Starting New Churches on Purpose [Paperback]

Ron Sylvia (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 15, 2006

Starting New Churches on Purpose is a blueprint for starting and growing a purpose driven church in the 21st century. As the founding pastor of Church @ The Springs in Ocala, Florida, and Director of Purpose Driven Church Planting, Ron Sylvia has blazed the trail and laid out a clear pathway to a successful church start. So, how do you build a church from scratch? Where do you start? The church of this generation needs to look much different than the church of our fathers' generation. Today's church must move outside the walls of the building and invade the community. We must be willing to be a laboratory of sorts, experimenting and testing new methodologies with the unchanging message of Christ, continually pushing the limits while holding fast to God's dream for his church. If God is calling you to start a purpose driven church, this book will give you a two-year strategy for breaking new ground, reaching new people, and building a new community of faith‹a community that will carry and steward the message of Jesus Christ.

Editorial Reviews

Review

If you want to be a successful church planter, then this book is an important addition to your library. --Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life

This will be a tremendous resource for those church planters wanting to impact the lostness of their communities. --Ed Stetzer, author of Planting Missional Churches

About the Author

Ron Sylvia is the founding pastor of Church @ The Springs in Ocala, Florida. The Springs has grown from 21 to 3,000 people in eleven years, and they have started ten daughter churches locally and nationally. As the Director of Purpose Driven Church Planting, Ron has trained thousands of church planters nationally and internationally to build purpose driven churches. Ron is the author of Starting High Definition Churches (High Definition Resources, 2004) and the Starting a Purpose Driven Church Conference material.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Purpose Driven Publishing (May 15, 2006)
• ISBN-10: 1422800725
• ISBN-13: 978-1422800720
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,148,403 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Resource from A Proven Leader and Coach, January 26, 2007

By 

Bryan G. Gerstel "Bryan" (Albany, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Starting New Churches on Purpose (Paperback)

Ron Sylvia is passionate about new churches being started successfully. More so, he is passionate about the pastors starting new churches being successful. This book is the "must read" for any pastor launching a new church. The principles taught in this book are sound and have been proven time and time again. The Pointe, located in Albany, Georgia, is an example of what can happen when you follow the principles taught in this book. Weekly services began in March 2006 with 295 in attendance. Today, 11 months later, The Pointe has three services with a weekly attendance just under 600. Over 101 new professions of faith were made in 2006! Lucky? I don't think so. Blessed with the experience and knowledge of Ron Sylvia's "Starting New Churches on Purpose"? Absolutely one of the primary reasons we have had such success!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Information for the Church Planter, January 25, 2007

By 

S. Wood (Warner Robins GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Starting New Churches on Purpose (Paperback)

This really is a how-to book for church planters who need to know where to start and how to get there. He uses simple language and down-to-earth examples from his experiences of starting The Church @ The Springs to inspire and inform the reader. In many ways, he demystifies the art and science of beginning a church from scratch. Especially helpful are the church planting resources listed in the back of the book. The principles are sound and work. I know from personal experience. I used the principles to launch my church in September of 2006 and we are averaging 170 a week. I recommend this to all who are thinking about launching a new church for a new generation.

5.0 out of 5 stars A clear guide for starting big churches, August 25, 2011

By 

John Gibbs (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Starting New Churches on Purpose (Paperback)

Today's church must move outside the walls of the building and invade the community; we must be willing to be a laboratory of sorts, experimenting and testing new methodology with the unchanging message of Christ, continually pushing the limits while holding fast to God's dream for his church, according to Ron Sylvia in this book.

There are two opposing schools of thought among church planting practitioners: start small and start big. The author is clearly in the start big camp, quoting Rick Warren saying that churches grow most effectively from the outside in, not the inside out. The Purpose Driven church starting model requires a heavy up-front investment of time and resources in order to create a high-profile launch and draw a crowd, and then proceeds with a crowd-to-core approach to growth.

The book goes on to describe the phases of starting a Purpose Driven church: the Dream Stage (0-3 months) in which a launch team is assembled, the Design Stage (4-6 months) in which detailed planning occurs, the Launch Stage (6-8 months), the Development Stage (8-12 months) in which the church systems from the Design Stage start to function, and the Strategic Leadership Stage (1 year and beyond) in which the church continues and grows.

Aspiring church planters will need to make a choice as to whether they are in the start small camp or the start big camp, and I strongly recommend reading thoughts from each camp before making a decision. Books by Stuart Murray, Alan Hirsch and Neil Cole support the start small position, whereas books by Rick Warren, Nelson Searcy and the current author support the start big position. The present book is easy to read and provides a clear process for starting a big church.