If you have a heart for global missions, then you’ve probably heard the phrase “church planting movement.” While many of us know that a church plant is a new church somewhere, it’s hard to define the “movement” part of the phrase. We explain what a church planting movement is, why they matter so much, and how native missionaries are involved. Don’t worry, we explain how you can get involved too. Just keep reading!
What Is a Church Planting Movement?
Experts in the field offer various definitions of the phrase “church planting movement.” The most popular definition is, “a rapid and exponential increase of indigenous churches planting churches within a given people group or population segment.” Dr. David Garrison provides this definition in his book Church Planting Movements.
David Watson, an expert in global disciple-making, adds defining measurements to Garrison’s definition. In his book Contagious Disciple-Making, he says that church planting movements should have at least 100 churches in three years and that churches should have multiple generations sprouting from them.
24:14, a global organization dedicated to multiplying Kingdom movements, describes church planting as multiplication, where disciples make disciples and leaders develop leaders. This multiplication results in indigenous churches planting churches.
You’ll notice some key words in these definitions, specifically “indigenous” and “generations.” Indigenous refers to the native population. They are the people who’ve been living in a specific area the longest.
Generations refers to descendents. A generational church starts with one church that plants another church. The newly planted church is a descendant, or next generation, of the first church. Like a family tree, new churches will be able to trace their heritage through generations of church plants back to the original church, which should still be thriving.
Together, these definitions help us understand that the Holy Spirit leads church planting movements. These movements empower indigenous churches and leaders to plant more churches in their area. Ideally, church planting happens within a specific time frame, so leaders can make more disciples and see generations of churches take root in their lifetime.
Why Do Church Planting Movements Matter?
Church planting movements matter because they help fulfill the Great Commission. Some of Jesus’s last words call all believers to make disciples, and one of the best ways to do that is through planting a church.
A church plant, even a small house group, encourages and equips the believers in a specific area. These believers are disciples and can invite non-believers they know to the church plant to hear the Gospel. As the Holy Spirit works in the hearts of non-believers, they can accept Jesus as Savior and become disciples themselves. The church plant will grow with each new believer and may eventually need a bigger meeting place.
As the church plant grows, many disciples want other people in their area or close by to know about Jesus. They then plant another church in the area, which can follow the same methods of making disciples and helping non-believers learn about Jesus. More and more people will be saved, changing their life and their eternity.
Making disciples is also important because God loves people. 1 Timothy 2:4 NIV declares that God “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” Church planting movements help people be saved and know the truth of the Gospel.
How Are Native Missionaries Involved?
Based on the definitions and importance of church planting movements, we know that indigenous, or native, missionaries are necessary to a Spirit-led, successful movement. Native missionaries are often involved at different levels.
Some act as evangelists in new areas, especially with unreached people groups. Others are strictly church planters, and some are pastors, leading the church plants and discipling believers.
Depending on the area, one native missionary may even fit all these roles and additional ones, such as humanitarian worker. Humanitarian aid, such as providing water wells or children’s school supplies, can help a native missionary develop a positive relationship with a community and grow a church plant. You can donate for humanitarian aid and missionary needs through the ANM Gift Catalog.
Specific examples of ANM missionary partners who are planting churches are Pastor Arman in Kazakhstan and anonymous leaders in Azerbaijan.
Pastor Omar also helps with church planting in Kazakhstan, and a missionary family are seeing success from a church plant in Mexico. Local leadership helps churches in rural Kenya flourish too.
Church planting movements can happen anywhere the Holy Spirit leads, from these far away places to the United States. You can get involved and pray for church planting movements through our free Advancing the Kingdom prayer guide. Nothing advances God’s Kingdom more than prayer and church planting!
