Developing a Regional Church Multiplication Strategy

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Developing a Regional Church Multiplication
Strategy

• Presenter Dr. Dan Morgan
• Associate Professor of Missions
• Director, Nehemiah Project at SWBTS
• Fort Worth, TX

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Session 1

• The Impact of Regional Strategies- Two Case
  Studies

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The Impact of the Status Quo

• The Northwest Baptist Convention
• Stuck at 450 churches for 20 years
• The Willamette Valley
• No church plants for a decade
• Bluebonnet Association
• Struggling financially, no new work in seven years

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Association Ministry Capacity

• A function of church ministry capacity
• Churches older than ten years tend to be stable,
  but not showing net growth. Often in slow
  decline.
• So, without church planting, associations
  stagnate
• Yet, your stewardship is for each soul in your
  region this should generate urgency

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Story 1 Bluebonnet Baptist Assoc

• Arrived 1999
• one 7-yr old anglo plant still on support
• Two old hispanic missions on support
• A few churches willing to sponsor
• Status Quo growth
• Occasional maverick plants and affiliates
• Occasional church fight results in a split
• What was needed was a strategic plan

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Strategic Planting

• Three kinds clone, state-forced, partnership
• Clone not adaptable to new contexts and takes
  members from existing churches
• State-forced Sometimes breeds resentment in
  local churches
• Partnership keeps ownership in the hands of the
  local church by making them partners in the
  process J.K.s preference

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Doing it right Forming Partnerships

• Dr Minton identified three critical issues that
  would make or break an associational approach
• Outside pressure form a partnership with at
  least three local churches, so they have a
  majority and can resist outside pressure
• Project control partnership shares control
• Planter accountability Begins with selection of
  a trustworthy, capable planter, then works
  through a covenanted relationship w/ team

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The Results

• 2001 first Strategic Planning Team plant
  failed due to poor planter selection
• 2002 Everyday Fellowship Corey Webb good
  assessment successful plant
• 2003 2006 four churches per year
• Now 18 total, 2 failed, 7 self-supporting, 1
  not-supported, rest in phase-down
• 60 of churches help sponsor, number continues to
  grow
• All plants become partners in new projects

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Particulars of J.K.s Plan

• Uses a 2-yr phase down, helps them prepare to go
  bi-vo if they arent going to reach self-support
  in the two years
• Right now there are 7 churches somewhere in the
  process with four more scheduled for 2007
• This is a funded process, so growth is limited by
  state and assoc. funding ability this is a
  limiting factor

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Reproducing

• I sponsored a seminar in 2004 for ADOMs
• Jim Gaitliff attended and picked up on J.K.s
  process
• He customized it for his setting, then
  systematized it as a program called PRIME
• Now he is training other associations in his
  system

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Story 2 Kauf-Vann Hunt Assoc

• Jim is a long-time Texas pastor who became the
  associate ADOM for two associations in 2004.
• No strategy, he was hired to establish one
• Attended J.K.s training
• Formalized an approach around four milestones

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Jims milestones

• Right Place develop list of sites for plants
• Windshield surveys, demographic studies, etc
• Right Planter Screened and matched to a site
• Recruited from churches, college, seminary
• Right Partners local churches, assoc, state,
  NAMB, non-local partner church
• Right Plan Planter develops detailed plan, and
  is trained to implement it

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Results

• Hunt Association
• 10 partner churches at start
• 17 missions funded
• Gone from 68 to 86 churches in 30 months
• Kauf-Vann Association
• 7 partner churches to start, now 30 partners, 40
  of total churches partner in planting
• 20 missions funded
• Gone from 62 to 81 churches, 3 Hispanic cells, 4
  multi-housing cells

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Reproduction

• Jim is training several Texas associations in his
  system
• Oklahoma and Missouri state staffs have requested
  versions of PRIME for their states
• Jim is training the Hudson Baptist Association in
  New York State in this process as I speak

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Session Wrapup

• It is possible to move a stagnant association
  toward remarkable growth
• There are a limited number of problems that must
  be solved for success
• These two leaders have hit on a systematic
  approach that points the way forward for all of
  us.
• The next session will look in depth at that
  systematic approach

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Session 2

• A Systematic Approach to Church Multiplication

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Pre-requisites

• A leader willing to engage the problem
• A compelling message to raise awareness and
  recruit a few pastors to the task
• An association willing to let the staff try and
  make a difference

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Issues to address

• The strategy cant depend on pulling members out
  of existing churches, nor on a significant
  increase in the average churchs giving
• No one entity can have unbridled control over a
  church plant project
• The system must be able to resist outside
  pressure that would subvert the process
• The planter must be able to implement his vision,
  but with accountability for results, character,
  and theology

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A Model System

• A Process to develop a prioritized list of
  strategic church planting sites/people groups
• A process to develop a pool of qualified planters
  and match them to strategic sites
• A process to form a Strategic Planning Team for
  each project and initiate that project
• A process to preserve and expand the resource
  base partners, money, planters
• A process to reproduce the process in churches,
  associations, and state conventions

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Finding Sites and People Groups

• Who? make it a major part of someones job
  description Key it must be constantly updated
  and re-prioritized with input from the ADOM
• Sites and Groups are the warp and woof of
  targeting plants, so you need both geo and demo
  info
• Matching projects with planters is a dynamic
  process that needs active advocacy by the ADOM or
  strategist

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Finding Planters

• Seminary, College, Career sources all contribute
• Assess for general aptitude and character
• Match planter passion with particular projects
• This requires trained assessors and coaches
• As the pool of assessors grows, assess toward
  specific contexts and models

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Forming the SPT Who?

• State, association always in
• Particular churches are asked
• A church plant
• A never-sponsored-before church
• A major funding church
• The planter will lead the team

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Forming the SPT How?

• The ADOM/strategist matches a project with a
  planter and invites potential partners to meet
• The first meeting is to assess the planter and
  agree to call.
• The second meeting, the planter presents his plan
  and it is reviewed, then a covenant is formed.
• Partners commit funding, and forms the first
  quarter budget
• Planter commits strategy and to be accountable

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Expanding the Resource Base

• The staff is always on the lookout for potential
  planters, and partners with church planter
  training centers
• The staff invites new partners with each project.
  Minor partners often become major partners in a
  subsequent project
• Plants are required to escrow a percentage of
  receipts for sponsoring church planting partner
  the second year
• Partner outside assoc. for funding, while funding
  is growing internally

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Session 3

• The Strategic Planning Team Key to success

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Principles for Success

• Covenanted partnership
• Expanding the pool of sponsors
• Planter free to implement his strategy
• Partners fund a quarterly budget based on
  demonstrated need
• Partners help assess planter
• Planter needs a veteran planter coach

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The Covenant

• Partners commit for the duration of the project
• Meeting quarterly to review results
• Monthly giving to church plant
• The planter is guaranteed the right to implement
  his strategy
• The planter commits to be accountable to team for
  results, finances, character
• State and Assoc. partners adjust their money
  quarterly as planters budget requires
• Signed, everyone gets a copy

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Initiating the SPT

• ADOM or staff asks churches to consider being a
  partner. Commitment adjusted to fit the church.
• Minton has SPT assess planter, Gaitliff has team
  of assessors do it.
• SPT gathers to review strategic plan of planter,
  commit funds, and to sign a covenant.

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Quarterly Meetings

• Budget is funded quarter by quarter
• Planter is in charge of the meeting
• Reviews results of ministry initiatives
• Reviews finances
• Reviews plan for next quarter and the money it
  will take to do it
• Project growth in people finances to stay on
  tract for self-support
• State and Assoc. leaders commit funding

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Between Meetings

• ADOM or strategist is contact person
• Planter cultivates relationship with partners
  increases buy-in of partner congregations to this
  project and planting in general
• Planter spends to limits of his budget to
  accomplish stated objectives

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Session 4

• From addition to multiplication

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Model and honor multiplication

• Planters who will sponsor other plants
• Honor sponsors at annual meeting, etc, especially
  grandparents
• Honor dying churches who sponsor a church and
  then give it their resources once it is
  established

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Break Dependence on Money, Buildings, and
Seminary training

• All of these are good in themselves, but cant be
  turned into a CPM.
• Broaden planting to new work and include new
  units that are dependent on a mother church as
  well as independent
• Establish a system to get leaders from the
  harvest
• Recruiting calling out the called
• Training OJT lay Bible classes

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Use World Missions to Fuel Local Missions

• IMB short-term missions journeyman
• NAMB short-term USC-2
• Correspond with and host missionaries
• Take advantage of cross-cultural skills brought
  back by journeymen and missionaries

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Push the System into the Local Church

• See Article

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You have been given stewardship

• Of a region of this earth
• Over all the people groups who dwell in it
• To establish the Kindgom
• Working through local churches
• Until He returns