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A Strategy for Church Planting in the Central Region of the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada

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A Strategy for Church Planting in the Central Region of the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada Guillermin Library Liberty University Lynchburg, VA 24502 REFERENCE NOT LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY A STRATEGY FOR CHURCH PLANTING IN THE CENTRAL REGION OF THE FELLOWSHIP OF EVANGELICAL BAPTIST CHURCHES IN CANADA A Thesis Project Submitted To Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary In Partial Fulfillment Of The Requirements For The Degree DOCTOR OF MINISTRY By Douglas Brent Powell Boston, Ontario March,1998 .......................------------------------~~ LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY THESIS PROJECT APPROVAL SHEET A GRADE ABSTRACT A STRATEGY FOR CHURCH PLANTING IN THE FELLOWSHIP OF EVANGELICAL BAPTIST CHURCHES IN CANADA CENTRAL REGION D. Brent Powell Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, 1998 Mentor: Dr. Frank Schmitt Church planting is essential for the evangelization of Canada. The purpose of this project is to develop a strategy for church planting within the central region of The Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada (FEB CENTRAL). This project examines the biblical nature of the church and church planting, highlights salient features of contemporary church planting, outlines a history of Baptist church planting in FEB CENTRAL, reviews two survey/questionnaires given to FEB CENTRAL church planters and administrators, and develops a strategy for church planting in the FEB CENTRAL region of The Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada. Abstract length: 99 words. iv , DEDICATION I am truly grateful to my loving wife, Esther, and my daughter, Rachael, for their patience and great encouragement to me during the writing of this paper. Their cheerfulness and graceful understanding made this rewarding task even more gratifying. I trust that the Lord might be pleased to use the concepts, principles and strategies discussed throughout this dissertation for the advancement of His work in Ontario and Canada. "Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end" (Ephesians 3:21). v CONTENTS DEDICATION ..................................................................................................................... v Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 1 The Proposed Purpose of this Strategy ........................................................ 1 The Pertinent Terminology of this Strategy ................................................. 1 The Present Need of this Strategy ................................................................ 2 The Particular Scope and Limitations of this Strategy .............................. 22 2. THE BIBLICAL NATURE OF THE CHURCH............................................... 24 The Director of the Church ........................................................................ 26 The Description of the Church .................................................................. .33 The Development of the Church ............................................................... .43 The Dynamic of the Church ...................................................................... .47 The Directive of the Church ....................................................................... 50 Summary .................................................................................................... 52 3. THE BIBLICAL NATURE OF CHURCH PLANTING.................................. 54 The Person and Intent of God .................................................................... 54 The Passion of Christ. ................................................................................ 60 The Province of the Holy Spirit.. ............................................................... 64 The Peril of Mankind ................................................................................. 68 VI The Practice of Paul. .................................................................................. 73 The Principle of Scripture .......................................................................... 78 The Biblical Distinctives of Baptist Churches ........................................... 83 Summary .................................................................................................... 85 4. PRACTICAL ISSUES IN CHURCH PLANTING........................................... 87 Church Planting Methods .......................................................................... 87 Church Planter Selection........................................................................... 94 Church Planter Recruitment.. ................................................................... 104 Church Planter Supervision and Evaluation ............................................ 106 Church Plant Selection ............................................................................. 11 0 Summary .................................................................................................. 113 5. A HISTORY OF BAPTIST CHURCH PLANTING IN FEB CENTRAL. .... 115 Discovery 1797-1927 ............................................................................... 115 Division 1927-1953 ................................................................................. 124 Development 1953-1985 .......................................................................... 128 Diversification 1985-1997 ....................................................................... 135 Denominations ......................................................................................... 141 Summary .................................................................................................. 143 6. THE PRESENT STATUS OF CHURCH PLANTING IN FEB CENTRAL..145 Survey Introduction ................................................................................. 145 FEB CENTRAL Administrative SurveylInterview ................................. 146 FEB CENTRAL Church Planter SurveylInterview ................................. 156 Vll Summary .................................................................................................. 166 7. A STRATEGY FOR CHURCH PANTING IN FEB CENTRAL .................. 169 Introduction .............................................................................................. 169 A Basis for FEB CENTRAL Church Planting ........................................ 170 A Strategy for FEB CENTRAL Church Planting .................................... 173 Summary .................................................................................................. 192 Conclusion ............................................................................................... 193 Appendix 1. FEB CENTRAL MONTHLY REPORT FORMS ........................................... 194 2. STATEMENT OF FAITH OF THE FELLOWSHIP OF EVANGELICAL BAPTISTS CHURCHES ................................................................................. 199 3. FEB CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE SURVEYIINTERVIEWS ................. 202 4. FEB CENTRAL CHURCH PLANTER SURVEYIINTERVIEWS ................ 219 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................ 260 viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The ProPQsedl~urpose of this Strategy: The purpose of this project is to establish a church planting strategy for the central region of The Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada (FEB CENTRAL). As the task of reaching Ontario and English speaking Quebec is so great and the resources so limited, a systematic and strategic approach to planting many more new churches in FEB CENTRAL is needed. As shall be demonstrated in the discussion below, the demographic, cultural and religious scene in Ontario is increasingly and exponentially changing. The limited resources of the Fellowship and the significant costs of church planting necessitate a dynamically fluid and innovative strategy to church planting so as to invest the funds and efforts in the most productive way. The selection and training of church planters, the selection of church plants, the vision and promotion of church planting, the evaluation and supporting of church planters and church plants, the mentoring and continuing development of church planters, and the general administration of church planting in FEB CENTRAL all have to be incorporated in a uniquely Fellowship oriented strategy. The Pertinent Terminolog~ of this Strate~y: 1 Throughout this project, certain terminology will be used that should be defined at this point. The term "Fellowship" refers to the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada. This particular group of churches is evangelical and Baptistic in nature and polity. The distinctive theological stance of the Fellowship is outlined in the Appendix of this project. The term "FEB CENTRAL" refers to The Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada, Central Region and specifically refers to those Fellowship churches situated in the province of Ontario and a few English speaking churches scattered throughout the province of Quebec, The majority of the 290 FEB CENTRAL churches are found throughout Ontario; hence, the emphasis in this paper on Ontario. Furthermore, these Ontario churches are largely situated in Southern Ontario where the majority of the population of Ontario resides. Most of the province of Quebec is linguistically French speaking. As such, it comes under Fellowship National French missions and FEB FRENCH provincial administration. The provinces of Ontario and Quebec are situated in the central region of Canada; hence, the name FEB CENTRAL.
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