Church Planting Movements

by Dr. Howard L. Foltz

Church Planting Movements is a “contemporary power methodology” for missions strategies around the world. It has some roots in the church growth paradigm, homogeneous unit principle, developed by Donald McGavern, but represents an up-to-date vision to expand church planting dramatically. What are Church Planting Movements (CPM’s)? A CPM is defined as a rapid and exponential increase of indigenous churches planting churches within a given people group or population segment. So, we readily see that a CPM goes far beyond their traditional church planting strategy.

Also, Church Planting Movements focus on house churches and cell churches that can be rapidly multiplied. The goal is not to just plant churches, but to gain control of an alien territory of the enemy for God’s kingdom. This kind of end-vision is the basic foundation of CPM’s.

MAWL is a basic concept within this strategy. MAWL refers to Modeling, Assisting, Watching, and Leaving. Here, the missionary trains the young believers to plant CPM-oriented churches, provides some apostolic oversight to see that they are reproducing, and then leaves in order to begin a new MAWL cycle. This lines up beautifully with Roland Allen’s model of “Missionary Methods--Saint Paul’s or Ours.” House churches are also basic to Church Planting Movements. This is a method of church planting that is characterized by participative bible study and worship groups, obedience to God’s word, development of unpaid and multiple or by-vocational church leaders, and leading in cell or house churches.

David Garrison has identified all of these models in his wonderful book Church Planting Movements (Midlothian, VA: WigTake Resources, 2004). In this seminal work, Garrison says, “two things can stop a CPM: 1) outside control 2) foreign funds.” Obviously, CPM’s are a way to avert the tragic and debilitating reliance on foreign funding for national ministries. Any seasoned, cross-cultural church planter knows that dependency can quickly arrest the forward thrust a national movement.

Garrison’s book is a “must read.” Also, go to the Southern Baptist International Mission Board website (www.imb.org) and find more written and media materials on CPM’s. This is a strategy that can help to accelerate the completion of the Great Commission in our day.

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