We're exploring the possibilities of working together for the foreseeable future, as part of my involvement with the Waleswide church planting initiative. I don't know yet how things will work between the two of us—the ball's in his court right now—but it's just so encouraging to see God's hand at work in this way. My new friend is teaching a group of street kids how to rap (go HERE to listen and read the lyrics), and it's opened up some amazing connections with non-Christian adults who also want to see these kids' lives and community changed for the better. Check out the Hill City Church website for more information.

Please pray for Dai Hankey (for my non-Welsh friends, "Dai" is a shorthand way of saying "David" in the Welsh language), his wife and infant daughter, and the various streams of support that God seems to be bringing together in the Trevethin estate above Pontypool, Wales.

Many prospective church planters express the frustration of feeling trapped in their present “full-time” ministry because, as they often put it, “I would get a secular job, but I don’t have any marketable skills!” Most of these men would even be willing to flip burgers at McDonalds or sell shoes at JCPenny, but they know it wouldn’t pay the bills or provide the medical benefits to which they have become accustomed in their present ministry position.

So, what can such men do? Is it possible to break loose from a settled pastorate or staff position and make the leap into church planting? Well, I believe it’s becoming more of a possibility every day, due to the explosion of chaplaincy positions throughout the United States. It’s absolutely amazing to see the proliferation of organizations that specialize in placing seminary-trained chaplains into high-profile corporations that welcome the advantages of having someone oversee the spiritual welfare of their employees.

When I recently realized this trend through surfing the net, I felt compelled to set up two Squidoo websites—The Chaplaincy Job Network and Bivocational Ministry: The Art of Tentmaking—to preserve my research and make it available to others. There are well over 500 vacancies right now, with openings in nearly every state, ranging from hospital chaplaincy to similar roles in the military, corporations, and hospice organizations.

So, why not invest that MDiv in a “day job” where you can help other people and actively share your faith? Imagine getting paid by a blue chip firm to circulate among their employees, building relationships and talking about Jesus and helping them through the daily stresses of life. In the process, you may receive a competitive salary and benefit package that will enable you to pursue your church planting dream with wild abandon!

You give us the next couple of years of your life. Do the demographics research, select your target group, raise the money, put together a team, set a launch date, and fly our flag over all of it. We want you to launch “big” or “hot” or “high yield,” and we’ll put your name up in lights if you’re successful. Plus we’ll give you just a tiny fraction of the financial support that you really need to pull off such a plan, but only for three years. And before you get any money, you just have to pass muster on a highly subjective, four-hour-long, spouse-intimidating, gut-spilling, behavioral interview—we call it a “church planter assessment” for short—and you must also NOT be a Calvinist or embrace any other controversial doctrinal views that might upset the people who fill our denominational coffers.

Here are a couple of links for the type of complicated systems I’m referring to. Please recognize that I’m not picking on anyone in particular, but I want to give you a brief sampling of what’s out there:

• The Virginia Baptist Mission Board Church Planting Strategy
• The Evangelical Free Church of Americ: Seven Systems Strategy
• The Mississippi Baptist Convention Board: Seven Steps to Planting a Church
• The North American Mission Board, SBC: The Church Planting Process
• The Orthodox Presbyterian Church: Planting an Orthodox Presbyterian Church

Have you ever talked to a foreign missionary about how they plant new churches? You really should. Ask them what they think about the typical North American church planting strategy and I can almost promise you this: they will either laugh out loud, roll their eyes, break into a big grin, or all the above. Many of you have Southern Baptist connections, so just call the International Mission Board and ask them for a list of missionaries that are home on furlough. Place the call and ask them.

Once your missionary composes himself/herself, then ask them what sort of approach they use in places where the name of Jesus is virtually unheard, where people have little interest in the Gospel, and where you can’t gather a big crowd by sending out a four-color brochure or postcard. Listen very carefully. Compare the North American version of church planting with the international approach. Ask yourself how much money it takes, whether it’s simple enough for a new Christian to duplicate, if it results in true disciples, how long before each church multiplies into another one, and which system is more faithful to Scripture.

I know one very prolific Southern Baptist missionary blogger, Guy Muse, author of the M Blog. Go read his stuff and see how God is doing some incredible things with ordinary people in Ecuador. His best articles include, “How house churches get started in Guayaquil,” plus “The church in your house,” and “What kind of churches are we planting overseas?” I think you’ll see my point, but feel free to check with others who plant churches in other cultures.

The question is, “Why don’t we plant churches the same way in North America?” Why does it cost $250,000 and require a team of seminary-trained people three years to plant one church? I’m just asking. What’s with all the rocket science, smoke and mirrors, hoopla, and razzamatazz? Is church planting complicated or so simple that it’s like falling off a log?

Stuart Murray Williams works as a trainer and consultant under the auspices of the Anabaptist Network. Based in Oxford, he travels widely in the UK and overseas and works with local churches, mission agencies, denominational leaders, conferences and individuals. He has worked with at least 25 denominations in recent years. His particular areas of expertise are in: church planting, emerging church, urban mission, mission in post-Christendom, Anabaptist history and theology.

Here’s a one-minute video clip featuring Williams, articulating their vision for urban church planting:

If your friends sometimes call you “Curious George,” perhaps you would like to watch more free video excerpts from the Anabaptist Network’s DVD, Cloud of Witnesses: Rediscovering Anabaptism. You may also like to visit the website of an emerging church (Peace Church) in Birmingham, England, that has been planted on Anabaptist principles and has spread to three other cities in Britain. Personally, I find this very intriguing and would welcome some online dialog regarding these brothers and sisters in Christ.

Much of the growth of the church has been coming through cell groups (networked together as part of larger worshipping congregations) and house churches (in which the cell performs all the functions of a church). The cell and house church models have drawn increasing attention, not only because of their rapid multiplication, but also because of their suitability for apprentice-style leadership development, their ease of cross-cultural adaptation, and their ability to survive and even thrive during times of persecution.

The combination of local agitation as well as official harassment and media attacks have prompted Indian Christians to rethink their strategies of evangelism. In many places public meetings and street preaching have become nearly impossible, though in some areas well-publicized evangelism and healing services can still be conducted without interruption. However, in general there is a growing emphasis on friendship evangelism, home meetings, and practical service (e.g. health, literacy, AIDS prevention, environmental initiatives) that plainly benefit the entire community (non-Christians as well as Christians) and that win a hearing for the Christians. Two common criticisms leveled against the Christians by their opponents are that (1) They are outsiders, not true patriots, mere agents of the west, kept alive by foreign money; and (2) all their "good works" are simply dishonest ploys to "convert" (i.e. to rip away from their community and their culture) the ignorant.