Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age [Paperback]

Ed Stetzer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2003

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 unchurched people.

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.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ed Stetzer has planted churches in New York, Pennsylvania, and Georgia and transitioned declining churches in Indiana and Georgia. He has trained pastors and church planters on five continents, holds two masters degrees and two doctorates, and has written dozens of articles and books. Ed is a columnist for Outreach Magazine and Catalyst Monthly, serves on the advisory council of Sermon Central and Christianity Today's Building Church Leaders, and is frequently cited or interviewed in news outlets such as USAToday and CNN.

Ed is Visiting Professor of Research and Missiology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Visiting Research Professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and has taught at fifteen other colleges and seminaries. He also serves on the Church Services Team at the International Mission Board.

Ed is currently interim teaching pastor of First Baptist Church of Hendersonville, TN.

Ed's primary role is President of LifeWay Research and LifeWay’s Missiologist in Residence.

He has written the following books: Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age (2003),

Perimeters of Light: Biblical Boundaries for the Emerging Church (w/ Elmer Towns, 2004),

Breaking the Missional Code (w/ David Putman, 2006),

Planting Missional Churches (2006),

Comeback Churches (with Mike Dodson, 2007),

11 Innovations in the Local Church (with Elmer Towns and Warren Bird, 2007), and

Compelled by Love: The Most Excellent Way to Missional Living (with Philip Nation)

Product Details

• Paperback: 365 pages
• Publisher: B&H Academic (June 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805427309
• ISBN-13: 978-0805427301
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #331,636 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ed Stetzer is director of LifeWay Research and missiologist in residence at LifeWay Christian Resources in Nashville, Tennessee. He holds two masters and doctoral degrees and has written dozens of respected articles and books including Planting Missional Churches, Breaking the Missional Code, Compelled by Love, and Comeback Churches.Richie Stanley is team leader at the North American Mission Board s Center for Missional Research in Alpharetta, Georgia.Jason Hayes is the young adult ministry specialist at LifeWay Christian Resources where he serves as a leading voice and face of Threads, the company's young adult initiative.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on planting for young and emerging planters, September 29, 2004

By 

Mark Driscoll "Pastor Mark Driscoll" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age (Paperback)

Ed combines the insights of both a respected theoretician and experience of a successful church planter into a very accessible and insightful book. I help oversee the Acts 29 church planting network and have read just about everything on the subject. Without reservation I can recommend Ed's work as a must read. I wish it had been out before I planted my church, Mars Hill, as it would have been tremendously helpful.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Real Thing, July 7, 2004

By 

David A. Slagle (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age (Paperback)

This book and this author are the real thing. I just completed the resident portion of a doctoral program for church leaders and preachers. Many of us were leaving to plant churches and we all agreed that this was far and away the most helpful of the 100+ books we read this year. More church planting books have been published over the last two years than at any other time in history. We read most of them. Some were heavy on theory. Some emphasized fads. Some seemed more intent on creating a new lexicon than offering practical help. This books stands above the rest in that Stetzer hit the sweet spot every preacher dreams about - it's the intersection of biblical truth with real life. For any church planter who is in the "real life" trenches of planting churches in a postmodern culture, that kind of practical help is a welcomed relief. As Ed paints a picture of our sending God and his heart for this emerging culture, he weaves in the most practical wisdom for those who would answer the high and holy call to be postmodern missionaries. As I've navigated the whitewaters of church planting in an urban context in Atlanta, GA, I've returned to this text so many times that it is dog-eared, underlined, highlighted, and tattered. I bought two more copies. A new one for me and one to give the next church planter I meet. This is great stuff.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for Church Planters, August 24, 2005

By 

Sean A. Benesh "Sean Benesh" (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age (Paperback)

If I could give a church planter only one book to read it'd be this one. As a former church planter and now as a Church Planting Strategist, I resonate with what Ed shares in his book. At last, a book that wrestles with the modernistic formulas of church planting with the postmodern culture that we swim in. Ed's depth of knowledge is evident and he exposes the reader to a multitude of ways of planting churches. He's not hooked on one approach whether that be seeker driven, cell groups, house churches, or whatever. He lays everything out for the reader to process and in assessing their own culture to plant a relevant church (cell, house, etc).