Baptist Pastoral Ministry, Missions, and Church Leadership — Unit 8: Church Planting in the Baptist Way

Key Verse

"So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed." (Acts 14:23, NKJV)

Learning Objectives

When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

1. Describe the pattern of church planting that Paul and Barnabas followed in Acts 13 and 14.

2. Explain what makes a group of believers a Baptist church, and how that shapes the steps of planting.

3. List the stages of a Baptist church plant from prayer to constituting a church.

4. Compare the main models of planting (mother church, team, tentmaking, house church) and state the strengths of each.

5. State fairly the debates over speed, local leadership and competition among churches, and give a Baptist answer to each.

The Voice of This Course

This course is written from inside the Baptist tradition, for Baptist pastors. We hold that Christ builds His church and that He gives us the privilege of taking part. We believe that the Bible shows us what a church is, and that church planting should follow the Bible and not only the latest method. Other Christians and some missions writers see parts of this subject differently, and we state their views fairly. The theology of church membership is covered in Course 2, the work of associations and pastors in Course 3, and baptism in practice in Course 4. This unit puts them to work: how does a Baptist pastor help to start a new church?

What the New Testament Shows

Church planting is not a modern invention. It is what Acts is about. The church at Antioch sent Barnabas and Saul (Acts 13:1-3), and the two traveled through Cyprus and the region of Galatia. Luke records a clear pattern in Acts 13 and 14, and later in Paul's other journeys.

They preached the gospel. In city after city they went first to the people who would listen, in synagogues and in public places, and told them about Christ crucified and risen. A church was never begun without the message.

People believed, and were gathered. Luke says that in Antioch of Pisidia "as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed" (Acts 13:48). At Philippi the Lord opened Lydia's heart, and she and her household were baptized (Acts 16:14-15). The jailer and his household believed and were baptized that same night (Acts 16:33-34). In Corinth many hearing believed and were baptized (Acts 18:8). New believers did not stay alone. They were baptized and gathered.

They stayed to teach, and sometimes for a long time. Paul remained a year and six months in Corinth, teaching the word of God (Acts 18:11). In Ephesus he taught daily for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord (Acts 19:9-10). Church planting is not a quick visit.

They went back to strengthen. After their first journey, Paul and Barnabas returned to the new churches, "strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith" (Acts 14:22).

They appointed leaders. In our key verse, they "appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting," and committed them to the Lord. Paul told Titus to "appoint elders in every city" (Titus 1:5). The new church needed shepherds who would stay when the missionaries left.

They kept the sending church informed. Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch and reported all that God had done with them (Acts 14:26-27). The sending church was a partner, not a bank.

This pattern, in short, is: pray and send, preach, baptize, teach, gather, strengthen, appoint leaders, and report. Baptists find nothing in this pattern that a Baptist church would need to change.

What Makes a Baptist Church

Before we can plant a church, we must know what we are planting. Baptists answer from the New Testament and from our historic confessions. A Baptist church is a local congregation of baptized believers, joined together by covenant, who meet to worship, to observe the two ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper, to teach and obey the Scriptures, and to carry out the Great Commission. It governs itself under Christ and chooses its own pastors and deacons. These are the convictions you studied in Courses 2 and 3.

Three things follow for the church planter.

First, a church is made of regenerate believers. A crowd that gathers to hear a speaker is not yet a church, and neither is a social club or a group of children. Planting begins with conversions, not with a building or a sign.

Second, baptism comes before membership. The Baptist church baptizes believers by immersion, and baptized believers form the church. A church plant should not ask converts to wait for years without baptism, nor baptize those who have not believed.

Third, a church governs itself. A new church should not be a permanent branch office. Its members, in the end, make their own decisions, call their own pastor, and keep their own accounts. A sponsoring church or association helps, but it does not rule.

Baptist writers in the 1800s, such as J. M. Pendleton in his Church Manual, described a church in these terms. We follow the same Scriptures.

The Stages of a Baptist Church Plant

There is no single method in the Bible, and wise planters adapt to their setting. But these stages are common and faithful to the New Testament.

1. Prayer and calling. The sending church prays and fasts, as Antioch did. It sets apart a person or team and commits itself to support them in prayer. Pastors should seek the Lord's guidance for the place.

2. Entering and witnessing. The team enters the community, learns the language and customs, makes friends and shares the gospel. In many places this will happen through personal friendship, home visits, a Bible study, or helping people in need.

3. Gathering the converts. As people believe, they are brought together for prayer, singing, and Bible study. At this stage the group is often called a mission or a preaching point. It meets under the care of the sponsoring church.

4. Baptism and teaching. Those who believe are baptized and taught. Teaching is simple and clear: the gospel, the Bible, prayer, the Lord's Supper, giving, and how the church is to live together.

5. Training leaders. The team looks for believers who show the qualities in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. It trains them to teach and lead, before and after they take office.

6. Constituting the church. When there are enough baptized believers with a covenant, a simple statement of faith, and leaders to teach and serve, the group is constituted as a church. They sign or affirm the covenant, adopt the statement of faith, and choose a pastor and deacons. Often the sponsoring church and neighboring churches take part in a service of recognition. The Lord's Supper is celebrated.

7. Ongoing partnership. The new church joins an association or convention by its own choice, and the planting team slowly lets go. The plant is a church that can plant others.

Mission thinkers of the 1800s, such as Henry Venn and Rufus Anderson, taught that a young church should become self-governing, self-supporting and self-propagating. Baptists find this agrees with their view of the local church, and the idea is still widely used.

Models of Planting

The mother church model. An existing church sponsors a new church. It supplies prayer, people, teaching and sometimes money, and later releases the daughter church. Strength: the new church is not alone. Weakness: the mother church may hold on too long or make the daughter a copy of itself.

The team model. A small team of believers with different gifts enters a new place together. Strength: it shares the load and covers the weaknesses of one person. Weakness: the team may be too dependent on outside leaders.

The tentmaking or bivocational model. Paul worked at tentmaking in Corinth (Acts 18:3) so that he might not burden the people he served. Many Baptist church planters in Latin America and Africa also earn their living by trade or work, and pastor part time. Strength: it lowers cost, builds trust, and models self-support. Weakness: the pastor may be tired and have little time for study.

The house church model. The first Christians often met in homes (Romans 16:5; Colossians 4:15). A house requires no building and few funds. Strength: it is easy to start and multiply, and suits poor and hostile settings. Weakness: it needs trained leaders, or it may drift in teaching. A house group that practices baptism, the Lord's Supper, the covenant and discipline, and governs itself, is a church in the Baptist sense. A house group that does not is still a mission.

None of these models is the only right one. Each can be used faithfully or badly.

Debates Among Those Who Plant

Speed

Some modern writers on "church planting movements" urge rapid multiplication of small churches, with quick baptisms and local leaders raised up at once. They point to the book of Acts, where the jailer was baptized that same night. Others warn that fast growth can produce shallow believers and weak leaders, and that Paul's two years in Ephesus show the value of patience.

Our answer. Both have some truth. Baptism soon after real faith is biblical. So are teaching and strengthening, and Paul wrote that an elder must not be a new convert (1 Timothy 3:6). Speed is not the enemy; neglect of teaching and of the marks of a regenerate church is. The planter should baptize when faith is credible and keep teaching long after.

Local leaders or outside leaders

Some argue that outside missionaries should lead new churches until they are mature. Others argue for local leaders from the beginning.

Our answer. Acts 14:23 and Titus 1:5 show leaders appointed in the churches themselves in short time. Paul did not remain as the pastor of each church. The Baptist conviction that the church chooses its own leaders points the same way. Planters should train local men early, test them as 1 Timothy 3 requires, and let the congregation choose.

Competition among churches

A planter may start a church in a town where other Baptist or evangelical churches already stand. Is this a waste, or an offense?

Our answer. Paul wrote that he sought to preach where Christ had not been named, so that he would not build on another man's foundation (Romans 15:20). That is a strong reason to go first to places with no church. Yet large cities and growing towns may have room for more witness. The pastor should talk with neighboring pastors and the association before starting, avoid recruiting members from other churches, and rejoice when another church grows.

Women and Church Planting

Women are essential to church planting. Lydia opened her home in Philippi (Acts 16:15, 40), and Priscilla, with Aquila, labored with Paul in Corinth and Ephesus (Acts 18:2, 18-19, 26). In Baptist history, women missionaries have started schools, clinics, Bible classes and churches in many lands. Most conservative Baptist bodies, following the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, hold that the office of pastor is reserved to men, and they welcome women in evangelism, teaching women and children, hospitality, and many other ministries. Some Baptist bodies ordain women as pastors. In any case, no new church can grow without the work of its women.

Pastoral Application

A Baptist pastor in a town in Jalisco leads a Bible study each Thursday in a nearby village. Twelve families now come, and three men and four women have professed faith in Christ. One of them asks, "Pastor, are we a church yet?"

The pastor takes time to answer. He explains that they are a group of believers and a promising mission, and that the Lord has begun something good. He prays with them and arranges to baptize the seven who have believed. He begins weekly teaching on what a church is, and he asks his own church to pray. He watches for two men in the village who might one day serve as pastor and deacon, and he encourages them to read 1 Timothy 3. After about a year, with a covenant and a short statement of faith, the village group is constituted as a church at a service with the neighboring churches. The members choose their own leaders, and the mother church gives them a Bible and a communion table. The pastor learns that waiting and teaching have strengthened the new church.

Summary

Paul and Barnabas planted churches by preaching, baptizing, teaching, strengthening and appointing leaders, and by staying in touch with the sending church. A Baptist church is a self-governing congregation of baptized believers joined by covenant, so Baptist planting begins with conversions, baptizes believers, trains leaders and constitutes a church that can govern itself. The stages are prayer and calling, entering, gathering, baptizing and teaching, training leaders, constituting, and ongoing partnership. Common models are the mother church, the team, the tentmaking pastor and the house church, each with strengths and weaknesses. On speed, local leadership and competition, Baptists seek baptism when faith is credible, teaching that continues, leaders chosen from within, and cooperation with neighboring churches. Women serve in many ways, though most conservative Baptists reserve the pastor's office to men.

Further Reading

• The Acts of the Apostles, especially chapters 13 to 20.

• J. M. Pendleton, Church Manual (1867).

• William Carey, An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens (1792).

• Charles H. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students.

• The Baptist Faith and Message (2000), the articles on the church and on evangelism and missions.

• Chute, Finn and Haykin, The Baptist Story (2015).

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