Customer Reviews

The Barnabas Factors: Eight Essential Practices of Church Planting Team Members

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

J.D. Payne is a national missionary with the North American Mission Board and an Associate Professor of Church Planting and Evangelism at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He also puts forth a great amount of resources at his web site NorthAmericanMissions.org.

In The Barnabas Factors, Payne shows the crucial importance of evaluating potential church planters by the gold standard of the Bible. Gleaning principles from the life and ministry of Barnabas, Payne finds eight practices that must be present in the character of an effective church planter.

A "Barnabas Factor" worker is one who:
1. Walks with the Lord
2. Maintains and outstanding character
3. Serves the local church
4. Remains faithful to the call
5. Shares the gospel regularly
6. Raises up leaders
7. Encourages with speech and actions
8. Responds appropriately to conflict

The strength of Payne's work is how he sets his whole work on the foundation of Bible study, applying the oft-neglected question, "What does the Bible teach about this subject?" to the topic of assessing church planters. Payne writes:
"The unique focus of this book is the use of Barnabas as a model for assessing the personal characteristics and practices of church planters. This work addresses a critical element in missions that is often overlooked: the necessary personal character qualities and practices of effective church planters."

In the end, the eight "Barnabas Factors" should form the character of any pastor, whether they plant churches or not. Therefore, this material is good reading for all pastors.

Most church planting books deal with philosophical or micro-practical issues. This book tackles the tough issues related to core selection and deveopment. If you're a church planter you need this book. It addresses the tough "middle" that planters face. Find out what to look for in core members. Discover how to build up those who come along side of you in the planting process. Great insights and multiple practical tips for this crucial aspect of church planting.

The Barnabas Factors is a book which hits on all the cylanders of what it means to be practical. He writes in a manner for which a wide variety of people can relate and understand. The best part of J.D. Payne's book is that he always comes from a completly Biblical perspective. If you are thinking about church planting, this book will quickly become a well-worn book in your library. It is a must read!

Here is book that will help in the development and health of church planting teams. I agree with Payne when he quotes Elmer Towns and Douglas Porter, "Churches planted by an effective ministry team tend to be stronger, and the future tends to be more secure" (7). My own involvement in church planting has always involved a team effort. Payne's book seeks to be of help in putting together an effective team and seeing it continue as a healthy functioning organism.

The author states clearly that this book is not going to solve all the problems and this reviewer agrees with that. However, this study will go a long way towards building teams around what Payne calls "eight essential factors."

I would have really appreciated this book when seeking to help develop solid teams by seeing whether certain people were qualified to be on a team during our ministry in France. Those who supervise and encourage the putting together of people on a team will really appreciate the help that this book gives.

One last aspect is that Payne works from the biblical data on Barnabas as a member of a church planting team and then moves to present-day application. Bravo, J.D. Keep the Word of God first in order to develop not only sound church plants but healthy church planting teams.