V. CONTINUATION: The Reproduction of Churches
A. PROSPECTING. For EXTENSION GROWTH establishing new congregations through church planting. The faster you can lead the church to indigenous church life, the better you can direct it for missions outreach. Prepare. "Put your House in Order." Aim for a healthy church, ready for action. God will enable His church, but pastors should do their homework. Recruit leaders and organize. Stabilize church finances.
B. PROMOTING. Educate the church on Missions and Church planting.
1. Local church, not Mission Board of denominations, is the normal agency of missions. The NT churches should be missionary churches, sending workers out to fulfill the great Commission (Acts 13).
2. Develop a missionary vision, transfer the vision to the leadership and membership of the church. Share to the Church God's burden for mission.
a. Design a curriculum to teach mission.
b. Invite Teachers and Missions enthusiasts to speak.
c. Schedule missionary trips, like S.O.S. to expose leaders to missions.
d. Organize a missions program of financial support, adopt a Pioneer Worker [your own recruit and trained, or from any AG Bible School] to plant a church next town.
C. ENLISTING, all the members of the Church. Members get involved in the Missions program thru praying, going, and giving! None is exempted in Missions. We will live and pray for missions, asking God to increase our ability to obey the Great Commission.
1. Obedience will always involve planting of churches. The NT church grew by being scattered thru persecution or by obeying and going out into the mission fields. The churches sent the witnesses to the mission field. MAT 28:18-20 2CO 5:17-6:1 The geographical extent of this mission is to the ends of the earth! The pattern is in Acts 1:8.
2. Training Workers: preachers, teachers, evangelists, in other words, Church planters. Organize manpower to reach Barangays.
3. An extending church uses all its resources: money, workers, training, etc. to reach barangays, or other towns or cities, beyond their locality.
D. PLANTING. To start something may be difficult but not impossible. Attempt such things, as Planting a Church. CHURCH PLANTING PATTERNS: How church planting begins in contemporary times:
1. Church Split Over Problems: painful divisions destroy church testimony to the world, shows lack of love and unity. Resulting Churches get that spirit.
2. Planned Division to Start New Church: Mother church gives a number of families and trained workers from its membership to start a new congregation in a new area. Multiplication by division! Most likely Self-supporting.
3. Mother Church Starts New Churches, By training, sending and supporting church planting workers. Within supervised period, the church planted becomes indigenous.
4. Pioneer evangelist Starts New Churches, Stays with the place for a determined time and move to another place. Pool of pastors are trained to take over the work. Support: especial arrangement.
5. Crusades and Aftercare: All kinds of mass media and public forum used. Powerful preaching with signs, wonders and miracles. Then a systematic aftercare for those who received Christ! Combined with other patterns.
6. Christian Institutions: Schools, orphanages, hospitals - used to gain confidence of the people and to lay the foundation of the future. Slow but it works! Big financial loads, but can grow to be self-supporting.
E. MONITORING. Seeing to it that the Workers are faithful, blessed and victorious. PURPOSES OF MONITORING: To Find a Sense of Usefulness. To Evaluate Measure of Success. To Review Status of Ministry. To Assist Decisions of Management. To Establish Proof of Integrity. To Open Avenue of Encouragement
1. RESPONSIBILITIES. Goals for the Sponsoring Church: To Encourage the Worker. To Seek to Understand. To Help Worker Accomplish His Task. To Pray for New Direction. The Sponsoring Church is responsible to:
a. Implement. At the start of the Work, Specific goals and strategies has been set. These then must be attained. Success or failure is based on the reaching of these goals. Nothing to sidetrack or discourage the worker and the sponsor.
b. Strengthen. Workers need encouragement and moral support. Prayers, exhortations, counsels are to be given.
c. Guard. There are three areas for which the worker must be monitored: Morals, Message and Methods.
d. Direct. Changes, Plans, Strategies, Solving Problems.
2. ACCOUNTABILITY. There is accountability on the part of the Worker being supported, ACTS 14:26-28. Local Church as a Missions Agency and Commissioning Church, sending church planters to target areas, is the most effective channel of accountability. Goals for the Church Planter: To give an accurate accounting of his ministry. To receive new direction and motivation. To receive Feedback and Confirmations.
a. In stewardship, anyone entrusted to manage or do any work must furnish a reckoning, an explanation how the assignment is done and the result of what was done. Each one is accountable to someone, and ultimately to God.
b. Reporting is giving an accounting, presenting a list of information, of our stewardship, often at regular intervals, formal or informal.
c. ASPECTS. Official Accountability is expressed to people holding position of authority over us, authorized, by contract or affiliation to which we are properly accountable.
1) Ministerial Accountability, giving an accounting of our Ministerial Calling, and the results of ministry.
2) Moral Accountability, our responsibility to maintain a clear and holy testimony of our lives before people.
3) Financial Accountability, accounting for all the finances entrusted to us.
4) Spiritual Accountability, sense of personal responsibility before God. Ultimately, all of us, Planter and Sponsor will give an accounting to God.