Customer Reviews

Getting Started: A Practical Guide to Church Planting

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

 

 

Surprisingly enough the title of the book gives a strong clue as to what you will find inside. If you are simply looking for "information" about house/simple churches, then you may be disappointed. If however, you are wanting to really grow in living out this lifestyle as the church, then I believe you will find Tony & Felicity's material very helpful. It can be intimidating and confusing to step away from a model of doing church that has held sway for most of the church's history. This book will give you something to hold onto (in addition to Jesus as the Head!), and provide a framework to at least get started and from which the Spirit can also guide you.

This 15 chapter book includes a variety of chapter titles, related to the basics of a functional church and church planting. This book is for the beginner who had no exposure to house church planting. Someone who is well-read on the subject would find this book full of previously published ideas. If you are looking for a scholarly resource on the whole house church discussion you will not find it here. This handbook is for those with no exposure to the house church concept or discussion.

When the contents of the chapters are analyzed, it is easy to quickly realize that most of the material presented in the book is from other authors. This handbook on getting started in house church planting adds nothing new to the discussion. The material presented is a rehash of previously published ideas and discussions. This book is a first primer, nothing more.

Most of the material in the book is from other sources with a running comments added. For example: pages 8-12 is a lengthy quote from David Garrison's booklet "Church Planting Movements". the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention has used this material to train missionaries for over a decade. Garrison is an IMB missionary.

Another example: pages 134-138 "the m.a.w.l. principle" has also been used to train IMB missionaries for years. Yet, when explained origin of the material is not cited at all.

Another example: page 87 "the p.o.u.c.h. church" was developed by Curtis Sargent previously with the IMB but credit is not given to him as the originator of the concept.

There are many other examples of previously cited materials.

This book offers solid and easy-to-understand guidance for acting on the theory of simple church. It is and informative, well-written and motivating read.

This book can really help to get us off our duffs and into making a deeper connection with Christ...All it takes it a willingness on our part.

Perhaps I have been reading too many books on the subject of house churches because I did not find "Getting Started" to be all that informative. However, I did want to gain the perspective of the people behind the House2House magazine and website.

We usally expect a how to book to give concise receipes and detailed instructions. This book is in someways much more useful - the majority of the book is devoted to getting us off the couch and into actually doing it. For all those who have gotten hurt or tired or bored with institutional church, this is a wonderful book to get us into making some connection - making worship something more than me and Jesus. As a nursing home chaplain, I value the book for its focus on getting us into making the connections, doing the little routine organizing and reaching out.

just like the title says, this book will help you get started down the church-planting path. with theological and philosophical discussion first, then real practical guidance following. felicity helped me see that though church planting may not be easy, it doesn't have to be overly complicated.