Scholars Crossing Books The Works of Elmer Towns 1993 Getting a Church Started Student Manual Elmer L. Towns Liberty University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/towns_books Recommended Citation Towns, Elmer L., "Getting a Church Started Student Manual" (1993). Books. 20. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/towns_books/20 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the The Works of Elmer Towns at Scholars Crossing. It has been accepted for inclusion in Books by an authorized administrator of Scholars Crossing. For more information, please contact [email protected]. First Edition © Copyright 1975 by Impact Books A Division of John T. Benson Publishing Company Second Edition Edited by J. Douglas Porter © Copyright 1985 by Church Growth Institute P.O. Box 4404, Lynchburg, VA 24502 Third Edition Edited by Thomas A. Howe © Copyright 1993 by Liberty University School of LifeLong Learning P.O. Box 11803, Lynchburg, VA 24506 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 Beginning a church is not an automatic task even when the principles of this book are followed. Planting a church is an insurmountable task, but it can be accomplished. It faces difficult circumstances, but can be victorious. It usually is conceived with limited resources, but history demonstrates that churches will prosper because this task is the genius of Christianity. SECTION I. BIBLICAL FOUNDATION FOR CHURCH PLANTING Chapter 2. The Biblical Basis of Church Planting...................................................................... 5 Church planting is the logical outcome of the Great Commission and the best method to evangelize the exploding population centers of America. Chapter 3. Church Planting and the Nature of a Church ..........................................................13 The church planter must understand the Biblical nature of the church that he is starting. Many new congregations have failed because they did not fit the New Testament criteria of a church. Chapter 4. The Role of the Church Planter ..............................................................................21 The church planter must understand his gift, calling and office to successfully bring a New Testament church into existence. Chapter 5. The Theology of the Chartering Service.................................................................25 The chartering service recognizes that a new congregation has been brought together by God and that it is now recognized as a New Testament church that can administer the ordinances. Chapter 6. Biblical Answers to Questions About Church Planting...........................................45 There are many questions a church planter must answer according to the Word of God if he will have the full blessing of God on the new church. SECTION II. SIX METHODS OF CHURCH PLANTING Chapter 7. Mother-Daughter Church Planting .........................................................................57 Many churches have been successfully mothered by a mature congregation in order to evangelize a new area. Chapter 8. Mission Sunday School Church Planting ................................................................61 Many mission Sunday Schools never become a New Testament church, but other missions grow in outreach and nurture so that they become an indigenous church. Chapter 9. Bible Study Church Planting...................................................................................69 Bible study groups have been used of God to reach many individuals for Christ. However, those that become church apply principles that are contained in this chapter. Chapter 10. Associational Efforts to Plant a Church ..................................................................73 Some new churches are the result of the cooperative efforts of a group of churches. Whereas no one church may be strong enough to plant a church by itself, several churches can work together to complete the task. Chapter 11. Planting a Church From a Church Split ..................................................................77 There are many tragedies involved in a church split, and in some occurrences a new congregation emerges out of the turmoil. if certain biblical principles are followed, a New Testament church can emerge out of the ashes of a church split. Chapter 12. The Pioneering Church Planter ...............................................................................85 The pioneering church planter does not work through a mothering church, mission Sunday School or Bible study class. He goes to an area because God has called him there to start a new church and to evangelize the area for Christ. SECTION III. 84 STEPS TO PLANT A CHURCH Chapter 13. Steps to Plant a Church...........................................................................................95 There is no single correct avenue in starting a church, but there are general guidelines that the church planter should follow if he wants to be successful. SECTION IV. APPENDIX Chapter 14. Constitution ..........................................................................................................139 Many soul-winning churches fail because they have used the traditional church constitution that gave the leadership of the church to someone other than the pastor or organized the church for purposes other than fulfilling the Great Commission. Chapter 15. Chartering Statement ............................................................................................149 This statement has been used to charter new churches for almost 200 years. It places the burden upon "We the people" so that congregational autonomy is both the foundation and continuation of the new church. Chapter 16. Community Survey..........................................................................................................151 When the church planter has a knowledge of the area into which he is going, God is able to give him clearer leading and the church will grow more healthy because it will probably have fewer problems to overcome in its future. Chapter 17. Liberty Baptist Fellowship for Church Planting ....................................................157 Liberty Baptist Fellowship for Church Planting is the organizational arm of Liberty Baptist Schools to plant 5,000 new churches by 2000 A.D. The material in this section explains the nature of a fellowship of Baptist churches to plant new churches. Model News Release ............................................................................................161 For Further Study .................................................................................................163 Directory...............................................................................................................164 1 INTRODUCTION Starting a church is exciting, but never an easy task. The miracle of birth is just as evident in church planting as when a child is born. The world is not hospitable to soul-winning. Most new churches begin with inadequate facilities and limited resources. It almost seems that if they are too financially prosperous, their vitality is not equal to the task. Like pioneering families, the greatest victories are won only against the most threatening foes. There is no ideal place to start a church. The Bible Belt is not ideal because people are gospel-hardened and many areas are over churched. The Catholic neighborhood has a built-in religion barrier, and cold northern cities reject soul-winning churches, calling them, religious fanatics. New churches are always conceived in the heart of their founder and born in adversity. New churches challenge us to "think the impossible" and "expect the victorious." God still uses those who step out on faith, follow His plan and tenaciously agonize in work. Starting new churches is the genius of Christianity. As the population explodes and another community comes into existence, new churches are needed. As old churches lose their fervency and slip into liberalism, new churches are needed to take their place. Wendell Belew of the Southern Baptist Home Mission Board plans over 500 new churches in America every year. Someone asks, "What method do you plan to use to plant 500 new churches a year?" He replies, "For 500 churches, we need 500 methods." Every community has different needs, and every group of people reflects a different composite personality. Each pastor must minister according to his spiritual gifts, hence there is a different application of Biblical principles in every new church. New churches are successful in rural, small towns, city and metropolitan areas. Men use a different formula in building each church. Yet, many patterns are similar because certain timeless principles transcend space and culture. These grow out of the nature of the church and the principles in the New Testament. Some churches have grown faster than others. No church is perfect - like young children they are growing through the pains of childhood. But even in youth, there is something compelling about a child. Each church, as reflected in each of its pastor-founders, has different strengths. Hence, each is a different example to guide those building a church. I do not consider myself an authority on establishing new churches. I have interviewed men and have written their stories. They are the authorities. I am simply the channel through which the story