Church planting apprenticeships: developing laborers for the harvest

Edward Winship Powers

Etd

Church planting apprenticeships: developing laborers for the harvest

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MLA citation style (9th ed.)

Edward Winship Powers. Church Planting Apprenticeships: Developing Laborers for the Harvest. Covenant Theological Seminary. rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/d46013bf-49bf-4e60-aa4c-b9dbec8983e4.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

E. W. Powers. Church planting apprenticeships: developing laborers for the harvest. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/d46013bf-49bf-4e60-aa4c-b9dbec8983e4

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

Edward Winship Powers. Church Planting Apprenticeships: Developing Laborers for the Harvest. Covenant Theological Seminary. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/d46013bf-49bf-4e60-aa4c-b9dbec8983e4.

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

Creator

Edward Winship Powers

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Abstract

The Church of Jesus Christ has been given the Great Commission to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). The strategy that has proven to be the most biblical and effective in accomplishing this task is that of establishing or planting churches that are reaching people with the gospel in cities, towns, and villages. However, it takes called and gifted men to plant these churches and the reality is that 'the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few' (Matthew 9:37). The purpose of this study is to discover how the Northern Illinois Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America can develop a growing pool of qualified church planters in order to increase the rate of successful church planting in that presbytery. Is there a way for this presbytery, as well as the Church at large, to increase the number of men qualified for church planting so that it might more effectively fulfill the Great Commission and respond to the growing needs and opportunities that exist in America, a nation that is in serious spiritual decline? It is the finding of this paper that a Church Planting Apprenticeship Program built around the biblical model of mentoring that Jesus demonstrated with His own disciples has significant potential for developing this growing pool of qualified church planters. Such a program might also make possible, by God's grace, the ignition of a church planting multiplication movement that will allow the church to reach the increasingly large numbers of unchurched and unbelieving people among all the different people groups of America. In addition, it would provide a built-in training and support system for church planters and would allow the local church to become more directly and personally involved in the enterprise of world mission.

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