SR • July/August 2015
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to plant at least six daughter churches in Asia Minor so that
the entire region
“heard the word of the Lord”
(Acts 19-20;
Rev. 2-3). Epaphras, one of his disciples, started the church
at Colossae. Evidently, Ephesus became the mother church
of all the churches of Asia Minor.
The True Fruit of a Church
An analogy might help. Let’s ask: “What is the true fruit of
an apple tree?” Many would say,
“It’s an apple, of course.”
But
that is wrong. The true fruit of an apple tree is another apple
tree!
The true fruit of a small group is not a new Christian, but
another group. The true fruit of an evangelist is not a convert,
but new evangelists. The true fruit of a leader is not followers,
but new leaders. Likewise, the true fruit of a church is not a
new group, or more new believers, but another church!
Roland Allen in his classic missions text,
The Spontaneous
Expansion of the Church
, echoes this insight: “When the
Church is truly alive, spontaneous multiplication takes place,
and spontaneous expansion of the church involves not
merely multiplication of Christians but the multiplication of
churches.”
Conclusion & Application
Church planting is not just the latest popular church fad.
Birthing daughter churches is a thoroughly biblical concept.
It is based upon God’s original creation mandate, Christ’s
final commission to his Church, and the example of the early
church. Healthy churches reproduce! In Scripture it is
natural
,
biblical
, and
normal
.
Pastors and church leaders: make no mistake. Developing a
culture of church multiplication will likely be one of the
most challenging — yet rewarding — assignments you’ll
undertake.
Reprinted with permission:
Ken Davis, D.Min., Project Jerusalem Director
Baptist Bible Seminary
538 Venard Road, Clarks Summit, PA 18411
T. 570.585.9269 | F. 570.585.4057
C. 570.466.4824
| bbc.edu/churchplanting
Announcing the
MULTIPLY Church
Development Conference
October 22-26, 2015
Colorado Springs, CO
Director of Church Development & Pastoral Services,
John Pethtel, our Church Planting Task Force, and the
Council on Ministry have been working to help provide
an opportunity for those who are seeking to start new
SDB expressions of faith or revitalizing the ministry
that God has called them to.
We are partnering with Frontline Church Planting
and their annual MULTIPLY Conference to serve SDBs.
Leaders and speakers from around the country will
gather for this weekend to share stories, knowledge,
and strategies with one another. SDBs will have their
own sessions as a cohort before and after to discuss
specifically SDB-related challenges.
We believe that there is great traction in advancing
God’s Kingdom when mission-minded leaders gather to
connect, reflect, and dream about what God is doing in
our midst. There will be great content but we also believe
there will be great relationships built. It is our hope that
by gathering leaders who dare to dream, that God can
and will do something fresh among SDBs — that He will
allow His work to be done among ordinary
folks like us.
The weekend will start on Thursday,
October 22 after dinner time, with an
introductory session with just SDBs.
Friday and Saturday morning, we will join
with others attending the MULTIPLY Conference
where there will be a variety of topics and options of
learning available, through the main sessions and
breakouts, to speak to you where your ministry is cur-
rently. During the rest of Saturday and Sunday morn-
ing, we will meet together again as SDBs to worship
and talk about SDB-specific challenges in our ministries
and to pray for one another.
The MULTIPLY Church Development Conference is
open to all SDBs who are interested in breathing new
life into their local church or our family of churches.
There will be no cost for registration or for lodging
(although this option is limited). The only costs are
your food, time, and travel to Colorado Springs (There
might even be a scholarship available for travel.) More
information will come as we get closer to the date. We
are looking forward to seeing you or someone from your
church there!
Please register at the MULTIPLY Conference web-
site: tiny.cc/MULTIPLY2015 if you are interested in
attending.
SR
