The Planting and Development of Missionary Churches

by John L. Nevius

The classic work that changed the face of foreign missions over a century ago bears rereading by each new generation of foreign missionaries. Nevius’ respect for the integrity of indigenous populations grew out of his love for the apostolic mission of the early church recorded in the Book of Acts.

Paperback

First published January 28, 1974

About the author

John Livingston Nevius was an American Protestant missionary in China. He was the author of a number of books on Chinese religions and customs, and on missionary work.

Reviews

[Ethan McCarter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the info in this work is quite helpful for the foreign missionary. The basic premise of the book is readily grasped. That is, missionary churches should not bring massive amounts of foreign dollars to foreign soil and pay whoever comes into the church to evangelize the native populace. Nevius gets at this with the three self rules: self-governance, self-propagating, and self-supporting. That's the goal for planting churches on foreign soil. In particular, Nevius adapts this to his mission in China during the 19th century.
There are some good points the author makes and some that are not as helpful to the modern reader. The three-self principles are common sense and useful. It's not a wise idea to swamp another country with tons of money and foreign aid; we want those churches to preach the Gospel due to love for Christ and not for monetary means. The rougher points come from some of the datedness of the book and incidental points the author makes. Granted, this was a series of articles originally and not a book. I read this book primarily before bed to which it often put me to sleep. Especially the areas regarding funds, expenditure reports, and other such matters. I'd recommend this book to those looking at mission work, those who are interested in the history of missions in Asia, or how to plant new churches in areas without an established native church.

[Zack · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did a quick reading today of this little book. The principles are scriptural and convincing. They seem pretty sensible in terms of common sense, as well.

The only “drag” has to do with the pacing and redundancy, but that is to be attributed to the original medium of this material, in serialized articles.

Definitely worth a quick read, if nothing else. Note that Nevius’s career is significant in the history of Protestant and Reformed/Presbyterian missions. He had a profound influence in the Far East, and continues to have a strong influence in conservative Presbyterian and Reformed churches.

I appreciated his treatment of the Sabbath!

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent little work by an experienced missionary, detailing the lessons learned from decades of ministry in China. Much can be gleaned for domestic missions as well.

[Laura McCarter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short, but rather boring read. It is interesting from a missions history perspective and there are some beneficial points that can and practical suggestions that can be gleaned from it.

[Graham Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has to be one of my favorites. All the missionary church planting books quote him.

[Dacjr · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some good principles but quite dated.

[Bill Olsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not finished yet but this older book is a challenge to any missionary and their work. Nevius, a missionary in China in the 19th century, is credited a lot with helping the workers who went to Korea get off to a good start (and obviously a mission field that has become a big missions sender). He went to Korea around 1890, after 40 years of missionary work in China to help train some new missionaries in his "method." They and their coworkers took to it. so that his principles were closely followed in the development of that work. It contains a devastating critique of the wrong use of money in missions (will we ever learn not to use money to buy people's presence and numbers in our missionary enterprise?). Very good things about testing and proving new believers - they must be "proved" in more humble service to God before they enter into higher service. If you want to go and pay national workers (Hey, thats the trend!) whether they are ready for that level of service or not - Don't buy this book. If you want to find out about misguided mission perennials (misguided mission policies and strategies) and want to build an effective church planting ministry built for the long haul, then this book is for you. It is the difference between making a "splash" and Making an "impact."

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic I’ve studied but never actually read. Amazing how missionary work in China during late 19th century was so comparable to pioneer missions in colonial Congo and interior Brazil in the 1950s and ‘60s. And by 1890, the application of these principles led to phenomenal church expansion in Korea.

The arguments for unpaid local leadership are convincing but hard to see working well in a church saturated setting where the churches around the corner have highly trained and paid leaders.