Church planting in the Massachusetts Baptist Association: reinterpreting the task from a missiological perspective

Gerlad B Roe

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Church planting in the Massachusetts Baptist Association: reinterpreting the task from a missiological perspective

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MLA citation style (9th ed.)

Gerlad B Roe. Church Planting In the Massachusetts Baptist Association: Reinterpreting the Task From a Missiological Perspective. Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/863a8c38-126c-4715-98d9-910f2de9271c.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

G. B. Roe. Church planting in the Massachusetts Baptist Association: reinterpreting the task from a missiological perspective. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/863a8c38-126c-4715-98d9-910f2de9271c

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

Gerlad B Roe. Church Planting In the Massachusetts Baptist Association: Reinterpreting the Task From a Missiological Perspective. Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/863a8c38-126c-4715-98d9-910f2de9271c.

Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.

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Gerlad B Roe

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Abstract

This project examines the church planting practices of the Massachusetts Baptist Association between the years 1985 and 2000. Emphasis is given to the alarming failure rate of newly planted MBA congregations during the study period. Chapter 1 defines the problem. Attention is given to statistical information and an overview of the presuppositions governing the association's church planting program during the study period. Additionally, the project's thesis is put forth. Chapter 2 provides historical context by reviewing the emergence of the Massachusetts Baptist Association. Additionally, the comparative histories of two MBA church plants are included. The first illustrates the association's previous church planting mindset; the second demonstrates the 'missions' mindset advocated by this work. Chapter 3 is an analysis of Kennon Callahan's thinking relative to missions and the church planting task. Attention is given to the implications of Callahan's assertions that we live in 'the day of mission,' and that North America must be viewed as a mission field comparable to any other world mission field. Chapter 4 addresses the justification for and construction of a new church planting philosophy and hermeneutic for the MBA. Emphasis is placed on the value and necessity of each to inform future church planting in the association. Chapter 5 is a record of the analytical process and implementation of the new philosophy and hermeneutic. How these statements impacted a specific church plant, the church planter, and the association are reviewed in detail. This work contends that Massachusetts is a mission field not unlike any other world mission field. Further, it asserts that the previous failure rate of newly planted churches was due in no small part to the lack of 'mission' thinking in the planting process. Finally, this work argues that correction of the problem requires that church planting in the MBA be interpreted as missions, and implemented from a missiological perspective.

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