Spontaneous

Church multiplication — or a ‘church planting movement’ — happens when God prepares many people within a cultural group to embrace the Good News. They trust in Jesus Christ and pass on His promise of forgiveness and life to relatives and friends. It is spontaneous;  requiring little or no help from outsiders to keep spreading once it is under way. The Holy Spirit moves new believers and churches to reproduce as in the parable in which the seed of the Kingdom potentially multiplies 100 times per harvest. Church history shows us that church multiplication is the norm for healthy churches. But we do not achieve it simply by spending money or consulting with professional missiologists. Nor do we get it from pricey, quick-start
programs. Funds and good strategy help, but do not drive the movement. We seldom see churches multiply rapidly now in the English-speaking West where funds are most available and well-researched strategies abound. Most American Christians, for example, have few friends or relatives that live where there are no churches. Furthermore, few Westerners are aware that healthy, normal churches reproduce. God promises to every church gifted ‘sent ones’ (apostles, Ephesians 4:11) to carry its spiritual DNA to her daughter churches.

Biblical truth is intensely practical. We must use it in teaching to build up the body of Christ, not just to impart knowledge. Good teaching applies God’s Word to people’s lives and ministries. 2 Timothy 3:14-17 reveals the purpose of biblical instruction: to equip believers for service. Biblical teaching has the clear objective of mobilizing church members for ministry, as explained in Ephesians 4:11-16.

Church history, Scripture and current field observations reveal that church multiplication is God’s norm. Objective researchers, like David Garrison in Church Planting Movements, see it resulting from many new believers and young churches doing hard work in love for Christ. Sterile church bodies that fail to reproduce are the abnormal ones.

Faith Comes by Hearing shared a story of one Saramaccan village, parents requested a Sunday school class and, seeing the positive effects of Christians on the community, the chief demanded that a church be established. A second village saw 42 young people come to Christ following the film and many healings that displayed the greatness of God took place during the prayer time. Two listening groups started immediately and, by the time a follow-up visit was performed, these had multiplied into several more through passing the Proclaimer around the village.

The primary duties of elders include praying and studying Scripture, leading the vision of the church, caring for the people of the church, teaching, living lives that are exemplary, protecting the people of the church from false doctrine and teachers, and developing other leaders.