Allen Likkel

We have Communion every Sunday as good Calvinists.

There are different movement genres. Many church plants are "mini" movements. I believe the November gathering of missional leaders at the missional cafe in Denver could very well be the genesis of a movement among CRCNA leaders. I'll join any movement with Brian and Andy because I know whom they follow.

Thanks for  posting this appropriate challenge from Tim Keller. Obviously our denominational leadership has not accepted this reality and has not made church planting a priority. In fact, several years ago the BOT and denominational leaders unilAterally decided to redirect about 1 mil in Ministry Shares from CRHM to other projects. As to CRHM usurping the local churches role, this was a decision of the denom and its cong's to create the agency and give it this mandate. It was finally the agency thAt said to the denom and churches - from the 80's on - churches plant churches not agencies. We spent priority time and investment encouraging, teaching. and "pleading" to take on this role. We did not have a culture for Parenting but I do see progress in this - slow but sure PTL. 

Another thing to remember with gratitude (as a balance to the readiness to critique the past) is that despite the less than ideal practice of CRHM taking on the parenting role - many new churches were planted, and thousands of new Christians have entered an eternal relationship with Jesus Christ. They really don't care who God used to help catalyze the famy of believers where they met Jesus.

But for long term healthy churches - and denom - churches need to plant churches with CRHM doing the value added infrastructure supports that help catalyze Gospel Movements  and church planting.

Jon, I agree with your comment that reduced funding flowing through CRHM has forced the issue for congregations and classes to step up and take more ownership for church planting. In my more positive moments I believe that a commitment to church planting is now embedded in the CRCNA at a level where it will be sustained. I still remain convinced that economy of scale means that CRHM can serve the church planting mission of the CRCNA by offering recruiting, assessing, training, coaching, and networking for peer learning, etc. in a way that local congregations and classes would struggle to do with the same quality and efficiency. 

And yes Ramon, folks at CRHM - certainly including me - have made lots of mistakes through the years. One of the mistakes made was not contextualizing the church planting program adequately for ethnic missions, and for all church plants in general. For the last decade or more - despite the many protestations to the contrary - CRHM and partners have insistently pushed a "principle-based" approach rather than a "model-based" approach to church planting. There are fundamental, core practices that are required for all church plants. We need to keep zeroing in on these values and practices and then contextualize for the given mission and opportunity. Some of these values/practices are: Robust Prayer Strategy, Missional Leader who is visionary, deeply missional, and networker/gatherer, a Core Group primarily populated by the demographic of those to be reached, and significant time to dwell among and learn about what God is already doing in that community. This will faciliate an appropriate contextualization of how to share and live the Gospel among them - Jesus incarnational strategy.

Shalom,

Allen