by David Garrison
Since Garrison published his booklet, Church Planting Movements, in 2000, missionaries have been longing for more information. If readers only expected an expanded version of the booklet, they will be disappointed.
WITGTake Resources, P.O. Box 1268, Midlothian, VA 23113, 2004, 326 pages, $18.95.
Reviewed by J.D. Payne, assistant professor of church planting and evangelism, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky.
Since Garrison published his booklet, Church Planting Movements, in 2000, missionaries have been longing for more information. If readers only expected an expanded version of the booklet, they will be disappointed.
The book is divided into four sections and three appendices. Garrison starts the first section by describing his journey into the world of church planting movements and defining them, refuting several misconceptions.
In section two, Garrison takes readers on a world tour describing current realities in many nations. Eight chapters are devoted to examining these movements in India, China, other Asian nations, Africa, the Muslim world, Latin America, Europe and North America.
In section three he discusses lessons we can learn from church planting movements. He devotes a chapter to explaining what occurs in every movement. In another he describes what occurs in most movements. Garrison also takes a chapter to examine how the Scriptures address these movements. He concludes the section with a chapter that discusses obstacles and one that answers the most common questions.
In his final section Garrison addresses practical ways readers can be involved in church planting movements.
According to Garrison, church planting movements are nothing new; they are as old as the Apostolic Church. He calls readers back to a healthy biblical ecclesiology and a missiology that includes a philosophy of simple church life, rapid leadership development and multiplicative church planting. Throughout this work he strongly advocates the strategy coordinator’s role in missions and prefers the planting of house churches, even above cell churches. Garrison believes that these movements are both the work of the sovereign Lord and his people, and constantly challenges readers to consider how they are helping facilitate them.
Though his work is 362 pages, it is not a dull read. Garrison shares stories from around the globe in an intriguing manner. Tales from well-known areas and from undisclosed nations permeate his work. Readers are exposed to stories describing the height of excitement and the agonies of loss in church planting. Regardless of their mission field, readers from across the globe will find this work practical, challenging and encouraging.
Check these titles:
Allen, Roland. 1962. Missionary Methods, St. Paul’s or Ours. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans Publishing.
Allen, Roland. 1962. The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans Publishing.
Brock, Charles. 1994. Indigenous Church Planting. Neosho, Mo.: Church Growth International.
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