, followed blogs, and absorbed as much as we could about church planting to help us sort out this crazy idea. Church planting was not new to us as we had helped with a church plant in the Denver, CO area for three years. But because I felt deeply inadequate to this calling of leading a new church, I wanted to know as much about church planting to help me sort through what I heard God say to me.
But what I read and learned during those two years has been completely unsettled by David Garrison's book Church Planting Movements.
I first heard about this book in Exponential by Dave and Jon Ferguson. I read Exponential in preparation for my year-long Leadership Residency at Restore Community Church. Dave raved about Garrison's report, so when I had an opportunity to get Church Planting Movements for free through Mission Frontiers in exchange for this book review, I jumped at the chance.
But I did not expect what I read. Garrison reveals amazing movements of God that are happening all over the world. As I read page after page of viral movements of people coming to know Christ and churches being planted as a result, I felt like I was reading a modern day sequel to the Book of Acts. I was utterly dumbfounded, overwhelmed, and awed at what I was learning.
Now, I should admit something. By nature, I'm a fairly accepting guy, liking most everybody I meet. However, when it comes to religious and spiritual teachings, reports, books, etc., I can get a bit skeptical. Perhaps it is discernment. Perhaps it is just skepticism. But what made me buy into Garrison's report is that he's a Southern Baptist boy raised on traditional Baptist church values (building, paid staff, Sunday School, seminary, etc.). He has no ax to grind with his denomination (he still works for them). He didn't have an agenda to dismantle the current North American church model. He simply was reporting what at one-time was secretly happening all over the world and had begun to be discovered in the mid-1990s. And much of what is happening around the world in these movements looks nothing like the church models found in North America.
Definitions and World Tours
After David opens the book sharing how he stumbled onto the news of these church planting movements, he gives a definition of church planting movements (CPMs) in Chapter 2:
A Church Planting Movement is a rapid multiplication of indigenous churches planting churches that sweeps through a people group or population segment. (pg. 21)
Much to my surprise, Garrison doesn't launch into a biblical defense of these movements in the next chapter. Instead, he takes his reader chapter by chapter all around the world, sharing amazing movements of God happening in urban areas of one country, remote areas of another country, among oppressed peoples on one continent, among the poor of another continent, and more. These CPMs each have their own cultural distinctives, and yet there are some unifying features in each of these movements, which helped Garrison and others realize that there was something taking place that most North American based churches and missionary agencies weren't seeing.
For example, a typical fully-devoted Christ-follower in an American city would be amazed at a church that grew by 1000 people in one year, (500 of those being new converts), and then planted another church of 200 people. ( I know I'd be THRILLED with that!) Twitterpastors would call it a revival on their blogs, the Lead Pastor would probably be invited to speak at some conferences, and his first book about the "secret" to their "success" would be on shelves within the year.
But contrast this with the story in Chapter 16 of a Chinese city of 20 million people with only 200 known Christ-followers among three churches. One of those churches allowed "training" class of 30 people (some of whom were elderly) to help start new churches throughout the city. Within one year, this "class" saw over 12,000 people come to Christ and 908 house churches planted. (I'm telling you - this is Book-of-Acts type stuff! And that wasn't the end - according to this document, 3 years later the movement was up to 15,000 churches and 160,000 believers!)
CPMs Exposed
So what is the secret to the incredible success of these CPMs? Garrison reports there are 10 features in every church planting movement, without exception. These ten are:
- Extraordinary Prayer
- Abundant Evangelism
- Intentional Planting of Reproducing Churches
- The Authority of God's Word
- Local Leadership
- Lay Leadership
- House Churches
- Churches Planting Churches
- Rapid Reproduction
- Healthy Churches
Many things on this list were of no surprise to me (like Authority of God's Word) or inspiringly challenging (Extraordinary Prayer). But I was deeply unsettled by the fact that ALL these movements are house church movements. All my life, all I've really known is the "attractional model" church (build it and they will come). While I am not anti-house church by any stretch of the means, it was surprising and unsettling to think that all of these CPMs were house church movements. I've heard of rapidly growing attractional churches in South Korea, across Africa and South America, and even kept tabs on the growth of megachurches in America, but the growth in these types of churches is small and slow compared to these CPMs. And that has shaken me to my church planting core.
The Rest of the Book
Chapter 13 shares ten more elements that are in most CPMs, but don't seem to be universal. They include things like:
- A Climate of Uncertainty in Society
- Insulation from Outsiders
- A High Cost for Following Christ
- and seven more.
Garrison does eventually share a biblical defense of CPMs. He also dedicates a chapter to "The Seven Deadly Sins" that keep CPMs from starting or continuing. And he also gives a helpful FAQ chapter (which appears to be aimed at North American Christians, and probably "discerning" pastors and theologians like me). But to learn more of those, you'll have to pick up the book yourself.
The Ending
Before the Epilogue and Appendices, Garrison has a "Call to Action" chapter. In it he challenges his reader to join in with these CPMs. He lays out 5 stages that it takes to become part of a CPM. If I were writing this book, I will admit I probably would have written a chapter like this. With that said, I didn't like the chapter.
What I didn't like was that Garrison teeters on the edge of guilting his reader into being part of CPMs. Because of all he has seen and learned, I can't blame him one bit for being passionate about CPMs and wanting to see people support and even get involved in these movements. But anytime I sense someone pushing me into something, I find myself hesitating inside (perhaps its the GenXer in me ;-). I was already being challenged by what I had read prior to this final chapter, deeply considering the impact this could have on my future church planting endeavors. I didn't need a salesman's tactic of guilting me into jumping on the CPM band wagon.
A Personal Response
Despite the last chapter, I am disturbed in good ways. I am inspired by what hearing about the move of God's Spirit all around the world. I'm in awe of His work. I'm encouraged that God is starting these movements through ordinary people (like me!). I'm challenged to think even more deeply about the future work ahead of me. I long to see these types of things happen through my own life.
But I am also asking questions:
- To see a movement like this happen in Iowa and America, does it have to happen exactly like these other movements?
- What would be the cultural distinctives if I did see a CPM happen here?
- Is America too evangelized for a CPM to take place?
- Or is America too "post-Christian" for a CPM to take place?
- Are "Christians" too apathetic to risk it all for something like this?
- Some of what the book exposes almost reveals a "formula" to these movements. Is that because God is in this, or does a "formula" reveal too much of man's involvement?
So I am disturbed. I'm wrestling. I have no idea how this will affect the church or churches I end up helping start. And I don't want to be made to feel guilty if I decide that God's Spirit is leading me differently. But I am VERY glad I read this book. I have a feeling I may be dipping into it every now and then to re-read portions and be challenged again. And I truly do long to see a massive wave of God change thousands and thousands of people's lives - and would be honored to be a part of it. I am doing what Garrison writes on pg. 17, asking myself
"In light of what you've shown us, O Lord, what should we now do?"
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 house churches
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