Five years ago, I had no idea what “church planting” was. Now, I am a pastor called as part of a team to the task of planting a church! As the seed for the idea of church planting was planted in me several years ago, I took it upon myself to delve more deeply into the study of church planting as a means for gospel advancement. What did it entail? Was it the best means for church growth? Could I (and should I) be part of a church plant?
I have learned a great deal about church planting in the past five years. All of the above questions have been answered. For one thing, the Lord sovereignly directed me to a church planting church (Uptown Church) even though we chose it as our church home in Charlotte entirely for other reasons (expository preaching, worshipful music, and strong children’s ministry). Additionally, I was able to learn from other church planters in the presbytery who were eager to discuss their experiences and were happy to be a potential guide to future church planters. Also, in my final year at Reformed Theological Seminary, I had the opportunity to spend one of my electives on an independent study of church planting. My assignment was to read a ton of church planting books and write a paper. In case anyone is interested, I wanted to share my findings with you.
Here is a copy of my paper for those curious and nerdy enough: Biblical Basis for Church Planting
Here is the church planting reading list I put together from Spring 2013:
- Stetzer, Ed. Planting Missional Churches. B&H Academic, 2006, 384 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Planting-Missional-Churches-Ed-Stetzer/dp/0805443703/ - Stetzer, Ed. Viral Churches: Helping Church Planters Become Movement Makers. Jossey-Bass, 2010, 256 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Viral-Churches-Planters-Jossey-Bass-Leadership/dp/0470550457/ - Keller, Tim. Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City. Zondervan, 2012, 400 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Center-Church-Balanced-Gospel-Centered-Ministry/dp/0310494184/ - Keller, Tim and Thompson, J. Allen. Redeemer Church Planting Manual. Redeemer Church Planting Center, 2002, 265 pages.
http://redeemercitytocity.com/resources/library.jsp?Library_item_param=371 - Patrick, Darren. Church Planter: The Man, the Message, the Mission. Crossway, 2010, 240 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Church-Planter-The-Message-Mission/dp/1433515768/ - McKinley, Mike and Patrick, Darrin. Church Planting Is for Wimps: How God Uses Messed-up People to Plant Ordinary Churches That Do Extraordinary Things. Crossway, 2010, 128 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Church-Planting-Wimps-Messed-up-Extraordinary/dp/1433514974/ - Malphurs, Aubrey. Planting Growing Churches for the 21st Century: A Comprehensive Guide for New Churches and Those Desiring Renewal. Baker, 2004,409 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Planting-Growing-Churches-21st-Century/dp/0801065143/ - Malphurs, Aubrey. Nuts and Bolts of Church Planting, The: A Guide for Starting Any Kind of Church. Baker, 2011, 272 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Nuts-Bolts-Church-Planting-The/dp/080107262X/ - Searcy, Nelson and Thomas, Kerrick. Launch: Starting a New Church from Scratch. Regal, 2007, 224 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Launch-Starting-New-Church-Scratch/dp/0830743103/ - Hyde, Daniel and Lems, Shane. Planting, Watering, Growing: Planting Confessionally Reformed Churches in the 21st Century. Reformation Heritage, 2011, 310 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Planting-Watering-Growing-Confessionally-Reformed/dp/1601781261/ - Beynon, Graham. Planting for the Gospel: A hands-on guide to church planting. Christian Focus, 2011, 128 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Planting-Gospel-hands–church-planting/dp/1845506367/ - Schaller, Lyle. 44 Questions for Church Planters. Abingdon Press, 1991, 196 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Questions-Church-Planters-Lyle-Schaller/dp/0687132843/ - Chester, Tim and Timmis, Steve. Total Church: A Radical Reshaping around Gospel and Community. Crossway, 2008, 224 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Total-Church-Radical-Reshaping-Community/dp/1433502089/ - Timmis, Steven. Multiplying Churches: Reaching Today’s Communities through Church Planting. Christian Focus, 2003, 128 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Multiplying-Churches/dp/1857925734/ - Griffith, Jim and Easum, Bill. Ten Most Common Mistakes Made By New Church Starts. Chalice, 2008, 128 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Most-Common-Mistakes-Church-Starts/dp/0827236476/ - Hesselgrave, David. Planting Churches Cross-Culturally: North America and Beyond. Baker Academic, 2000, 348 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Planting-Churches-Cross-Culturally-America-Beyond/dp/0801022223/ - Payne, J.D. Discovering Church Planting: An Introduction to the Whats, Whys, and Hows of Global Church Planting. InterVarsity Press, 2012, 492 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Discovering-Church-Planting-Introduction-Global/dp/083085634X/ - Moore, Ralph. Starting a New Church: The Church Planter’s Guide to Success. Regal, 2002, 244 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Starting-New-Church-Planters-Success/dp/0830729666/ - Comiskey, Joel. Planting Churches that Reproduce. CCS Publishing, 2008, 205 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Planting-Churches-that-Reproduce-Starting/dp/0979067960/ - Shenk, David. Creating Communities of the Kingdom: New Testament Models of Church Planting. Herald Press, 1988, 230 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Creating-Communities-Kingdom-Testament-Planting/dp/0836134702/ - Mull, Marlin. A Biblical Church Planting Manual: From the Book of Acts. Wipf & Stock, 2004, 72 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Biblical-Church-Planting-Manual-From/dp/1592447171/ - Arment, Ben. Church in the Making: What Makes or Breaks a New Church Before it Starts. B&H, 2008, 208 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Church-Making-Breaks-Before-Starts/dp/0805464735/ - Murray, Stuart. Church Planting. Herald Press, 2001, 292 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Church-Planting-Stuart-Murray/dp/083619148X/ - Ferguson, Dave and Ferguson, Jon. Exponential: How You and Your Friends Can Start a Missional Church Movement. Zondervan, 2010, 240 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Exponential-Friends-Missional-Church-Movement/dp/0310326788/ - Garrison, David. Church Planting Movements: How God is Redeeming a Lost World. Wigtake Resources, 2003, 362 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Church-Planting-Movements-Redeeming-World/dp/0974756202/ - Nebel, Tom and Rohrmayer, Gary. Church Planting Landmines. Churchsmart Resources, 2005, 140 pages.
http://www.amazon.com/Church-Planting-Landmines-Nebel-Rohrmayer/dp/1889638501/