Planting, Watering, Growing: Planting Confessionally Reformed Churches in the 21st Century

by Daniel R. Hyde, Shane Lems

As a response to the unique challenges facing the twenty-first-century American church, church planting has become a popular topic. But at a time when churches that spread the seed of the Word through preaching, the sacraments, and prayer are greatly needed, much of the focus has been on planting churches that adapt pop culture to meet consumer demand. In Planting, Watering, Growing the authors of this collection of essays weave together theological wisdom, personal experiences, and practical suggestions, guiding readers through the foundations and methods of planting confessional churches that uphold the Word of God. Table of
Was the Reformation Missions-Minded? Michael S. Horton
Introduction Daniel R. Hyde and Shane Lems
Part 1: The Foundation of Planting Churches
1. The Fruitful Grain of Wheat - Brian Vos
2. The Sovereign Spirit of Thoughts on Acts 16:6-10 and Church Planting - Daniel R. Hyde
3. The Reformed Confessions and Missions - Wes Bredenhof
4. No Church, No Problem? - Michael S. Horton
Part 2: The Methods of Planting Churches
5. Church Planting Principles from the Book of Acts -Daniel R. Hyde
6. Heart Preparation in Church Planting - Paul T. Murphy
7. Church A Covenantal and Organic Approach - Paul T. Murphy
8. Planning the Some Thoughts on Preparing to Plant a New Church - Kim Riddlebarger
Part 3: The Work of Planting Churches
9. On Being a Church Planter - Daniel R. Hyde
10. Being a Welcoming Church Plant - Kevin Efflandt
11. Flock and A Biblical Balance - Shane Lems
12. Declare His Praise among the Public Worship as the Heart of Evangelism - Daniel R. Hyde
13. 'How's the Food?' The Church Plant's Most Important Ingredient - Michael G. Brown
14. Church Membership and the Church Plant -Michael G. Brown
15. Shepherding Toward Maturity, Part 1: The Authority in Church Planting - Spencer Aalsburg
16. Shepherding Toward Maturity, Part 2: Identifying a Mature Church Plant - Spencer Aalsburg
17. The Planting Church and the Planted Church - Eric Tuininga
Part 4: The Context of Planting Churches
18. Church Planting in a Melting Pot - Shane Lems
19. The Cultural Factor in Church Planting - Mitchell Persaud
20. Growing Contextually Reformed Oxymoron or Opportunity? - Phil Grotenhuis
21. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? - Michael S. Horton
Epilogue - Daniel R. Hyde and Shane Lems
Appendix Church-Plant A Big and Brief Picture of a Plant - Daniel R. Hyde and Shane Lems
Appendix The Steering Committee - Spencer Aalsburg
Appendix Guidelines for the Steering Committee -Spencer Aalsburg

Genres: Ecclesiology

328 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Daniel R. Hyde (ThM, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary) is the Pastor of the Oceanside United Reformed Church in Oceanside, California. He is the author of over ten books, including Welcome to a Reformed Church, Why Believe in God?, and God in Our Midst.

Reviews

[Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were some excellent aspects to this book. I think there was a lot of practical wisdom and experience in church planting and I found many sections to be quite helpful. As with any collection of various writers, there is a lot of overlap in information. This can be good because you get different perspectives, but it also makes the book a bit longer than it would have been if there had been one organized author.

[Andrzej Stelmasiak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book on church planting, a must read for those that are tired of books/talks advocating 'planting and growing churches with slick marketing, demographics studies, and decaf cappuccinos' (JV Fesko ). Some essays were stellar, just a few only average, but overall - excellent. Tolle lege!

[Todd Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

The need to plant churches in America is great. Many times when it comes to missions we think exclusively overseas. We don’t always stop to see the needs around us. The editors of this work have put together a good team of writers to give first hand wisdom and ideas in planting confessionally reformed churches. A great resource for the church.

[mpsiple · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good. Like most edited books, some sections are much better than others. I found Hyde's chapters to be the most helpful.

[Mark Christenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gets a 3.9 out of 5 stars (rounded down). Other than some theological differences there are some good principles in here regarding ecclesiology. A good read.

[Peter Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very helpful book for those who want to plant ordinary means of grace churches, churches that are centered around worship, sacraments, preaching, teaching, hospitality, long term covenantal growth, and evangelism. There is a lot of good advice in the book on how to start church plant and when not to, how a church plant should interact with the mother church and the denomination, the priority of doctrine and preaching, how to properly contextualize, how to make the church plant welcoming, what should be looked for in a church planter, etc.

They are also willing to recommend books outside the reformed tradition, such as those from the Acts29 Network or those from more seeker sensitive models.

There are of course, places I disagree. My main disagreement was the need to go over the confessions before membership.The sample list of questions for new members (p. 185-86) is daunting. My view is that a person professes faith in Christ, is baptized, and then can become a member. After that there should be systematic teaching in whatever confession the church plant adheres to. I do not think there needs to be a long process for membership. But even here the writers reminded me of the need for systematic instruction of the saints in doctrine. I would just do it post-membership.

Though my church plant is eight years old and on solid ground there are still many ideas from this book that I will try to implement at some point in the future. The book is a worthwhile read for all in the reformed tradition who want to plant churches or be involved in churches that are evangelical, reformed, and Biblically sensitive to the surrounding culture.

[Stephen Mccollum · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful guide to church planting written from a Confessionally Reformed perspective. The chapters are essays written by several ministers from the Dutch Reformed tradition who all have experience planting churches. I was pleased that they maintain that the preaching of the Word of God is central to the church plant's witness. Some good ideas are given for a successful church plant and many of the chapters are worth reading again. Overall there is a good sense of balance, for example, between the excitement and the realistic challenges of church planting, or in the (buzzword) area of contextualization.

[William Sandell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains a lot of good information about planting reformed churches. It does not sugar coat things though. It makes it abundantly clear that church planting is not for the faint of heart and is a long, slow process. But if you have the heart, it is truly rewarding. The book could use a few more chapters on practical steps. It was primarily a theology of church planting as opposed to a step by step guide.

[Benjamin Glaser · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some great essays, some not so great as with any book of essays.

All worthwhile though.

[Jeremy Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The only downside of this book is that it is written specifically for Presbyterian and Reformed churches. Baptists can still benefit tremendously from this work with tweaks in its ecclesiology.