This is a practical how-to guide for church planting from scratch. The authors of this book moved to New York City to plant a church in 2001. They didn’t know anybody in the city, and within two years of their first public service they were worshipping 500 people. They tell their story and offer guidelines for how to do it yourself.
They write in an engaging easy to read manner. They are funny. They are direct. They are also very confident. Some of the things they did shocked me. One of them heard that churches in Texas have a lot of money, so he just flew to Texas and setup meetings with churches there. He then pitched his vision to these churches and asked them if they would support their church!
I’m not sure if I could do all the things they suggest in this book, but it is a helpful guide. I particularly appreciated:
- their emphasis on being certain of your call by God
- the importance of funding
- the necessity of a detailed plan (strategy)
- their focus on reaching out to those outside the church
They write because they love God and they want to see more people come into relationship with him. They are driven to grow their church and help others start new churches for this very purpose. For those thinking of church planting, this is a good read.