Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age

by Ed Stetzer

"Len Sweet talks about Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age as that one-stop, one-shop wonder that makes obsolete all the alternatives. In this book, Ed Stetzer lays out a case for missional church planting and then describes the process to plant healthy new churches. He combines the theological and the practical in one book. The book looks at cultures and how to reach persons in those cultures through the tools within the cultures themselves. It also provides a new look at emerging trends in churches reaching postmoderns. Then, it provides step by step instructions about how to plant churches in today's world. Sections include ""Basics of Church Planting,"" which explores the biblical and theological basis for planting, ""Church Planting Nuts and Bolts"" which provides those essential practical tools, and ""Understanding Cultures and Models,"" which provides fresh insights into reaching people in today's world. Solid experience (from Stetzer and dozens of examples), Biblical roots, and fresh insights into the postmodern world make this a must read for the church planting hoping to make an impact."

Genres: Leadership, Church

384 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2003

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

[Brian Whited · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stetzer has written a book for prospective church planters. He believes that planting new culturally relevant churches is the key America needs to reach the unchurched of the postmodern generation. In undertaking this task Stetzer writes about some of the leading cultures on the postmodern world, what a church would look like in these areas, what type of leaders are needed, and some of the actual steps and processes that go into birthing a new church. Overall, this book has numerous amounts of practical advice for planting healthy churches in this generation.

Quote
“Regardless of how seeker-sensitive we wish to be, we can never justifiably remove the stumbling block of the cross. The most biblical church is the one in which the cross is the only stumbling block fro the unchurched. Lost people should face no church-culture stumbling blocks that keep them from Christ.” p.37

[Jeff Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

An overall good "scratch the surface" overview of not just what organizational things to keep in mind when planting a church, but also how a church must be relatable to our current world culture. Church planting is a missionary work. With this in mind, the focus of planting becomes so much clearer. The only real problem with this book is that for someone like me, I would have preferred it to have included a more ordered list of "first you do this, then you do that; be sure to remember to do this, and don't forget that." This particular book--in order to be more conversational--lacked that sort of thing, and in the end, I felt as if I read something I had already read before. But not on church planting (on evangelizing).

[nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent resource for understanding the nuts and bolts of what goes into planting a new church. Stetzer quotes tons of research, seems to have a good grasp on where culture is at and where it is going, and keeps things interesting all the way through.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the better books that I have read on the topic.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical manual for all pastors and church planters! A must read in the church planters library!

[Chad Benkert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this years ago and ran across this as I was looking for other books by Stetzer. I recall really enjoying the book

[Rustin klafka · Rating 4 out of 5]

anyone who is considering doing a church plant needs to pick this book up.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Standard reading for church planters.