Church Planting Process
In third year of their training, student will spend the whole year starting new churches and working with ailing churches for purposes of improvement. During this year, students will fulfill any in-class assignments through distance education facilitated online and regular mail.
One major area of fieldwork is Church planting. ACTIVE will engage IIBVT in this endeavor to plant new churches through student training. A study of various sources reveals that a large number of churches have leveled out or are declining and many are dying. Given this reality, ACTIVE will play a part in reversing this trend based on the facts that: (1) new churches have been shown to grow faster than older, established churches; (2) new churches evangelize better than established churches; (3) Church Planters gain credibility as leaders in planted churches faster than those who take pastorates in established churches; (4) Those involved in church planting are more open to change than those in established churches. The result is that not only are those involved extremely excited about the new church, which, in turn, attracts other people, but also they are open to change and are willing to try new and innovative ideas concurrent to current issues. Demographics are changing quicker than ever before, and that the nations from all over the world are intermingling in countries under God’s providence, which requires the use of different approaches in order to reach the un-churched. The church planting process will follow seven phases carried out in a team format.
