|
This list has been assembled primarily from books dealing with church planting published after 1990. It was assembled in the summer of 2003 by Timothy J. Etherington as part of a field education course at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Soli Deo Gloria.
Brock, Charles, Indigenous Church Planting
A Practical Journey (Neosho, MO: Church Growth International, 1994). Brock lays out a practical plan for local church planting. Though he was a missionary to the Philippines, he spent fours year planting churches in the US before writing this book.
Conn, Harvie M. Ed., Planting and Growing Urban Churches
From Dream to Reality (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1997). The essays are organized around four themes: research, strategic planning, targeting and examples of successful urban ministry. Each section provides a substantive introduction and a list of resources.
Faircloth, Samuel D., Church Planting for Reproduction
(Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1991). A rather technical guide to church planting based on a business model that originated in 1958. The model employs an elaborate chart to communicate the steps involved. With other approaches built around less complex models, it seems Faircloth's model is helpful than others.
Francis, Hozell C., Church Planting in the African-American Context
(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999). Drawing form a wealth of experience, Francis gives the theory and the practice for planting a church in today's black community.
Malphurs, Aubrey, Planting Growing Churches for the 21st Century: A Comprehensive Guide for New Churches and Those Desiring Renewal
2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1998). A very thorough and practical guide to church planning. There are many helpful worksheets which summarize and help apply the material. Malphurs approaches church planning from a church-growth or large-church perspective which may be foreign to those outside that tradition. More attention to prayer in the process of church planting would have been helpful.
Mannoia, Kevin W., Church Planting The Next Generation: Introducing the Century 21 Church Planting System
(Indianapolis, IN: Light and Life Press, 1994). Aimed at the denomination level for starting a church planting movement. It is somewhat dated and its usefulness today is probably diminished as things have change and been refined since its publication.
Murray, Stuart, Church Planting: Laying Foundations
(Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 2001). An indispensable book forming the theological groundwork for church planting. Murray deals with objections and lays out a solid biblical basis for church planting.
Patterson, George and Richard Scoggins, Church Multiplication Guide: The Miracle of Church Reproduction
(Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2002). The book is really a detailed checklist for planting a church presented in a conversational format.
Piper, John, Let the Nations Be Glad: The Supremacy of God in Missions
2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 2003). Though this book is not about church planting, it is useful in framing a God-centered theology of missions.
Rainer, Thom S., Giant Awakenings: Making the Most of 9 Surprising Trends That Can Benefit Your Church
(Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publisher, 1995). One of the trends Rainer discusses is church planting. That chapter is a brief introduction to church planting.
Ratliff, Joe S. and Michael J. Cox, Church Planting in the African-American Community
(Nashville: Broadman Press, 1993). Ratliff and Cox set for methods and approaches for developing new churches primarily aimed at the African-American community. They come from a large church that has successfully planted churches in the Houston area.
Romo, Oscar I., American Mosaic: Church Planting in Ethnic America
(Nashville: Broadman Press, 1993). Romo is a Mexican-American who has been very involved in missions to American ethnic groups. He deals with contextualization and the gospel in a pluralistic context in the process of planting churches.
Rowell, John, Magnify Your Vision for the Small Church
(Atlanta: Northside Community Church, 1998). The story of a small EFCA church embarking on church planting. In the end they planted numerous churches in Sarajevo before and during the war. A helpful book for vision casting and motivating small churches to attempt big things for the Kingdom of God.
Smith, Scotty and Michael Card, Unveiled Hope: Eternal Encouragement from the Book of Revelation
(Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 1997). Not actually a book about church planting, however, Smith is the pastor of a successful church plant. In chapter 2 he discusses how Revelation chapters 2 & 3 were used in guiding his church planting effort.
Towns, Elmer and Douglas Porter, Churches That Multiply: A Bible Study on Church Planting
(Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press, 2003). This book is designed to be a Bible study on the Book of Acts as a guide to starting church planting. The Sunday School class becomes the catalyst for
Wagner, C. Peter, Church Planting for a Greater Harvest: A Comprehensive Guide
(Ventura, CA: Regal Books, 1990). This is the book referred to in many of the contemporary books on church planting, and for good reason. Wagner's theme is simple and repeated: "Church planting is the most effective evangelism method." He presents it in a winsome manner that makes his point very effectively. |
