Apostolic Church Planting - by J D Payne (Paperback)

About the Book

Church planting is not just about gathering new communities of people who are already Christians. Planting churches flows naturally out of making disciples. In this concise guide, pastor J. D. Payne explains the process and stages of church planting, with biblical foundations and practical steps for planting teams both domestically and internationally.

Book Synopsis

Church planting is not just about gathering new communities of people who are already Christians. In the book of Acts, church plants begin with sharing the gospel. Planting churches flows naturally out of making disciples. Pastor J. D. Payne explains the process and stages of church planting, with biblical foundations and practical steps for planting teams. He provides a pathway for the multiplication of disciples, leaders and churches. Here are church planting strategies and activities that are simple, highly reproducible and can be implemented by ordinary team members, not just by charismatic leaders.This guide can be used for planting in contexts among any given people group, domestically or internationally. It is an ideal resource for teams to work through together as they follow God's call in their community.

Review Quotes

"Apostolic Church Planting is less like a how-to manual and more like a clinician's guidebook. It deals with the theology and theory of church planting as well as the practical steps involved. Few missiologists could have written it, but J. D. Payne is one of them. All who are in any way involved in church planting should study this book to be informed. All should read it to be refreshed."

--David J. Hesselgrave, professor emeritus of mission, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

"In this excellent work, J. D. Payne draws from his experience as a practitioner in the roles of church planter, sponsoring church mission pastor and planter coach to provide timely wisdom for those who are about to begin or are already traversing the church planting journey. Writing as a practitioner, his insights are practical and relevant. As a leading missiologist, his wisdom is well-grounded and trustworthy. In this book, Payne addresses some specific issues not covered in his earlier book, Discovering Church Planting. These two books should be tattered from use, highlighted, dog-eared and at the fingertips of every person leading any church planting endeavor."

--Mark Custalow, church planting strategist, central east and southeast Virginia, Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia

"Many church planters who would say they follow the apostles' methods fail to see churches multiply as the apostles did. They must read J. D. Payne's Apostolic Church Planting! He graciously points out the shortcomings of conventional church plants in a way that does not appear 'anti, ' untying the usual knotty problems and simplifying common complications. I love his phrase, 'Plant the church that is, not the church to come.' Had I read that when I was young, I'd have avoided years of foolishly trying to birth mature churches! You will find these gems throughout the book, but brace yourself to face challenges from Scripture, field experience and testimonies of a healthy number of highly effective practitioners."

--George Patterson, church multiplier, author of Church Multiplication Guide, Come Quickly Dawn and Train and Multiply

"No American alive today has seen church growth keep pace with US population growth. This reality seems to suggest we should stop doing church planting our way. J. D. points back to the simple biblical cycle designed to multiply. Grasping this cycle demands we wrestle with serious questions: Can new churches be formed from new believers? Can new pastors develop and emerge from within new churches? Can faithful church planting include an exit to leave new churches to develop on their own? J. D. Payne not only defends the potential of such notions, he demonstrates the biblical expectation that church planting be done this way."

--Nathan Shank, church planting catalyst in Asia, coauthor of The Four Fields of Kingdom Growth

"Though a rather short book, Payne covers nearly everything you could want to know about evangelism that leads to new churches, from a definition of church planting to ecclesiology to training team members to a description of the stages of church planting and beyond. It's both thorough in scope and thoroughly biblical. . . . Payne gives you a simple, highly reproducible and extensively biblical approach for planting new churches among the planet's most unreached people groups."

--Tobin Perry, On Mission, Spring 2016

About the Author

J. D. Payne (PhD, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) serves as the pastor of church multiplication for The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama. He has pastored churches in Kentucky and Indiana and served as a seminary professor. His books include Discovering Church Planting, Evangelism, Missional House Churches and Strangers Next Door. He and his wife, Sarah, and their three children live in Birmingham, Alabama.