Envisioning Effective Ministry: Evangelism in a Muslim Context

I want to share with you another book that you need to add to your library.  Envisioning Effective Ministry: Evangelism in a Muslim Context is hot off the press.  It is the best of the best EMQ articles on what you need to know about ministering to Muslims.  My friends Laurie Fortunak Nichols and Gary Corwin have edited this collection that I believe you will find to be of great value to your ministry. 

Laurie is the managing editor of Evangelical Missions Quarterly and editorial coordinator at the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College.  She is also editorial coordinator of Lausanne World Pulse.  Gary is associate editor of Evangelical Missions Quarterly and staff missiologist with the international office of Serving in Mission(SIM). 

Recently, I was able to interview them about their book.    

Tell us about Envisioning Effective Ministry.
For 46 years, practitioners and missiologists have been writing articles for Evangelical Missions Quarterly (EMQ) on issues related to Muslim ministry. These articles come from top-notch leaders such as Phil Parshall, Dudley Woodberry, John Travis, Warren Larson, and others. The scope of the discussion goes well beyond this book, but our goal was to compile the top 40 or so articles which have appeared over the years into one compilation. The book covers everything from understanding Islam to issues of contextualization and theology to practical helps in building relationships, church planting, and evangelism. We asked Greg Livingstone to write a foreword on Muslim ministry today and Gary wrote the epilogue on the future of Muslim ministry. John Travis wrote an appendix on receiving prayer for healing of the heart.

Why did you edit this collection of articles on Muslim ministry?

It was really the intersection of felt need with good stewardship. There are a lot of important information needs and issues afoot today with regard to Muslim evangelism and ministry, and EMQ is a repository of 46 years of excellent thought on this subject. The more appropriate question might be, How could we not publish such a book?

 
What are some of the encouraging things happening in Muslim ministry today?
There are many! The last 30 years have witnessed dramatic breakthroughs for the gospel in a number of predominantly Muslim lands. Disciples are being made and churches are being established in places that boggle the mind, often at great personal cost to those turning to Christ. Beyond that, the harvest force involved with reaching Muslims has multiplied exponentially and is now numbered in the thousands, with a great many of them coming from the majority world!

 
There have been several books over the past few years on Muslim ministry. What makes this book different from the rest?
One of the best things about this book is the fact that it shows the progression of ideas and issues over time, with the different points of view on various subjects represented by so many key leaders. It also has an advantage in not being ponderous or unwelcoming to non-academics. The articles are short, crisp, and to the point.
 

Why would our North American readers find this book to be of value?
Not only are many workers in God’s family called overseas to serve in Muslim areas, but increasingly more and more Muslims are moving to North America, are finding this to be home, and are having families. The growth in this world religion even here in the U.S. is staggering, and we all have a calling and a responsibility to reach our neighbors with the love of Christ. EEM is intended to give not only an historical look at the key issues, but to provide help in understanding Islam and how to share the gospel most effectively with our Muslim friends.

How can our readers find out more about your ministry?
The Evangelism and Missions Information Service is the publishing division of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College. Our publications include:

• Evangelical Missions Quarterly (EMQ), a quarterly journal providing practical articles from veteran missionaries around the world. It is also available online at www.emqonline.com. There is an annual subscription fee.
• Lausanne World Pulse (www.lausanneworldpulse.com), a free, monthly, online-only publication providing news and information by Christian leaders around the world on issues related to evangelism and missions.
• Centerline, the quarterly newsletter of the Billy Graham Center. You can access it at: www.billygrahamcenter.com/bgcadmin/centerline.html a variety of other books on missions, including helps for those in prison ministry and Muslim ministry. For a list, visit: www.emisdirect.com.

Thank you, Laurie and Gary, for sharing with my readers today.  Keep up the great work for the Kingdom!

By the time you read this post, the students at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary are in the third week of classes.  One of the courses that I’m teaching this semester is Introduction to Church Planting, and as always, loving every minute of it.  I have the greatest students in the world (there is your shout-out, now you owe me ).

From time to time, I like to share with you a little about my philosophy behind theological education, particularly as related to the church planting courses I teach.  I have blogged about this issue before (see HERE), and published this article in 2007 for Lausanne World Pulse, for those who are interested.  Now, here is another post.   

My wife is a physician.  I remember the long days of medical school, followed by the even longer days of residency.  My wife was not a doctor when she started med. school.  And she was not allowed to go off on her own direction until she completed her residency training. 

In North America, a person is not legally allowed to practice medicine without the proper credentials. And in order to obtain the proper credentials, a person must pass through a set of predetermined standards that an accreditation board has established.  To become a physician and be able to practice legally, he or she must compete college, med. school, and residency.  Then he or she becomes a grade A, 100% certified, physician free to practice on their own (within the laws of your state and the U.S. gov., of course.).

I have been teaching for eleven years, and have also been observing the larger American Evangelical perspective on theological education.  Unfortunately, many people now approach theological training much the same way as they understand medical training:  go to school and let them certify that you are legitimate and ready.     

A seminary does not make ministers of the gospel like a medical college makes physicians.  My classes do not make missionaries.  Sure, I can equip students for the ministry (Eph 4:11-12).  But, it is God who calls them.  It is God who makes them.  It is God who grows them. 

While I’m obviously for a person obtaining as much theological education as the Lord will allow, the classroom (including mine) is no substitute for the field.  While in school, seminarians should be significantly involved as leaders in local church ministry. 

As I share with my students, the classroom is a sterile laboratory.  It is a safe environment.  In this controlled atmosphere, we are able to mine the depths of theological truths, wrestle with the application of missiological principles, and debate over missionary methods.  Such is a good thing.

But, even the most practical discussions remain as theory until someone makes application.  The gospel does not advance on theory alone.   

My philosophy on theological education is deeply rooted in a marriage that I believe was made in heaven.  This marriage sums up how church planters (and all ministers should be trained).  This marriage is the union of the intellect with the application, the union of the mind with the hands.  Or, in contemporary jargon, the union of the classroom-based training with the field-based training.

The practical component is never to be divorced from the intellectual component.  

If theological education is not applied education for the edification of the Church, then it is of little value to the Kingdom.  If the classroom does not play out on the field, then my classroom time is of little value in the multiplication of disciples, leaders, and churches. 

In all of my church planting courses, I require field-based components, usually carried out in the city of Louisville.  These components may consist of significant involvement with a church planting team, weekly field activities, observations, people group research, serving with more experienced church planters, or brief field-based exercises.

Through the church planting program at Southern Seminary, students are able to earn up to 20 hours of credit in church planting courses (7 classes).  Again, while all of these courses involve some field-based training, 8 hours (3 classes) consist of total immersion in missionary field work. 

While I have been crafting this program for the past 7 years, the Lord has been gracious in revealing to me its strengths and limitations.  I am always laboring to improve the quality of missionary training, making certain that such training keeps the classroom and the field hand-in-hand. 

For what God has joined together to build His Church, I do not want to put asunder.

In this post, I want to share with you a few helpful books that I’ve come across in my research in the area of diaspora missiology.

To the majority of you reading this post, the words “diaspora missiology” are new.  This growing category of missiology is the study related to the intersection of the global movements of peoples and mission.  If you are interested in getting a better understanding of this field and its implications on the Church, I will direct you to my previous posts on the subject.

Interview with Enoch Wan, Professor, Intercultural Studies, Western Theological Seminary

Interview with Sadiri Joy Tira, Senior Associate for Diasporas, Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization

What in the World is God Doing?

Students

Refugees

Immigration and North America

To date, very few Evangelicals have written on the topic of issues related to diaspora missiology.  However, things are slowly starting to change.  Enoch Wan and Sadiri Tira, among others, have been writing on this topic for a few years.  William Carey Publishers is planning a series on this matter (see interview withEnoch Wan above).  I am presently writing a book on this subject (specifically related to migrations to westerns countries) with Biblica.  My deadline is March 2011, so I would anticipate the book to be released by the publisher around March 2012 (I know, I know that’s a long time; but that’s publishing.).

While there are a few helpful evangelical writings available, some of the most significant literature on the topic of global migrations comes from outside the Church.  In fact, there is a great wealth of literature on the subject written by a multitude of scholars.

(I would like to add a note at this point.  It is a shame that the Church is woefully behind the times on understanding issues related to mission and migration.  Libraries are full of books and articles written on diasporic issues that contain a wealth of wisdom that needs to be applied for the advancement of the gospel.  However, a very small minority within evangelical circles are even aware of the matter at hand.  Okay. Enough on this note for the moment.  I’ll save the rest for a future post.)

In my own research, I have come across a few resources that I want to point out to you.  Unfortunately, some of these resources are expensive, so check with your public library or local college library.  Please understand, not all resources on migration studies are going to require that you sell a couple of pints of plasma to pay for them.  Also, I’m not saying that these are the best resources out there, just some of the best that I’ve discovered in my studies. 

My top recommendation to provide you with an excellent overview of the issue of global migrations is Stephen Castles and Mark J. Miller, Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World, 4th ed. (New York: The Guilford Press, 2009).  If you are interested in reading my review of this book, you can find it HERE.  If you have some outstanding recommendations on the topic, I would love to know about your findings.  Until then, here are some of the most helpful books that I have found to date: 

• Uma A. Segal, Doreen Elliott, and Nazneen S. Mayadas, eds., Immigration Worldwide: Policies, Practices, and Trends (New York: Oxford University Press, 2010).
• Stephen Castles and Mark J. Miller, Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World, 4th ed. (New York: The Guilford Press, 2009).
• Khalid Koser, ed., New African Diasporas (UK and NY: Routledge, 2007).
• Maura I. Toro-Morn and Marixsa Alicea, eds., Migration and Immigration: A Global View (Westport, CT and London, UK: Greenwood Press, 2004).
• Alejandro Portes and Josh DeWind, eds., Rethinking Migration: New Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives (New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2007).
• Matthew J. Gibney and Randall Hansen, eds., Immigration and Asylum: From 1900 to the Present, 3 Volumes (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2005).
• Melvin Ember, Carol R. Ember, and Ian Skoggard, eds., Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World, 2 Volumes (New York: KluwerAcademic-Plenum Publishers, 2004).

With August comes back to school in the United States….

I wanted to take this post to provide you with a quick glimpse into some numbers making up the student population of the country.  I think you will come to realize that there are important missiological implications behind these figures.  

The following came from the “Census Bureau News — Facts for Features: Back to School: 2010-2011″.

Enrollment  

• In 2008, there were 76 million children and adults enrolled in school–nursery school to college, comprising 27% of the population 3 years old and older.  http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2008.html
• In 2008, 53% of 3 and 4 year olds were enrolled in school in 2008.  http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2008.html
• It is projected that 56 million will be the number of students enrolled in U.S. elementary through high school (K-12), this year.  http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/ (Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2010, Table 214)

Race and Foreign-Born

• In 2008, 43% of elementary through high school students were nonwhite (single race) or Hispanic.  
  http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2008.html
• In 2008, 22% of elementary through high school students had at least one foreign-born parent in October 2008. Five percent were foreign-born themselves.   http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2008.html
• In 2006, 50% of kindergarten through 12th-grade students in California had at least one foreign-born parent.  California led the nation, then Nevada (36%).   At least 25% of students in New York, Florida, Texas, Arizona, New Jersey, and Hawaii had at least one foreign-born parent.  
  http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/education/2008-05-08_education.html

Sports

• In 2006, 41% of 6  to 17 year olds participated in sports.  This number is up from 34%  in 1998.  Sports was the most popular extracurricular activity.  http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/children/cb09-182.html 

Language

• In 2008, 10.9 million school-age children (5 to 17)  that  spoke a language other than English at home.  7.8 million of these spoke Spanish at home.  http://factfinder.census.gov/
• In 2006, 45% of children enrolled in K-12 in California spoke a language other than English at home.  The national average was 21%.  Texas came in at 35%, New Mexico at 34%, and Arizona at 32%.  
  http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/education/2008-05-08_education.html

Lunch Program

• In 2008, 31 million students each month participated in the national school lunch program.   http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/ (Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2010, Table 558)

College

• 19.1 million is the number of students projected to be enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities this fall.  This number is up from 13.8 million from 20 years ago.  http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/ (Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2010, Table 214)
• In October 2008, 16% of all college students were 35 and older.  They comprised 36% of those attending school part-time.  http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2008.html
• In 2008, 64% of undergraduates were enrolled in four-year colleges.  Of those who enrolled, 83% attended full time. http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2008.html
• In 2008, 49% of 18-19 year olds were enrolled in college.   http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2008.html
• In 2008, 55% of college students were women.    http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/school/cps2008.html

Other posts

While you are thinking about students, you may want to take a look at two previous posts on this topic:  HERE and HERE.

Tom Harper is president of Church Central and NetWorld Alliance, a leading business-to-business media communications company.  I have known Tom through our connection with the Great Commission Research Network and Society for Church Consulting.  His new book is scheduled to be released next month, and you will want to check it out.  I was able to talk with him about this work, and wanted to share this information with you.  Tom not only has a heart for leadership but also evangelism as well.     

Tell us about Leading from the Lions’ Den: Leadership Principles from Every Book of the Bible.

Leading from the Lions’ Den is a survey of fresh leadership principles throughout the entire Bible, supported by modern research and illustrated by personal experience. The book looks closely at the drivers of human nature. An understanding of why people act the way they do is the foundation of successful leadership.

Why did you write this book?

I wrote it to help leaders navigate difficult moments with poise. Not just so you look good or save face, but so you can turn hard times into positive leadership opportunities.

My goal was to find some fresh concepts from the ancient Scriptures that aren’t widely known. These principles are practical in whatever kind of organization you lead – whether a business, church, small group, non-profit, sports team, military unit, corporate department, division, or project team.

What makes Leading different from other books about leadership?

I read a lot of leadership books. Many of the best ones actually mirror some of the wisdom from the Bible, whether the author believes in God or not. Jim Collins’ Good to Great is the best example of this – his description of the “Level 5” leader sounds just like he is describing Jesus.

But there’s so much more the Bible offers our generation of leaders. It is so immensely practical from Genesis to Revelation. During my two-year study, I found a treasure trove of content far more valuable than any single leadership or business book I’ve ever read.

Since I couldn’t possibly deal with all the concepts I found, I limited myself to one per book of the Bible, ending up with 66 pertinent pieces of advice that anyone in leadership can benefit from.

Why is this book important for the 21^st century missionary?

Part of a missionary’s job description is to lead – whether leading a Bible study, church planting endeavor, mission trip, or leading someone to Christ. Building relationships with non-believers is easier when they see us act like leaders. If they respect us before they hear us speak the way of salvation, how much greater is the opportunity for the seed to fall on receptive soil!

Is there a difference between secular models of leadership and biblical models of leadership? If so, how are they different?

The main clash between the models that I see is in the humility arena. Secular literature defines humility as acting contrite and leading quietly from behind, whereas the biblical model leans toward simply building others up while obeying God.

It’s a difference in focus: secular leadership focuses on me and how great my humility is, while the biblical model focuses on others and how valuable they are, without lowering my own stature. I’d much rather make my followers feel better about themselves than think less of me.

This is what Gideon did when his critics complained he was selfishly seeking victory – he simply built up their own egos and led them to the next battle. He didn’t denigrate himself or apologize with a lowly posture. With his victory plain to everyone, he simply responded, “What was I able to do compared to you?” (Judges 8:3.)

Thanks, Tom, for sharing with us today.

Don’t forget to check out Leading from the Lions’ Den: Leadership Principles from Every Book of the Bible.  If you would like to know more about Tom, you will want to visit Church Central or follow him on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/TomRHarper.

I want to bring to your attention a new resource that needs to be added to your library.  Linda J. Weber has edited the latest edition of Mission Handbook: U. S. and Canadian Protestant Ministries Overseas.  This work was published through the Evangelism and Missions Information Service (EMIS) at the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College. 

This project was the collaborative work of several individuals.  Recently, I was able to ask Linda, Scott Moreau, and Laurie Nichols to comment on this massive project.  While Linda edited the work, Scott (professor in the intercultural studies department at Wheaton College) analyzed the data and complied the trends section, and Laurie (editorial coordinator of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College) oversaw the editorial work in the publishing department.     

What is the Mission Handbook and what is its practical value?

The Handbook is a collection of nearly 1,000 mission agencies—with staff anywhere from 2 people to 5,000 or more—that are based in the U.S. or Canada but are doing work overseas. Each listing includes information on how/who to contact, mission statement, purpose statement, year founded, annual income, personnel statistics, where the agency is serving, and what kind of work they are doing.

There is also a 60 page chapter on trends in North American missions.

The Handbook has incredible value for those going into missions and those who are part of the missions endeavor. It is a guide to help people plug into what agency fits their passions and giftings. It is one of the best places to look when someone is considering which agency to partner with. Professors and researchers can use the Handbook to look at the state of North American missions and trends in short-term, mid-term, and long-term missions.  

This is the 21^st edition of the Mission Handbook.  Can you share a short history of this publication?

The Mission Handbook first appeared in 1953 with the title Foreign Missionary Agencies in the United States: A Check List. It was compiled and mimeographed by the Missionary Research Library (MRL) in New York. The MRL was founded in 1914 at the initiative of John R. Mott who chaired the World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1910 and headed its continuation committee.

In 1968 the publication became a cooperative effort of MRL and the Missions Advanced Research and Communication (MARC) Center, a division of World Vision International. The title was changed to North American Protestant Ministries Overseas Directory. In 1973 the title included “Mission Handbook” as the publication began to include related articles and expanded analyses of the survey data. In 1976 MARC became the sole publisher.

For nearly two decades, John A. Siewert of MARC served as editor of the Handbook. In 2000, the Evangelism and Missions Information Service (EMIS) of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College became the publisher. The 18^th edition (copyright 2000) was the 1^st volume produced by EMIS. This edition is the 4^th volume published by EMIS. It is edited by Linda J. Weber.

What does the increase in non-US foreign workers in their own country indicate?

It refers to U.S. agencies employing nationals in their own country; the survey does not distinguish those serving among their own people from those serving cross-culturally in their own country. We do not ask about administrative employees, but I suspect a good number of those reported are in that category as well. 

You indicated that there was a relative lack of deployment to the Middle East, under 2% for full-time categories. Is this due to the countries being closed and the agencies not reporting all their numbers, or a fear by the American Church of the Muslim world?

Security is the key concern rather than Americans not going to these countries. Also, it is harder to get entry visas, etc.  

Do you think the number of tentmakers will continue to increase if the economy does not improve?

This is a tough one to determine. The economy in China is still growing much faster than U.S. or Europe, and tentmaking in settings like that can certainly continue to grow. I think this is a result of agencies being more willing to experiment and develop new “categories” for their workers.

Canadian mission agencies reported increases in total non-Canadian citizens on their payroll in every survey from 1996 to 2008. Is this a healthy trend?

Essentially yes—it’s in line with globalized sending. That they increased in the number of Canadians in the 2008 survey shows it’s not just a matter of shifting from one to the other.

What resources are available for those interested in finding out more about the Mission Handbook, EMIS, and the Billy Graham Center?

EMIS is the publishing division of the Billy Graham Center. Our publications include:

• Evangelical Missions Quarterly (EMQ), a quarterly journal providing practical articles from veteran missionaries around the world. It is also available online at http://www.emqonline.com/. EMQ has been equipping missionaries and mission leaders worldwide for 46 years. There is an annual subscription fee.
• Lausanne World Pulse (http://www.lausanneworldpulse.com/), a free, monthly, online-only publication providing news and information by Christian leaders around the world on issues related to evangelism and missions.
• Centerline, the quarterly newsletter of the Billy Graham Center. You can access it at: www.billygrahamcenter.com/bgcadmin/centerline.html.
• And a variety of other books on missions, including helps for those in prison ministry and Muslim ministry. For a list, visit: http://www.emisdirect.com/.
• You can also find more information on the Mission Handbook at: www.missionhandbook.com

Thank you all for sharing with my readers. 

To provide you with additional encouragement to get a copy, I leave you with the endorsement that I wrote for this book:

“With over two hundred new ministry listings, this edition of the Missions Handbook is the most expansive edition to date!  If you want to know what in the world these North American-based agencies are doing, then you must get this resource. While chocked full of a wealth of data, this volume is not designed to sit on your shelf and collect dust.  Get it, rejoice in what the Lord is doing through our brothers and sisters, and use it to assist in Kingdom advancement!”

While I have posted many times on urban issues, I want to turn our attention today to the rural regions of the United States and Canada.  For it is here that we find over 65 million people, comprising about 20% of the population in both countries. 

The rural areas of North America still have significant concentrations of lost populations.  For example, see my report HERE on evangelical concentrations in the U. S. and Canada, particularly the counties.  In 2000, Logan Co., Nebraska had a population of 774 people with no evangelicals present.  Storey Co., Nevada had a population of 3399 people with no evangelicals present.  Buffalo Co., South Dakota had a population of 2032 people with no evangelicals present. 

Where are the missionaries to rural North America?  Is the Lord calling you to go there? 

Unfortunately, few resources exist when it comes to missions in this context.  I hope this post will assist in making a difference.   Here are a few resources that I hope you will find helpful.

The North American Mission Board has developed a general profile of the rural population HERE.

Dr. George Garner, one of the leading rural missiologists in North America, has written an excellent article titled, “The North American Rural Mission Field.” 

Few excellent books exist on the topic.  The following tend to be the most commonly referenced:

Tom Nebel, Big Dreams in Small Places: Church Planting in Smaller Communities

Shannon O’Dell, Transforming Church in Rural America: Breaking All the Rurals

Kent Hunter, The Lord’s Harvest and the Rural Church: A New Look at Ministry in the Agri-Culture

Ron Klassen and John Koessler, No Little Places: The Untapped Potential of the Small-Town Church

Barney Wells, Martin Giese, and Ron Klassen, Leading Through Change: Shepherding the Town and Country Church in a New Era.

Here is the category of Rural Ministry/Missions on my site NorthAmericanMissions.org. You can find a variety of links related to this topic there.  If you have links that you would like for me to consider adding to this category, please let me know.

Here are some additional resources from the Center for North American Missions and Church Planting that I direct at Southern Seminary:

 Steve Nerger’s lectures, “Rural Church Planting in North America”

PowerPoint Presentation

Lecture 1

Lecture 2

Lecture 3

Lecture 4

Also, we recently hosted an event on reaching rural America, in which George Garner was our guest presenter.  Here are the four audio files from the event.

Presentation 1

Presentation 2

Presentation 3

Presentation 4

I ain’t no good at English.  I’m doin’ much better now that I have been writin’ fur some time.  Maybe it was because I grew up in Appalachia.  Maybe it was because I took advanced English in high school simply because the courses dealt more with literature and less with English.  I think I was a doctoral student before I knew the difference between an adverb and an adjective.

So, who I am to write about adjectives?  Well, I did read about them once….

In this post, I want to address a very common matter, particularly among the churches in North America.  We are people who like our adjectives when it comes to describing the church.  We have Baptist churches, Methodist churches, and Pentecostal churches when it comes to our denominations.  We even have ”Non-denominational” churches to describe who is not officially connected to a denomination.   

Now before I continue on with you assuming that I am opposed to adjectives, I must add that such is not completely the case.  Personally, I am very proud to be a fourth generation Baptist of the Southern tribe. 

Historically, we added adjectives to the Church to define where a particular church stood theologically.  I am thankful that we make a distinction between Catholic and Protestant and  Nazarene and Presbyterian.  While I am not pleased with the acrimony and fall-out that occurred many times throughout history, resulting in the multitude of theological adjectives we now have, I am thankful that many of us today, while recognizing our differences, are not laboring to slash each other’s throats, but laboring to advance the gospel. 

Of course, such theological adjectives are an historical development, and a long way from simply the adjectives of  ”Jewish” church or ”Gentile” church. 

But now, we do have adjectives such as “Russian,” ”South Asian Indian,” and ”Nepali” that clearly delineate the ethnic and language characteristics of these churches.  Again, I’m thankful for this.  If I accidentally walked into the meeting of a Chinese church on Sunday morning expecting to hear my language, I would be in for a surprise.  My Chinese is not very good.  I can’t even correctly pronounce “General Tso’s Chicken”.

But where will the adjectives end?  Now, while I’m comfortable with theological and ethnic adjectives, I become more concerned with a new type of adjectival category that is now commonplace. 

In North America today, we have now moved beyond classic distinctions of Protestant and Catholic, denominational, and ethnic distinctions, to what I’ll describe as distinctions in structure and flavor.  While some of these may communicate significant theological distinctions, most do not.  For example, on a regular basis, we now use the following adjectives to describe the local church:  house, organic, simple, cell, multi-site, mega, traditional, conventional, postmodern, emergent, multi-housing, cowboy, biker, seeker, seeker-sensitive, hip-hop, college, multi-ethnic, and the list goes on and on. 

As a missiologist, I understand the benefit of such adjectives.  I use them all the time.  If we know what the ideal cell church “looks” like, we can better understand what someone communicates when they say, “I am a member of a cell church.”  For those of you who follow my blog know that my previous two posts were about my book on house churches.  While there are limitations, clearly the use of “house” in the title communicated something specific about the churches in the book.  If you receive my tweets, you know that I just taught a course on models of church planting.  During this course, my students had the opportunity to observe and evaluate different expressions of the church from theological and missiological perspectives. 

I share this information to say that I recognize the value of the structural and flavor adjectives.  

But my concern lies in three areas. 

First, at what point does the use of adjectives become an activity in absurdity? Will there come a day when we speak of “Baptist, post-modern, seeker-sensitive, gen-X, cowboy, house churches”?  How’s that for your business card?

Second, and related to the first, at what point do our adjectives hinder the dissemination of the gospel and the growth of the church by directly teaching the church who we are and who we are attempting to reach, while indirectly educating the church on who we are probably not going to reach, “so we should not bother with them anyway”?  Do we teach our Japanese churches that they are just as responsible for reaching African-Americans as the African-American churches?  Do we teach our cowboy churches that they are to evangelize and plant churches among the hip-hop subcultures?    

Finally, regardless of the adjective used, we must always be faithful to the biblical prescription for all that is necessary for a church to be a healthy church.  Whether the church meets under a banyan tree or in a multi-million dollar facility is not the point.  The timbre of the music is secondary in nature.  The denominational or non-denominational stance takes a back seat to what Jesus requires of His church.  The structure, ethnic composition, and whether or not the members ride Harley’s or horses are irrelevant here. 

While contextualization factors matter, missionaries must know the biblical necessities for a local church to exist.  They must know the biblical characteristics of healthy churches so that they can instill within the D.N.A. of those newly planted churches a vision and teaching for what our Lord expects. 

Our biblical ecclesiology must come from the Scriptures and not from our missiology. 

In a day when many individuals and groups have gone soft on the doctrine of ecclesiology, we must make sure we remain faithful to the biblical parameters.  The good news is that Jesus knows best for His church.  He has told church planters what is expected.  The borders He has established for healthy churches are wide enough to allow for much flexibility and diversity.

So, while we continue to have adjectives here, remember there is coming a day when He will wipe away every tear…and every adjective.

If you read the first post, you know that these two posts are the result of the fact that at least three major U.S. news papers carried stories last week on house churches.  In the 24 hours following post #1, I received notice that another U.S. story was published. 

In this final post, I want to provide you with a continued glimpse into the world of the house churches represented in my book Missional House Churches: Reaching Our Communities with the Gospel.

 On Baptisms

• Churches baptized an average of 4-6 people in previous year
• Average membership to baptismal ratio 4.3:1 to 2.3:1 (In other words, on average, it took between 2 and 4 members per church to make one disciple in one year)
• Had some of the lowest baptism to membership ratios in the United States (range 1.4:1  to 14:1)
• Each church was comprised of 24-43% recent converts

On Church Planting

• Each church planted an average 4-6 churches in past three years
• Three churches in study planted 10 or more churches
• In the three years prior to study, the 33 churches had planted between 132-198 churches

On Use of Money

• Overwhelming majority of the churches used their financial resources in two main areas: benevolence and missions (some giving 80-90% to these two areas)

On Networking with Other Churches

• Half of the churches were connected with a network of other churches
• Half of the churches desired to be part of another network or were actively looking for a network
• A small minorty of the churches were connected to denominations (majority were non-denominational)

At least three major U.S. newspapers ran stories this past week on house churches.  You can read them HERE, HERE, and HERE.  While I was planning to write on another topic today, I revised my schedule to address this matter from my experience and research. 

There is clearly a growing interest among people regarding this expression of the Body of Christ.  On a regular basis, people approach me wanting to talk about this matter.  For example, I have already been in such conversations this week, one with a leader of large church interested in planting a network of house churches.  A couple of months ago, I was asked by Thomas Nelson to write a book related to growing trends and expressions in evangelical circles, including information on house churches.   Just a few weeks ago, I was approached by a leader in my denomination asking me to write a chapter on house churches for his forthcoming book. 

Researchers are starting to take interest in this topic.  Barna recently addressed this matter.  Stetzer has blogged about his research on the topic, and included a chapter on house churches in his recent book, Viral Churches (co-authored with Warren Bird).  I could go on and on regarding other books, conferences, and blogs addressing house churches. 

While some people are interested in this topic because of the novelty of the matter, others take interest because of deep theological and missiological convictions.  Some look upon house churches with great suspicion, others with great delight.  Some believe such expressions are unhealthy by default, others believe they are the panacea to the problems facing the Church in America.          

In 2008, I published Missional House Churches: Reaching Our Communities with the Gospel.  Knowing that not all churches (including house churches) are the same, I decided to focus on those expressions that were both reaching people with the gospel and planting churches. 

Other scholars had been conducting similar church growth research for years, but with mainstream (conventional) churches as their subjects.  No one at the time had produced such a work examining house churches. 

While several books exist on house churches, to my knowledge, mine was the first empirical attempt to understand what is taking place in a select group of such churches. 

While my study was based on survey research, followed by interviews, the sampling process was more akin to a snowball methodology.  Therefore, I cannot say that the thirty-three churches in the book are representative of all house churches.  In fact, I would say they are the exceptions to what you find in a North American context. 

While I do not claim the churches in my study were perfect–I note my theological and methodological concerns throughout the book–they do provide us with an example of conservative evangelicals who have a high view of the Bible, are keeping church life simple, and are manifesting characteristics of worship, discipleship, fellowship, ministry, and evangelism. 

More and better research is needed when it comes to house churches.  Little research exists on the topic.  Until then, here is a glimpse of the findings from my book.  Today, I’ll begin with introducing you to the churches in the study:

How Were the Churches Selected:

• Each church had to have baptized at least one person in the previous year

• Each church had to have planted at least one church in the past three years

•255 churches participated in Phase I (Web Survey), with  91 churches meeting both research criteria (minimal number of baptisms and church plants)

•We were able to contact 33 of the 91 churches for a phone interview (Phase II)

 Meet the Churches:

• They were scattered across 17 states:

HI, 2         WA, 2             OR, 1              ID, 1

CA, 7        CO, 2              KS, 1               OK, 1

TX, 7        MN, 1              WI, 1               MO, 1 

IN, 1          OH, 2              CT, 1               DE, 1

FL, 1 

• Their locations were not limited to population density.  They were found in both rural and urban contexts.
• They were predominately Anglo, but had much ethnic diversity (less than 1/3 were 100% Anglo)

Mostly New Churches

• 80% had been meeting for less than 10 years.
• 21% were 10 years or older.
• 46% had been together 1-3 years
• Five churches had been meeting for 13 years or more
• Comprised of a wide range of generations (infants to senior adults)
• Average church size ranged: 14-17 people
• One church consisted of more than thirty-four members

In my next post, I plan to provide you with a glimpse into the results of their missional endeavors.