Last week, Baptist Press released the article by Carol Pipes: “ACP: More Churches Reported; Baptisms Decline.” Media sources across the country quickly ran stories on the information found in the article. The Southern Baptist Convention added 294 churches in 2015. However, our membership declined by more than 200,000 people, with […]
Evangelism
The concept of church multiplication movements is often discussed in missiological circles. Kingdom citizens desire to see “the word of the Lord. . . speed ahead and be honored” (2 Thes 3:1) and for new churches to be taught the “whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27). Nathan Shank is my […]
Nathan Shank on Church Multiplication and Health
Evangelicals often talk about church planting. However, given the way most people speak about church planting and apply such methods to the field, I wonder if a great deal of evangelicals either prefer to avoid biblical guidelines when it comes to this ministry or simply do not know of the […]
Where Do Churches Come From?
The most critical issue in church planting work today is an ecclesiological issue. Theology affects field practices. A team’s understanding of biblical ecclesiology shapes everything accomplished in the present and for years to come. Across the world, many church planting teams, partnering churches, and mission agencies are attempting to plant […]
Plant the Church that Is, not the Church to Come
I have been thinking about the contents of this post for several months. With all of the needs in the world, where should we begin our disciplemaking activities? Asking and responding to this question is a matter of Spirit-guided, Kingdom stewardship. Over the years, evangelicals have considered this question and […]
Only 400 People Groups to Go?
A few weeks ago I presented a paper at the Southeastern regional meeting of the Evangelical Missiological Society. My paper’s title: “Educating Today’s Pastors Toward an Apostolic Imagination.” After spending eighteen years (and counting) in the academic setting and the same amount of time (and counting) in pastoral ministry, I […]
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