Church Planting Movements Glossary
Cell churches—small church bodies of
believers, generally 10-30 per unit, meeting in homes or storefronts,
fulfilling the five purposes of a church and linked to one another in some
type of structured network. Often this network is part of a larger, single
church identity.
Chronological Bible storying—a non-literary
method of communicating the gospel to a people by relating to them, in a
culturally suitable manner, the great stories of the Bible from creation
to redemption to the return of Christ.
Church Planting Movement—a rapid and
multiplicative increase of indigenous churches planting churches within a
given people group or population segment.
End-vision—the ultimate and overarching aim
of a strategy or plan of action. In a CPM-oriented strategy, it is the
end-vision that informs and measures the relative value of every
objective, goal and action step.
Ethos—the esprit d’corps or spirit of the
group. In a CPM ethos, there is an attitude and climate of opinion that
passionately aspires toward a Church Planting Movement.
Exogenous—originating outside of the local
environment; foreign, extraneous in origin.
Five purposes of a church—1) worship, 2)
evangelistic and missionary outreach, 3) education and discipleship, 4)
ministry and 5) fellowship.
House churches—small bodies of
approximately 10-30 believers meeting in homes or storefronts, which
(unlike cell groups) are generally not organized under a single authority
or hierarchy of authorities.
Incremental growth—growth by addition. Thus
a base number of 10 churches might add a few churches each year. This
contrasts with multiplicative growth.
Indigenous—generated from within or capable
of originating from within the local context. This contrasts with
exogenous.
MAWL—Model, Assist, Watch and Leave. The
rhythm of implementing church planting that contributes to a Church
Planting Movement as a missionary models a CPM, assists the new believers
in planting CPM-oriented churches, watches to see that they and the
churches are reproducing and then leaves in order to begin a new MAWL
cycle.
Mentoring—a form of teaching that includes
walking alongside the person you are teaching and inviting him or her to
learn from your example.
Multiplicative growth—extraordinary growth
characterized by each part multiplying itself. Thus two may become four,
and four may become eight to 10, etc., in multiplicative growth. This
contrasts with incremental growth.
POUCH churches—a method of church planting describing churches that are
characterized by the following: participative Bible study and worship
groups, obedience to God’s word, development of unpaid and multiple lay
or bivocational church leaders and meeting in cell or house churches.
Precision harvesting—a strategic placement
of church planters in contact with seekers or new believers who already
have been identified and cultivated through their response to mass
evangelism.
Response filtering and feedback loops—employing
methods for registering response to mass evangelism efforts for purposes
of follow-up discipleship and church planting.
RLTP (Rural Leadership Training Program)—a
program of on-the-job training for church planters and church leaders
developed in Cambodia aimed at practical, short-term modules of training
designed to keep students engaged in their ministry while they learn.
Strategy coordinator—a missionary who takes
responsibility for developing a comprehensive plan aimed at initiating and
nurturing a Church Planting Movement among an unreached people group or
population segment.
Subsidies—foreign funds used to support
pastors and other church workers. This is generally counterproductive for
a Church Planting Movement.
For copies of this booklet contact
IMB Resource Center at resource.center@imb.org
or call 1-800-866-3621.
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