Church planting is in vogue, yet there is a paucity of sustained biblical and theological reflection on the topic.
Key voices are practitioners and planters themselves - here is the biblical theology that the missiological practice of our day has been crying out for.
John Valentine explores the Bible's 'how' and 'why' for starting new churches and revitalizing old ones - in this robust and comprehensive biblical theological look at one aspect of the mission of God.
John Valentine is Dean of the Local Ministry Programme in Guildford Diocese. He previously served as Church Planting Trainer and Theologian at Large for the Gregory Centre for Church Multiplication. He's married to Catherine and they have two children. John was the Rector of St George's Holborn, a church plant from Holy Trinity Brompton, which planted two further churches in partnership with others over the subsequent 10 years. He is the author of 'Follow Me' on Christian Discipleship.
Table of Contents
Contents Foreword by Ric Thorpe, Bishop of Islington xiii Acknowledgments xvii List of abbreviations xix Introduction 1 Church planting in England in recent years 1 Why theology matters 4 A theology of both church and mission 7 Theology and practice: the structure of this book 8 Part I BIBLICAL MATERIAL 1 The Old Testament 13 Abraham and the call to bless the world in community 13 The exodus: the priestly kingdom 25 From gathering to synagogue to church 35 2 The Gospels 39 Jesus the church planter 39 Jesus' practice of 'church' 50 Jesus' vision for a missionary church 73 Conclusion: the Gospels and church planting 138 3 Church and mission in the Acts of the Apostles 145 Mission and church planting in Acts 146 Church and church planting in Acts 189 4 Church planting in action in Acts 233 The first church-planting journey 234 The second church-planting journey 257 The third church-planting journey 284 Church planting and cultural transformation 295 The Holy Spirit and church planting 299 5 How the first Christians put church into practice 301 Worship in the early church 301 Paul’s own testimony to church planting 316 Church planting an entire island 345 Intermezzo: Moving from biblical to systematic theology 361 Part II IS THERE A THEOLOGY OF CHURCH PLANTING? 6 Church planting, and the doctrines of church and mission 367 Mission 369 The church 374 Church and mission 377 Transcending the conflicts 395 7 The Trinity and church planting 404 Church planting and the Holy Spirit 406 Church planting and the kingdom of the Son 414 Church planting and the mission of God 434 Concluding thoughts: confidence and creativity 437 Epilogue: Church planting a city 440 The people 441 The individuals 446 The churches 458 Bibliography 467 Index of Scripture references 483 JesusChurchMission.