The Multiplying Church: The New Math for Starting New Churches

196 Pages·2008·1.8 MB·English

by  Bob Roberts Jr.

031020755X_relation_fm.qxp 9/8/06 2:21 PM Page 1
This page is intentionally left blank
THEMULTIPLYING
C H U R C H
00331100227777116677__mmuulltt__cchh__CCSS33..iinndddd 11 1122//1111//0077 1100::3344::2200 AAMM
Other books by Bob Roberts Jr.
Transformation: How Glocal Churches Transform Lives and the World
Glocalization: How Followers of Jesus Engage a Flat World
Connecting for glocal transformation.
Visit www.glocal.net for more information and training
manuals for interns and church planters.
www.glocal.net
00331100227777116677__mmuulltt__cchh__CCSS33..iinndddd 22 1122//1111//0077 1100::3344::2200 AAMM
THEMULTIPLY ING
C H U R C H
THE NEW MATH
FOR STARTING
NEW CHURCHES
B O B R O B E R T S J R .
00331100227777116677__mmuulltt__cchh__CCSS33..iinndddd 33 1122//1111//0077 1100::3344::2200 AAMM
The Multiplying Church
Copyright © 2008 by Bob Roberts Jr.
All rights reserved under International and Pan -American Copyright Conventions. By payment of
the required fees, you have been granted the non -exclusive, non-transferable right to access and
read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down
loaded,decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and
retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or
hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.
AER Edition January 2009 ISBN: 978-0-310-31326-7
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Roberts, Bob, 1958 –
The multiplying church : the new math for starting new churches / Bob Roberts.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-310-27716-3 (hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-310-27716-7 (hardcover)
1. Church development, New. I. Title.
BV652.24.R58 2007
254’.1 – dc22
2007049181
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New Interna-
tional Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permis-
sion of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers printed in this book are offered
as a resource to you. These are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the
part of Zondervan, nor do we vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this
book.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or
any other — except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the
publisher.
Published in association with the literary and marketing agency of C. Grant and Company.
08 09 10 11 12 13 (cid:129) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Dedicated to
Bob Buford and Al Weiss
Twenty-fi rst-century men from Cyrene and Cyprus who
are fueling church planting in the United States like no one else.
Church planters worldwide
You have taught me more about the faith and
church than I have ever taught you.
Every church planter from NorthWood
I love you guys deeply and am so proud of you.
00331100227777116677__mmuulltt__cchh__CCSS33..iinndddd 55 1122//1111//0077 1100::3344::2200 AAMM
031020755X_relation_fm.qxp 9/8/06 2:21 PM Page 1
This page is intentionally left blank
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Forewords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Part 1: The New Math
1. Made in Asia — Jesus Movements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2. Coming Soon — The First Global Church Planting Movement . . 39
3. Multiplication Is Local Church Driven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
4. Starting Churches Is Not Enough . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Part 2: The Prime Numbers
5. Apostolic Fathers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
6 Daredevil Sons and Daughters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
7. Totally Wild Spirits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105
8. Start with the Society, Not the Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
9. Start a Church for the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124
Part 3: The Sum Total
10. Starting a Church-Starting Center in Your Church . . . . . . . .137
11. More Than Just Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151
12. Living as a Missional Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .159
Epilogue: Things I Never Want You to Forget . . . . . . . . . . . .172
Appendixes:
1. The Critical Path of Every Church Planting Movement . . . . . .175
2. Ten Commandments of Church Planting Movements . . . . . . .176
3. Viral Movements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177
4. Personal Evaluation Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .178
Suggested Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .182
Endnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .184
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .188
About the Publisher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Share Your Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
00331100227777116677__mmuulltt__cchh__CCSS33..iinndddd 77 1122//1111//0077 1100::3344::2200 AAMM
FIGURES
Figure 1: Why Start Churches? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Figure 2: Movement Continuum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Figure 3: Movement of the Church vs.
How the Gospel Engages Nations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Figure 4: What Is the Church? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Figure 5: What Is a Church Planting Movement? . . . . . . . . . . 45
Figure 6: Church Addition Compared to Church Multiplication . . 45
Figure 7: Scope of a Global Church Planting Movement . . . . . . 50
Figure 8: Vision360 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Figure 9: Hiving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Figure 10: Forming New Core Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Figure 11: Unleashing All Churches to Plant
Church-Starting Churches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Figure 12: Traditional Model for Starting Churches . . . . . . . . .119
Figure 13: Acts 11 Model for Starting Churches . . . . . . . . . . . .119
Figure 14: Domains of Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120
Figure 15: The Church as a Connection Center . . . . . . . . . . . .121
Figure 16: Vision360 Planter Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139
Figure 17: Seven Processors for Church Planters . . . . . . . . . . .142
Figure 18: Starting Out as a Church Planter . . . . . . . . . . . . . .162
Figure 19: Church Planter Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .162
Figure 20: Dangers Common to All Church Planters . . . . . . . . .163
8
00331100227777116677__mmuulltt__cchh__CCSS33..iinndddd 88 1122//1111//0077 1100::3344::2211 AAMM