Church in the Making

by Ben Arment

Nearly eighty percent of all new churches fail, leaving countless discouraged church planters wondering why. Ben Arment answers their question with Church in the Making by identifying and expanding on three God ordained conditions that make for a successful church plant even before the doors Good Ground – just as Jesus based his ministry on the openness of people’s hearts, we must gauge the spiritual receptivity of our community before planting a church. If the people are not yet open to the Gospel, the first step is to cultivate their hearts. Rolling Rocks – momentum is also key to the success of new churches. If God truly builds his church, then our job is not to start from scratch, but rather to identify where he is already bringing people, funds, and other resources together for his purposes. Deep Roots – wherever there’s a church in the making, God provides a group of leaders who can align people and resources in order to achieve and sustain the church’s mission. Lone planters have a much less hope of succeeding, let alone surviving.

Genres: Church, Leadership, Christian

211 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2010

Reviews

[Jeff Nine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really helpful for looking at church planting from a different angle than many of the books out there on the topic. Could be useful in thinking brought ministry strategy more generally as well. Despite tending towards utilitarian pragmatism, I found it a worthwhile read.

[Cole Kliewer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the second book I've read for my church planting residency. This book was a little hard to read at times because of the lack of cohesion between understanding human agency and God's sovereignty. I'm thankful for this brother's willingness to share his experiences of church planting, but I think he lacks moderation in many of his practical application suggestions. The narrative typically moves from a place of how it did not work for him, so it must be the other way that actually will produce the fruit needed to plant and sustain a church. However, I believe, from my experience and reading The Church and Its Vocation by Goheen, that church planting requires a lot of hard work and willingness to die to self. It is a combination of installing a biblical, God-ordained systems to help us take down barriers to the gospel. But ultimately the fruit of that labor is up to the power of the Holy Spirit. Business plans dressed up as church-planting strategies is not what it takes to build a church, that would only build a crowd. While I don't question that Arment's intent is to be helpful and to see churches be planted and flourish, I am weary of his practicality to flesh out what he writes. Many could use this book as a model that would built a crowd but not a church. But I digress.

On the positive side, I believe Arment's stories are compelling and reveal the harsh realities that optimistic church planters face. He also has such beautiful nuggets of wisdom that can be easily taken and parachuted into any context. That is for established congregations or church-plants alike.

[Tyler Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an on-and-off read for me so I have lost the flow a bit, but this would not be high on my recommended books for those considering church ministry or church planting.

For those that are a bit frustrated with the over-spiritualized approach to church planting that is 100% mystery and prayer and little strategy, this book will be a cup of cold soda on the other extreme. Arment is right to point out that church planting has a lot to do with sociology, and one doesn't have to kiss prayer and the Holy Spirit good-bye to acknowledge that. However, at one point Arment literally regurgitates the homogeneous unit principle as a helpful approach to church planting. He even uses it to make the case for the need for more churches to be planted, which I honestly found repulsive.

This book did have several key truths that church planters need to seriously consider. His comments about seriously reconsidering solo, parachute model plants is spot on. His call for churches to plant churches specific to its community, not a copy-paste model from another church, is helpful. Several of his insights into leadership and church management are true. However, he regularly works off the assumptions that existing churches can't reach the lost and a new church plant will always be a net positive for the kingdom. Several of the books in this genre that I've read do this exact thing, or even cite the same 1-2 arguments in defense of church planting, but I'm not sure the data backs up the claims. That's the book I want to read, but haven't found yet.

[Nathan Brewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick, 24-hour read for me. It was uncomfortably and stretchingly practical, but I took a lot of great things away from it that should be helpful. It's a highly optimistic approach to slow, steady church planting and a message I needed to hear. Sensible overall and at times a stretch on theological application. Have many things to revisit and think through, but I would recommended to others!

[Eric Durso · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yeesh.

[David LaLone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ben speaks from his experience and gives advice that I could receive and also wrestle with. This is a good primer for anyone preparing to plant a church.

[Tony Villatoro · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one great church planting book.

Church in the Making brings the church planter to the realization that God is the one that will make the church and that when they appear on the mission field, they step into what God is already doing.

Many of the quotes and paragraphs that I read in this book gave me more hope for church planters who have not seen the effectiveness that their churches can have in their community. 4 months after closing my first church plant and going through the heartbreaking process of helping the few good families find other local churches for them to be a part of, this book has been a godsend in helping me heal in some areas of my life. Many times after reading a line or two, I would close my eyes and just say aloud, "yes, yes, Lord." God has used this book tremedously in these seasons. I don't know the author, but I have been called out, convicted, encouraged and helped by this book.

Divided in three parts, this easy to read book deals with cultivating the mission field where the church planter will start the church (part 1: Good Ground), the "momentum" that only God can give so the church would be effective in the community they want to reach (part 2: Rolling Rocks), and the strategies and systems that churches should aspire to have so that they can reproduce and plant other churches (part 3: Deep Roots).

After reading many church planting books that deal with the practical so much that they leave the church planter feeling hopeless when it doesn't go the way the book predicted (this is dangerous for church planters to even believe), I found this book to be refreshing. Yes, it deals with practical things such as setting up systems in the church and other reproducible actions that church planters should think about, but it doesn't gove the impression that if you do "a" plus "b," you will always get "c."

I plan to read this again (at least the quotes that I bracketed) as we plant the next church!

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of those rare cases where I agreed with the author's points, but not always with how he got there. His points about organic growth, spiritual readiness of the area and cultivation of the community are spot on. However I can only give it three star because he seemed to ruin valid points by trying to find biblical evidence in incidental parts of scripture that really were not about the points he wanted to make. It doesnt mean he was wrong, just that he was trying to prove what he didn't need to and often did so by reading major ideas into scripture where it didn't really fit. He also made some generalizations about other forms of church that, while not critical, were grossly overstated and innaccurate. He used stereotypes, while at the same time not judging those stereotypes.

Still worth the read with many great points, but just keep a clear eye on some of his arguments.

[Ryan Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

You don't often read a book about a topic that is written by a self professed failure. You can imagine the type of information you would get if that were the case though. Ben Arment writes a great book that balances out the idealism that church planters exude on the front end with the realistic task that they are heading towards. He does a great job of tearing you down, so that he can build you back up, albeit a little wiser. In addition he includes a lot of best practices in the second part of the book ranging from Kawasaki like advice to develop a mantra all the way to Gerberesque appeal for systematizing. This is a very unique resource!

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably my favorite book of the year so far. Not simply because of the great and free writing style but because of the change in direction that he takes. Arment tries to take churches out of their spiritual environment simply to show that there are social aspects going on that should also be considered. Great insights and I definitely will read this book again this year.

[Brett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part church-planter’s memoir, part church-planter’s manual, Church in the Making provides inspiring anecdotes, stories of frustration, and some basic approaches to planting healthy churches: good ground (finding or creating fertile soil), rolling rocks (removing obstacles and barriers), and deep roots (systems and relationships that last a lifetime). B

[Hector Ortega · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gran parte de este libro el autor escribe desde sus fracasos y como esto lo llevo a enfocarse en lo que en verdad importa en una plantación de iglesia. Además, su estrategia está basada en la parábola del sembrador Mateo 13, donde le sugiere que o eres un cultivador, un plantador o un misionero. Excelente recurso.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super practical. Not very theological. Frustrating at times. But a worthy read for some of his common sense strategies that leave you saying "oh, duh! Makes perfect sense when you say it like that!".

[AJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought the proposition was really interesting. Basically, the majority of church plants succeed or fail, not because of the pastor or team, but because of the ground being fertile or not. We're processing this as a team in our church now. It has brought great conversation...

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best church planting books I've read.

[Mark Harbaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great overview for a new church planter. Plenty of practical advice. Also includes a good summary of how to create a focused strategy.

[J. J.]

The first two sections are much stronger than the third, but a very useful tool. Helpful tool to give a prospective church planter.

[Bill Kenoyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great and very practical !

Loved the stories from the trenches. He looks under the hood of church planting and give you an honest look at the life of a planter