Planting Missional Churches

by Ed Stetzer

Planting Missional Churches is an instruction book for planting biblically faithful and culturally relevant churches. It addresses the “how-to” and “why” issues of church planting by providing practical guidance through all the phases of a church plant while taking a missional look at existing and emerging cultures.

Genres: Church, Christian, Nonfiction, Ecclesiology, Theology, Christian Living, Leadership

384 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2006

About the author

Ed Stetzer, PhD, holds the Billy Graham Distinguished Chair for Church, Mission, and Evangelism at Wheaton College and is the dean of the School of Mission, Ministry, and Leadership at Wheaton College. He also serves as the executive director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton. Stetzer is a prolific author and a well-known conference speaker. He has planted, revitalized, and pastored churches; trained pastors and church planters on six continents; holds two master’s degrees and two doctorates; and has written or cowritten more than a dozen books and hundreds of articles.

Stetzer is a contributing editor for Christianity Today and a columnist for Outreach magazine. He is frequently interviewed for or cited in news outlets such as USA Today and CNN. He is also the executive editor of The Gospel Project, a bible study curriculum used by more than one million people each week.

Stetzer cohosts BreakPoint This Week, a radio broadcast that airs on more than four hundred media outlets. He serves as the interim teaching pastor at The Moody Church in Chicago. Stetzer lives in Wheaton, Illinois, with his wife, Donna, and their three daughters.



You can also connect with Ed on Facebook and Instagram.

Reviews

[Harlindo de Souza]

muito bom e prático! às vezes um pouco fora do contexto brasileiro, mas com muito coisa aproveitável.

[Alwyn Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be the official manual for church planter's. It is comprehensive, practical and shocking all at the same time. I have never read a book with more research. Daniel and Ed are researchers and they know that content. The bibliography is worth the price of the book itself.

[Aaron Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stetzer gives important tools for planting churches, and in this regard the book does what it sets out to accomplish. I suppose I would have liked to have been painted a more biblical picture of what it means to church plant. It's easy to get caught up in what feels like doing church business rather than doing the business of church. That's obviously not reflective of Stetzer's heart, but it is reflective of the book in my opinion. Still, very helpful for these early stages and considerations of planting.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you wanted to start a new chapter of any type of social society (like Moose Lodge, etc.), then read this. If you want a biblical church, look elsewhere. Stetzer brings up points from Scripture to make his case--and some are valid for churches--but he is too enamored with meeting felt needs with a "hat tip" to God and His Word, rather than preaching Christ and Him crucified.

[Luke Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

An oldie but a goodie. Despite the fact that it is now a little dated this little handbook is a must for those looking to plant a Church. Stetzer is a great researcher and always has practical insights for those in ministry.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great "must read" for any church planter or anyone desiring to revitalize a church. I use it as a textbook and as a reference tool.

[Elliott Rinehart · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to church planting. But it is misleading as it is an argument for house churches rather than an unbiased introduction to churches planting.

[Cory Shumate]

This is a book all about the principles and practicals of church planting, specifically for North America, which he says repeatedly is now a mission field (contrary to history), and an invaluable instrument in God's Kingdom. Yet this book still only scratches the surface (which Stetzer acknowledges). He provides a list of suggested materials for further reading at the end of each chapter, which is great. He opens up the book quite appropriately with a chapter on why church planting is necessary and good and relevant in today's world, while immediately dealing with common objections. He then systematically steps through the practical stages of church planting, while, at each stage, surveying all possible (biblically founded) proposals/methods, and then often including his own preference. The dude has two Ph. Ds and two Masters, has himself planted dozens of churches and has been somehow involved in the planting of hundreds. He knows his stuff, and this book really whets your appetite for more. It is a great introductory book for those looking at options for church planting and who want to explore their call to plant.

[Sean Post · Rating 4 out of 5]

It would be a challenge to find a more comprehensive textbook on how to plant churches. Stetzer discusses new cultural dynamics, theology behind planting, and then spends the last ten or so chapters moving through the finer "how to's" of planting such as incorporation, children's ministry, and building a core team.

As sad as it is to say, to book is a bit dated. The author himself would probably agree. I believe this version is from twelve years ago. The main reason I offer this is because I'm not sure - at least at the the point of this publication - that Stetzer has worked out the ecclesiological implications of all his study. It is as if he gently body slams attractional churches and says "do missional'. But then all his strategies and structures are attractional. He's a brilliant guy and I'm sure he has learned more and has much more to say on the topic today.

On a personal level, I walked away saying, "I'd like to lead an attractive missional church". There are churches with attractive, well-done ministry but that keep the missional heartbeat. That's something to aspire to.

[Matt Moran · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Establishing a missional church means planting a church that's Biblically sounds and reaching people in culture." - Ed Stetzer.

Stetzer nails it on the priority of the missio Dei. He has a good practical mindset and pushes a consistent, constant church planting agenda. The early chapters about missional churches and ch. 7 on Planter/Pastor issues are particularly solid.

The book progresses into more nuts and bolts methodology. Some methods that Stetzer recommends seemed hokey or outdated, or techniques that would not work outside of the Bible Belt. Overall, this is a great reference for church planters even if some chapters are tedious to read.

Note: MANY typos in my hardcover copy. I noticed 10-15 spelling and gramatical errors.

[Aaron Carpenter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rarely have I read a book that presents so many contrasting opinions with such grace and broad-based acceptance, and yet unashamedly retains a firm conviction on the non-negotiables. In the world of church planting there seem to be as many different approaches as there are cultures, churches, and planters, and Stetzer lets them all speak while constantly affirming Scriptural authority. This book offers a refreshing balance of doctrine and preference, clearly labeling each. That it could also be considered a thorough manual, addressing more questions than a first-time church planter could think to ask, is a huge bonus.

[Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

a lot of good stuff in here, really lays it out well. I found it a little dry but then I'm part of the microwave generation and like a little creative flair to keep my interest.
Still its apparently (according to my proff...and the back cover of this book) 'the' book on church planting. So if that is an area of interest to you pick this up and read. It's a complicated subject and fascinating in it's own way.

[Duncan Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ed Stetzer and his crew at Lifeway have provided an incredibly well researched and structure book on foundational principles for planting missional churches. This book is strategic, insightful and Gospel minded. It is a well crafted book that will help and encourage any would-be planter. It like many of Ed's other books is easy to read and contains excellent data and examination of data. It is a must for any would be planter.

[Kelvin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not a book that I would like to give our church members. It was misogynistic in the sense of almost totally not acknowledging the roles of women in church-planting. It was also very ethnocentric, I had to filter through chapters of material that either simply did not apply or the numbers had to be drastically scaled to fit our non-USA/Canadian location.

There were things in the book that I did find useful and by the end I started to like the author.

[Heather Djama · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very through book about church planting. Not always super interesting but a ton of great information. Everything from various examples, to Biblical references to how to do various things within a church plant. A lot of good information. I would recommend this to someone planting a church.

[Rod White · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good text book on how to plant a churchthese days. It is chock-full of resources, just in case you never get to go to a class. It is a text, so don't expect to be entertained. But since we intend to plant a few more churches, it would be nice if about 25 people read it.

[Jeff Robinson]

A decent church planting manual. Covers a variety of models and methods, citing research and personal experiences. References to advertising and internet show the book's age. There's probably something more recent that would be more helpful; Stetzer and others keep publishing updated stuff.

[Nancy Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely helpful guide for launching passionate, responsive, faithful, well-imagined communities of faith. Includes many how-tos and approaches while avoiding monolithic, one-size-fits-all solutions -- and ultimately identifying a vital connection to God as the source for fruitfulness.

[Luís Branco · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have really enjoyed this book. It holds a well-balanced theology, it is very practical and might work fine as a manual for church planters. It touches in various kinds of contemporary ideology or philosophy, such as postmodernism. I really do recommend it.

[Sean · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible.

[Bobby · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are currently planting, about to plant, or thinking of planting a church - this is the go to book. THE manual.

[Aaron Carlberg]

How you do it…1,2,3…

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely got me thinking about why church planting is crucial. It also gave solid information on the issues involved and how to go about doing it.

[Daniel Alvers · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is ok...

[Noah Stepro Stepro · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical help and advice for every pastor, missionary and church member.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a lot of fundamentals to planting a church. At times it read much like a manual. I picked up quite a few good mechanics for keeping mission at the center of church life.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good stuff in the motivation chapters

[Tuukka Oksanen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too verbose. I couldn't really identify whether it's good for theology, vision, or doctrine.

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

For what it is intended to be, it's good.