What is a Church Planting Network?
In today’s rapidly-changing digital TV environment, people often use the term “network” to refer to any television station, although these stations may actually be independent organizations. Similarly, the surge of interest in church planting can lead to confusion about the definition of a church planting network. We define these networks as a group of church leaders who are connected with each other for the purpose of planting churches.
The simplicity of networks is the concept of "leaders who are connected with each other." At their core, networks are about relationships. And unlike the impersonal Arquilla/Ronfeldt definition—“nodes that are connected”—they are relationships with the transcendent purpose of planting churches.
In this book, we will look at some of the major church planting networks that have emerged within the evangelical world in North America. You will learn about Mark Driscoll’s Acts 29 Network, Dave Ferguson’s NewThing Network, Neil Cole’s CMA Network, the Baptist General Conference’s “ConvergeUSA,” The Association of Related Churches (ARC), and Stadia: New Church Strategies. Because this field continually expands to include new organizations and influencers, the chapter on “Emerging Church Planting Networks” also introduces Vision 360, Next Initiative (PD Planting), Real Life Ministries Network, and others.
Networks and Denominations
Many people confuse networks with denominations. Although they share some similar characteristics, networks are not denominations; denominations represent the centralized means of organizing relationships and mission among like-minded Christians, while networks represent decentralized relational circles.
Networks are also much smaller than denominations and typically do not have a hierarchy. Often a network maintains no headquarters or central office and its participants enjoy a high level of autonomy.
In their fascinating book The Starfish and the Spider, Brafman and Beckstrom describe the difference between Starfish-like networks (decentralized organizations) and Spider-like hierarchies (centralized organizations). Notice some of the contrasts between the two (their list is longer than what follows) and how their description applies to denominations and networks.
Centralized (Denominations) Decentralized (Networks)
Someone is in charge No one is in charge
There are headquarters There are no headquarters
Centralized power structure Decentralized power structure
Knowledge is centralized Knowledge is decentralized
Direction from the head Direction comes from the network
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Friday, August 7, 2009
DNA of Church Planting Networks
Every living thing has DNA. The DNA carries the genetic information of a living being in the cell and is capable of self-replication. DNA determines the characteristics of an organism, what it will be like. To really know a church planting network, one must “get below the surface” and gauge the DNA of that network. A networks’s DNA determines what it will be like, what it will do. Stated differently, how people in a church planting network function will be determined by it’s spiritual DNA.
There are five key components to the DNA of a network: Beliefs, mission, values, vision, and strategy (methodology). The DNA is then molded by the sociological context. The leadership and Organism/organization are not the DNA of a network, but a manifestation of the network. Like the tip of an iceberg, they are above the water line, giving the appearance of being the network. In reality, they reflect what is under the surface.
Theological Beliefs – what the network members believes about God, the Bible, and people. Most networks have explicit faith statements which define what they believe about the Bible, God, Jesus Christ, the cross, etc.,. And most of the networks uphold explicitly evangelical beliefs, while others, such as the New Thing Network are not as concern with explicit theology, because they have explicitly resisted establishing a faith statement well into 2009.
The Acts 29 Network is strong on it’s theological roots. Grounded in a theological pyramid, Acts 29 begins its faith statement with a commitment to evangelical theology, then it moves to missional affirmations, and then to explicit doctrines of the Reformation. All Acts 29 Network churches and planters must explicitly support these theological beliefs. For many leaders, such as Matt Chandler, the theological emphasis and centrality of the gospel (in this reformation context) is the most important reason that he is a “Acts 29 Guy.” (July 1, 2009 talk, Matt Chandler, “Why I am an Acts 29 Guy.” on Acts 29 Website).
Mission – what the network is here to do. All church planting networks are committed to the mission of planting churches. Most feel very strongly that this mission is vitally important because it is the most effective way to reach lost people (C. Peter Wagner, Church Planting for a Greater Harvest). Some networks have larger missions. As Neil Coles told us in forming Church Multiplication Associates we made the commitment to multiply whatever the cost.
The Association of Related Churches believes not only in church planting, but in foreign missions. Each of the churches are asked to commit themselves to church planting and foreign missions. When asked about the commitment of churches in ARC to plant churches in America that will plant churches around the world, Billy Hornsby says:
This is a crazy statistic—it caught me completely by surprise. We did a survey of how much all the churches had given to missions since they began, you know in the last eight years, it totaled over $40 million dollars; we’re giving at a rate of $7 or $8 million dollars a year to plant churches in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and in Costa Rica. Supporting orphanages….it’s just endless what they’re involved in.
For the New Thing Network, church planting is a function of a deeper, more fundamental mission – multiplication. They seek to multiply leaders who will multiply small groups, arts teams, campuses, church plants, and networks.
Values- how the network acts in the pursuit of its mission. The word “value” comes from the French verb Valoir, meaning “to be worth.” Values describes how people in a network intend to operate, on a day-by-day basis, as they pursue the mission. As Will Mancini describes values in his book, Church Unique, on the deepest level are those mission nonnegotiable, or as one pastor put it, the “die-fors” – things that we are ready and willing to die for (p. 129). This is where the differences in networks becomes clearest.
For example, Neil Cole believes that the DNA values of Church Multiplication Associates must be held within each Christian. The have an acronym D=divine truth + N= nurturing relationships + A= apostolic mission (reaching lost people). They believe it to be key that every person must live out these values. “And so,” he says, “we’re planting the DNA in the smallest unit of church life, groups of two or three, and I think that’s key. All reproduction has to be at the smallest level possible, and for us that’s two or three.” This DNA is THE key to every level of structure or organism in CMA, from Life Transfromation Groups, to House Churches, to Greenhouses (training) and to mentoring. CMA lives and dies according to its DNA acronym.
Bill Hornsby: ARC has a strong value on relationship. “The only reason we come together is relational: we all have a vision, we’re all friends, we’re doing life together, it’s always been that way and we do a lot now as church planters.”
I’ve said it over and over again, our desire as a group to do life together in the most noble cause there is, planting churches around America that will plant churches around the world—is the big deal.
ARC has a strong value on birthing only large churches: “It’s cheaper to launch large, there’s not as much stress, it doesn’t take as long to get up and running, there are immediate resources available to you when you launch large. It’s just been the most effective way that I’ve seen it happen.”
Likewise Gary Rohmeyer and Tom Nebel describe Converge (formerly the Baptist General Conference) as a very relational network. Drawing upon years of experience with 24 hour relational coaching gatherings, called LEAD team meetings (convening 5 or 6 times a year), those leaders of Converge developed a relational support system that provided coaching for church planters and leaders. As Gary Rohrmeyer states It’s the whole camaraderie, If there’s affinity in the group, you build life-long relationships. And we believe that no one should plant a church alone. Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto.
Vision: an image of the network’s desired future. The vision is typically stated in brief terms. Stadia’s vision is "thousands of church planters who believe they are receiving the best care possible." Or Acts 29’s vision is to be “a network of pastors from around the nation and world whose dream is to help qualified leaders called by God to plant new churches and replant declining churches.”
Sometimes the vision will be very specific. New Thing’s three year vision is to move from 20 residents to 137 in three years and from 26 campuses and church plants to 208 in three years.
Peter Senge
"Vision is the answer to the question, 'What do we want to create?' "Vision is at the very core of leadership. Take vision away from a leader and you cut out his or her heart. Vision is the fuel that leaders run on. It's the energy that creates action. It's the fire that ignites the passion of followers. It's the clear call that sustains focused effort year after year, decade after decade, as people offer consistent and sacrificial service to God." (Courageous Leadership, Hybels
Strategy – what a network will do and how it will do it. The common factor in all church planting networks is a functional strategy to plant churches. But those strategies vary greatly.
CMA depends on small gatherings of people in Life Transformation Groups (LTGs). These gatherings infuse the DNA of the CMA networks which are witnessed through multiple house churches that are supported by Greenhouses for training and mentoring (see Neil Cole, Life Transformation Groups, Search and Rescue, and Organic Leadership). On the other hand, ARC only uses the strategy of launching large churches, which quickly witness hundreds of people gathering together on weekends who then, after a period of time, are formed into small groups (the size of house churches).
Most of the networks also have a strong financial strategy, focused upon churches contributing to the support of church planting. Both Stadia and Acts 29 require the churches that they plant to give back 10% of the regular tithes and offerings for future church planting. ARC requires 10% until the money invested in the plant project is paid back and then 2% for an indefinite period (with a strong commitment to give significant resources to foreign missions).
New Thing Network sums up their whole strategy in a simple acronym: NEXT. Everything they do focuses upon developing:
N-new leaders –developing apprentices literally at every level: small groups leader, small groups director, campus pastor, network leader—everyone at every level is to be developing that new leader.
E - stands for equipping leaders utilizing formalized monthly training to equip leaders at all levels.
Xpect what you inspect – regularly evaluating what is being accomplished through a dashboard or critical indicators of leadership reproduction.
T stands for target—the target of their leaders being raised and campuses being launched.
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There are five key components to the DNA of a network: Beliefs, mission, values, vision, and strategy (methodology). The DNA is then molded by the sociological context. The leadership and Organism/organization are not the DNA of a network, but a manifestation of the network. Like the tip of an iceberg, they are above the water line, giving the appearance of being the network. In reality, they reflect what is under the surface.
Theological Beliefs – what the network members believes about God, the Bible, and people. Most networks have explicit faith statements which define what they believe about the Bible, God, Jesus Christ, the cross, etc.,. And most of the networks uphold explicitly evangelical beliefs, while others, such as the New Thing Network are not as concern with explicit theology, because they have explicitly resisted establishing a faith statement well into 2009.
The Acts 29 Network is strong on it’s theological roots. Grounded in a theological pyramid, Acts 29 begins its faith statement with a commitment to evangelical theology, then it moves to missional affirmations, and then to explicit doctrines of the Reformation. All Acts 29 Network churches and planters must explicitly support these theological beliefs. For many leaders, such as Matt Chandler, the theological emphasis and centrality of the gospel (in this reformation context) is the most important reason that he is a “Acts 29 Guy.” (July 1, 2009 talk, Matt Chandler, “Why I am an Acts 29 Guy.” on Acts 29 Website).
Mission – what the network is here to do. All church planting networks are committed to the mission of planting churches. Most feel very strongly that this mission is vitally important because it is the most effective way to reach lost people (C. Peter Wagner, Church Planting for a Greater Harvest). Some networks have larger missions. As Neil Coles told us in forming Church Multiplication Associates we made the commitment to multiply whatever the cost.
The Association of Related Churches believes not only in church planting, but in foreign missions. Each of the churches are asked to commit themselves to church planting and foreign missions. When asked about the commitment of churches in ARC to plant churches in America that will plant churches around the world, Billy Hornsby says:
This is a crazy statistic—it caught me completely by surprise. We did a survey of how much all the churches had given to missions since they began, you know in the last eight years, it totaled over $40 million dollars; we’re giving at a rate of $7 or $8 million dollars a year to plant churches in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and in Costa Rica. Supporting orphanages….it’s just endless what they’re involved in.
For the New Thing Network, church planting is a function of a deeper, more fundamental mission – multiplication. They seek to multiply leaders who will multiply small groups, arts teams, campuses, church plants, and networks.
Values- how the network acts in the pursuit of its mission. The word “value” comes from the French verb Valoir, meaning “to be worth.” Values describes how people in a network intend to operate, on a day-by-day basis, as they pursue the mission. As Will Mancini describes values in his book, Church Unique, on the deepest level are those mission nonnegotiable, or as one pastor put it, the “die-fors” – things that we are ready and willing to die for (p. 129). This is where the differences in networks becomes clearest.
For example, Neil Cole believes that the DNA values of Church Multiplication Associates must be held within each Christian. The have an acronym D=divine truth + N= nurturing relationships + A= apostolic mission (reaching lost people). They believe it to be key that every person must live out these values. “And so,” he says, “we’re planting the DNA in the smallest unit of church life, groups of two or three, and I think that’s key. All reproduction has to be at the smallest level possible, and for us that’s two or three.” This DNA is THE key to every level of structure or organism in CMA, from Life Transfromation Groups, to House Churches, to Greenhouses (training) and to mentoring. CMA lives and dies according to its DNA acronym.
Bill Hornsby: ARC has a strong value on relationship. “The only reason we come together is relational: we all have a vision, we’re all friends, we’re doing life together, it’s always been that way and we do a lot now as church planters.”
I’ve said it over and over again, our desire as a group to do life together in the most noble cause there is, planting churches around America that will plant churches around the world—is the big deal.
ARC has a strong value on birthing only large churches: “It’s cheaper to launch large, there’s not as much stress, it doesn’t take as long to get up and running, there are immediate resources available to you when you launch large. It’s just been the most effective way that I’ve seen it happen.”
Likewise Gary Rohmeyer and Tom Nebel describe Converge (formerly the Baptist General Conference) as a very relational network. Drawing upon years of experience with 24 hour relational coaching gatherings, called LEAD team meetings (convening 5 or 6 times a year), those leaders of Converge developed a relational support system that provided coaching for church planters and leaders. As Gary Rohrmeyer states It’s the whole camaraderie, If there’s affinity in the group, you build life-long relationships. And we believe that no one should plant a church alone. Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto.
Vision: an image of the network’s desired future. The vision is typically stated in brief terms. Stadia’s vision is "thousands of church planters who believe they are receiving the best care possible." Or Acts 29’s vision is to be “a network of pastors from around the nation and world whose dream is to help qualified leaders called by God to plant new churches and replant declining churches.”
Sometimes the vision will be very specific. New Thing’s three year vision is to move from 20 residents to 137 in three years and from 26 campuses and church plants to 208 in three years.
Peter Senge
"Vision is the answer to the question, 'What do we want to create?' "Vision is at the very core of leadership. Take vision away from a leader and you cut out his or her heart. Vision is the fuel that leaders run on. It's the energy that creates action. It's the fire that ignites the passion of followers. It's the clear call that sustains focused effort year after year, decade after decade, as people offer consistent and sacrificial service to God." (Courageous Leadership, Hybels
Strategy – what a network will do and how it will do it. The common factor in all church planting networks is a functional strategy to plant churches. But those strategies vary greatly.
CMA depends on small gatherings of people in Life Transformation Groups (LTGs). These gatherings infuse the DNA of the CMA networks which are witnessed through multiple house churches that are supported by Greenhouses for training and mentoring (see Neil Cole, Life Transformation Groups, Search and Rescue, and Organic Leadership). On the other hand, ARC only uses the strategy of launching large churches, which quickly witness hundreds of people gathering together on weekends who then, after a period of time, are formed into small groups (the size of house churches).
Most of the networks also have a strong financial strategy, focused upon churches contributing to the support of church planting. Both Stadia and Acts 29 require the churches that they plant to give back 10% of the regular tithes and offerings for future church planting. ARC requires 10% until the money invested in the plant project is paid back and then 2% for an indefinite period (with a strong commitment to give significant resources to foreign missions).
New Thing Network sums up their whole strategy in a simple acronym: NEXT. Everything they do focuses upon developing:
N-new leaders –developing apprentices literally at every level: small groups leader, small groups director, campus pastor, network leader—everyone at every level is to be developing that new leader.
E - stands for equipping leaders utilizing formalized monthly training to equip leaders at all levels.
Xpect what you inspect – regularly evaluating what is being accomplished through a dashboard or critical indicators of leadership reproduction.
T stands for target—the target of their leaders being raised and campuses being launched.
featured on newchurches.com
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Church Planter Bootcamp
Imagine believing in a philosophy you call "Relational Discipleship." Now imagine planting a church and finding ten years later that you have 8,500 in weekend attendance, but more importantly 8,000 in small groups and around 800 baptism in one year. The church is the fastest growing church per capita in the USA (the county in which they reside has only about 120,000 people) and it is now the 66th largest church in the country, after this short time. Additionally, you have also planted five other churches, one running 1,500 on weekends and the others running between 300 and 600 after one year. You are practicing Relational Discipleship. The church is Real Life Ministries in Post Falls, Idaho. Imagine believing that the best way to reach lost people is through planting more and more churches. So you make a commitment to develop an organization and you plant over 120 churches all over the nation in five years. A high percentage of these churches grow past the 200 barrier within three years and go on to make a high impact in their community. You are widely recognized as one of the leaders in church planting circles. The church planting organization is Stadia. Now image leaders from Real Life Ministries and Stadia coming together to provide a church planting bootcamp, to train people in how to start churches committed to "Relational Discipleship." You are invited. Can you imagine a better opportunity for a potential church planter? If not, you may want to plan to join Jim Putman (Real Life) and Dr. Bob Harrington (Stadia) for their church planter's bootcamp Februrary 2-10, 2009 in Spokane/Post Falls. For more information go to www.church-coaching.com and read on . . . .
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Thursday, June 5, 2008
New Thing Partnership
I am sitting here, listening to Dave and Jon Ferguson from Community Christian Church. They are partnering with us as we train church planters this week. Good stuff, they really get it about creating "church culture." Cindy and I visited one of their 9 campuses on Sunday to be a part of one of their Assemblies for the first time: We felt encouraged. Dave and Jon are level 5 leaders - humble, but determined; gentle, while strong; visionary, yet practical. Good stuff.
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Sunday, April 13, 2008
Crazy Church Planter
Dave Milam is one of my favorite church planters. He is a crazy guy. I loved coaching him. I love that he is my friend. Someone stole the trailers with all the stuff that their church needs to use every Sunday (they meet in a theatre) . . . . so what did he do?
He contacted a billboard company in Charlotte and they created 5 billboards. They say things like . . . CHURCH TAILER THEIF, STEALING FROM GOD . . . BALLSY. You have got to follow this . . . go to http://www.kineticchurch.com/.
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He contacted a billboard company in Charlotte and they created 5 billboards. They say things like . . . CHURCH TAILER THEIF, STEALING FROM GOD . . . BALLSY. You have got to follow this . . . go to http://www.kineticchurch.com/.
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Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Attractional Vs Missional Church
Attractional Church
Come and See
Tell the Gospel
Come to Building, programs, staff, services
Worship at the church
Proclamation and Teaching
Join us for Religious Services
Ministry by Professional “Ministers”
Pastors are gifted to serve us
Missional Church
Go and Be (like Jesus)
Show and Tell the Gospel
Go Love, serve, and meet needs
Worship by your life
Good Works and Good News
Go to the people, serve their needs
Ministry by Everyday Christians
We are all gifted for service
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Come and See
Tell the Gospel
Come to Building, programs, staff, services
Worship at the church
Proclamation and Teaching
Join us for Religious Services
Ministry by Professional “Ministers”
Pastors are gifted to serve us
Missional Church
Go and Be (like Jesus)
Show and Tell the Gospel
Go Love, serve, and meet needs
Worship by your life
Good Works and Good News
Go to the people, serve their needs
Ministry by Everyday Christians
We are all gifted for service
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Friday, January 4, 2008
A New Kind of Christian
I like many things that Brian McLerna writes, but I am not a Brian McLeran fan. I find it too difficult to overlook his compromizes on key parts of biblical teaching (Jesus as the Only Way, divorce, homosexuality, etc.,.). But Brian McLeran writes an essay called, “Christian,” in David Kinnaman's new book, UnChristian. His vision is GREAT! Here is what he says . . .
In thirty years, research could show us that when people think Christian, they think things like this:
• Christians are the ones who love people, whoever they are – gay or straight, Jew or Muslim, religious or atheist, capitalist or not, conservative or liberal.
• Christians are the ones who have done more than anyone in the world to stop the HIV/AIDS crisis.
• Christians are the people who gravitate toward the poor and who show compassion through generous action and seek justice so that the systemic causes of poverty are overcome. They call the rich to generosity, and they call on rich nations to work for the common good.
• Christians are people who believe that art and creativity are important, so they consistently produce the most striking, original, and enriching art.
• Christians are willing to give their lives for the cause of peace. They oppose violence in all of its forms. They will lay down their lives to protect the vulnerable from the violent.
• Christians care for the environment. They don’t just see it as raw materials for economic gain, but they see it as the precious handiwork of their Creator.
• Christians have personal integrity. They keep their marriage vows and are aware of how destructive misused sexuality can be. Yet they are compassionate toward people who make sexual mistakes, and they never consider themselves superior.
• Christians build harmony among races. You always know that you’ll be respected when you’re around a Christian.
Perhaps I am a dreamer. But when the hard realities jolt you out of denial (as the research presented here can do), the status quo becomes less acceptable, and one is motivated to dream of better possibilities. I hope that this research will push others toward becoming dreamers too, and that hose dreams will inspire the needed creative and faithful action.
Featured on newchurches.com
In thirty years, research could show us that when people think Christian, they think things like this:
• Christians are the ones who love people, whoever they are – gay or straight, Jew or Muslim, religious or atheist, capitalist or not, conservative or liberal.
• Christians are the ones who have done more than anyone in the world to stop the HIV/AIDS crisis.
• Christians are the people who gravitate toward the poor and who show compassion through generous action and seek justice so that the systemic causes of poverty are overcome. They call the rich to generosity, and they call on rich nations to work for the common good.
• Christians are people who believe that art and creativity are important, so they consistently produce the most striking, original, and enriching art.
• Christians are willing to give their lives for the cause of peace. They oppose violence in all of its forms. They will lay down their lives to protect the vulnerable from the violent.
• Christians care for the environment. They don’t just see it as raw materials for economic gain, but they see it as the precious handiwork of their Creator.
• Christians have personal integrity. They keep their marriage vows and are aware of how destructive misused sexuality can be. Yet they are compassionate toward people who make sexual mistakes, and they never consider themselves superior.
• Christians build harmony among races. You always know that you’ll be respected when you’re around a Christian.
Perhaps I am a dreamer. But when the hard realities jolt you out of denial (as the research presented here can do), the status quo becomes less acceptable, and one is motivated to dream of better possibilities. I hope that this research will push others toward becoming dreamers too, and that hose dreams will inspire the needed creative and faithful action.
Featured on newchurches.com
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