THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY CHURCH PLANTING METHODOLOGIES Syllabus June 11-15, :00 AM-5:00 PM Norton 202

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1 THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY CHURCH PLANTING METHODOLOGIES Syllabus June 11-15, :00 AM-5:00 PM Norton 202 J. D. Payne, Ph.D. Garrett Fellow: John Green Office: Norton 277 Office: (502) COURSE DESCRIPTION This is an advanced course in church planting. The goal will be the integration of biblical, missiological, sociological, and anthropological insights and the application of these to the task of church planting. Class members will discover and develop case studies of actual church planting situations. Prerequisite: Introduction to Church Planting COURSE OBJECTIVES The student who completes this course should be able to: Understand that there are many available contemporary church planting methodologies Explain what the New Testament reveals about church planting Understand the characteristics of the Apostle Paul s missiological paradigm Explain the Nehemiah Project components Develop a theoretical and practical knowledge of cell church planting, multihousing church planting, house church planting, traditional Southern Baptist church planting, and Purpose Driven church planting. Describe the historical and contemporary understanding of the spontaneous expansion of the Church Discuss the theological, methodological, and strategic foundations required for the North American Church to experience church planting movements. Develop a critical approach to evaluating and selecting church planting methods and models for missiological practice Have a better understanding of the implication of North American cultural shifts on the Church in general and on church planting in particular

2 Discover, develop, and evaluate the methods used in an actual church planting ministry Improve both writing and presentation skills Develop a greater passion for participation in the Great Commission through church planting COURSE TEXTS Allen, Roland. Missionary Methods: St. Paul s or Ours? American Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing Company, Bunch, David T., Harvey J. Kneisel, and Barbara L. Oden. Multihousing Congregations: How to Start and Grow Christian Congregations in Multihousing Communities. Atlanta, GA: Smith Publishing, Neighbour, Ralph. Where Do We Go From Here? 10 th ed. TX: Touch Publications, Redford, Jack. Planting New Churches. Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, **This book is out of print and is available from the Church Planting Center on disk. Scoggins, Dick. Planting House Churches in Networks. Revised and Edited Edition. Newport, RI: The Fellowship of Church Planters, Warren, Rick. Purpose Driven Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, Other Required Reading: North American Mission Board, 7-Steps for Planting Churches Available at: on)% pdf NAMB Ecclesiological Guidelines for Church Planters Available at: Nehemiah Project Manual Available at: Course Requirements 1. Participation and Attendance. This is an advanced course that will follow a seminar format. Students are expected to participate actively in each class.

3 Failure to participate in the class discussions will hinder the student s overall grade. Punctual attendance is expected. Any student expecting to miss part of a class (or an entire class) should not take this course. Missing one day of class constitutes a failing grade for the course. 2. Reading reports. Students are expected to have read all of the course texts and 7 Steps for Planting Churches prior to the first class session (Due June 11). Students are expected to be prepared to discuss all reading assignments on the specific due dates. Students will be asked to submit a reading report regarding the percentage of the total reading completed. The reading report form can be downloaded from the Handouts Section of Ecampus. 3. Critical Book review. Students are expected to complete one 5 page critical book review. The review can be over any of the books except Missionary Methods. (Due: June 22). The paper should respond to at least the following information: What is the thesis of the book? Did the author(s) accomplish what they set out to accomplish? Who is the audience? What are the strengths of the book? What are the limitations of the book? 4. Methodology Paper. Students are expected to develop a case study of the methodology(-ies) used in the planting of an actual church. Students must interview the church planter(s). If the student is currently involved in a church planting work, then he or she may decide to study his or her own work to date. This is an independent research project. Only one student per case study is permitted. The case study is to be 8-10 pages in length. The church studied cannot be over five years old. All methodology studies are due June 29. We will discuss in class the contents of this paper on June Field Research and Observation Papers. Students are expected to locate two recently planted churches that reflect at least one of the following models: cell, purpose-driven, house, multihousing, or traditional. (Please note, House Church Central has a search engine to search for listed cell and house churches throughout the world (see Students are to attend one worship event (or two events, i.e., cell and celebration, if a cell church is being studied) and to write a brief summary paper (two to three pages) (Due July 6) describing their experiences and feelings including at least the following: 1) List general observations of what was observed and heard. 2) Speak to at least two regular attendees present and ask them why they are a part of the church. 3) At any time did you feel uncomfortable? Why did you feel that way? 4) What do you believe God is doing through the particular church to reach the world?

4 COURSE GRADING/EVALUATION Participation 10% Reading 25% Methodology Paper 25% Critical Review 15% Field Research/Observations 25% (12.5% each) 100% The following is the grading scale used for this course: A C A C B D B D B D C F below 70 Students should follow the seminary s manual of style and form for all written assignments. DISCLAIMER: This syllabus is intended to reflect accurately the course description, course objectives, general content, grading criteria, course requirements, attendance requirements, and other information necessary for students to appraise the course. The instructor, however, reserves the right to modify any portion of this syllabus as may appear necessary because of the events and circumstances that change during the term. LATE WORK: All assignments are due on the assigned dates. All late work will be penalized one quality point per day the assignment is late (this includes weekends). NOTE: In order to ensure full class participation, any student with a disabling condition requiring accommodations (e.g. tape recorders, special adaptive equipment, special notetaking or test-taking needs) is strongly encouraged to contact the instructor at the beginning of the course.

5 COURSE SCHEDULE June 11 8:00-8:50 Course Overview Due Reading Report 9:00-9:50 Introductions 10:00-10:50 Lecture Church Planting Methodological Mania and Ideal Types 11:00-11:50 Discussion of Problems Hindering North American Church Planting Movements 1:00-1:50 Lecture Biography and Missiology of Roland Allen 2:00-3:50 Discussion and Presentation of Allen 4:00-4:50 Discuss Components for Methodology Studies Paper June 12 Home work: Read Articles: Steffen, Flawed Evangelism and Church Planting, and Selecting a Church Planting Model That Works, and Zimmerman, Willow Creek or Lima? Europe s Church Planter s Ask Homework: Listen to podcast Systems Before You Launch at and Is Today s Core Group Tomorrow s Church Planting Team at 8:00-8:50 Video: Cowboy Church Network 9:00-9:50 Discussion of Steffen and Zimmerman articles 10:00-10:50 Class Activity: Developing a Tool for Evaluating Church Planting Methodologies/Models 11:00-11:50 Discussion of Redford 1:00-2:50 Video: Purpose Driven Model 3:00-3:50 Guest Speaker 4:00-4:50 Discussion of Warren Homework: Read Nehemiah Project Manual and NAMB Ecclesiological Guidelines posted at px Listen to podcast Reaching Multihousing Areas of North America at and check out the Multihousing Ministry/Planting links at

6 June 13 8:00-5:00 Multihousing Church Planting: Trip to West Chester, OH to meet with Mike Wright of Living Hope Community Ministries. June 14 8:00-8:50 Discussion Bunch 9:00-10:50 Videos Tillie Burgen and Barbara Oden 11:00-11:50 Read article on Relationally-Based Church Planting 1:00-2:50 Video: Church Planting Roundtable Comparison/Contrast of Two Methodologies 3:00-3:50 Discussion of Scoggins Home work: Check out the House2House web site at June 15 8:00-8:50 Missional House Churches in the United States 9:00-9:50 Discussion Neighbour 10:00-10:50 Guest Speaker 11:00-11:50 Discussion 7-Steps for Planting Churches 1:00-1:50 Guest Speaker 2:50-4:50 Louisville Field Trip June 22 June 29 July 6 Due Book Review (must be postmarked by July 22, and mailed to John Green s address, no s accepted) Due Methodology Paper (must be postmarked by July 29, and mailed to John Green s address, no s accepted) Due Field Research and Observations Paper (must be postmarked by August 11, and mailed to John Green s address, no s will be accepted)