To give you a different perspective on last week's message, I would like to introduce to you a paper by Mary Bennett. Mary and I go back about some teen years. She played second base and I played first base on a church Co-Ed softball team that one four or five league championships including a threepeat. Mary left the year before we won our forth in a row. At differnt times both of us were part of the leadership team of a church singles group which was known as the best within this district of the denomination. Mary just happened to be the leader when the new pastor John, (I've given pastor Bill enough guff already) decided to move in his own spirit and control this well functioning community. Needless to say within two years, a group that had approximately 40 active well functioning members, remained but one person. Using my terminology of community, we both know how one works, as in the singles group and the softball team, and we also know how easy it is for man to get in the way of God's work.

After she left her leadership position in the singles group, Mary went on to become a missionary to Mexico from Westgate Chapel in Edmonds for a couple of years. Her paper is written from that missionary outlook, which is great. As I was considering how to introduce her, I realized that as a sister in the Lord, I probably have the opportunity to be convicted for being a jerk, and having to apologize, more than with any other member of the bride of Christ. Therefore, before getting myself into more trouble.

The Cell Church

30 June 1999

by Mary Bennett: maryben1@juno.ocm

An indigenous approach to church planting

Many books have been written on the subject of church growth and missiology in the present decade. With the approach of the second millennium and the imminent return of our Lord, the church must be convinced that, as a church, we are doing the best possible job of bringing in the harvest. The cell church as a church planting method has earned the right to be examined in contrast with traditional and current methods. The projected results, in terms of souls won and leaders raised should be of primary consideration in determining which church planting method should be employed. It seems prudent to know why the cell church system is a viable option for the modern day missionary.

Establishing indigenous churches has become the goal for most cross-cultural church planters. An indigenous church has been defined as one that is self-supporting, self-governing and self-propagating. (Steffen 1) The traditional methods of importing Western or non-national methods and structures to the mission field have long been considered obsolete. However, implementing changes to reflect the new emphasis has been difficult. Turning over responsibilities to the nationals can be painstakingly slow. Growth is at a low level. While the world's population is exploding, the church is adding members slowly. Mere addition is not enough. We need to be multiplying churches and leaders if we ever expect to keep up. Donald McGavran, the founder of the church-growth movement says: Nothing hurts missions overseas so much as continuing methods, institutions, and policies which ought to bring men to Christ ^ but don't, which ought to multiply churches but don't. If it does not work to the glory of God and the extension of Christ's church, throw it away and get something which does. (Comiskey 51)

Across denominational lines and cultural barriers, cell churches have proven to be an effective means of church multiplication around the world. The cell church has been called by some the "new wine skins" of the church. (Kreider 3) A cell church is a church that has placed evangelistic small groups at the core of its ministry. (Comiskey 17) It is a fresh model that can be tailored to any society with incredible impact. It promotes leadership training in a way that traditional methods cannot. Yoido Full Gospel Church in South Korea is the most notable example of a cell church. While it has close to three quarters of a million members, it has 23,000 cell groups. The International Charismatic Mission in Bogota, Colombia has 35,000 regular attenders and 13,000 cell groups. The Christian Center of Guayaquil, Ecuador has 7,000 members and 2,000 cell groups. Bethany World Prayer Center in Baker, Louisiana has 7,000 members and 500+ groups. (Comiskey 16) Each of these cell groups has its own trained leader and leader-in-training, and their congregations are multiplying and having a tremendous impact on their cities. Though they are from various points around the globe, they are all effectively using the cell church method for growth.

As we examine the various aspects of indigenous church planting, the cell church will stand out as the method that will most easily accommodate the common goal of indigenity. Missionaries have found that using the typical western model in developing countries is a struggle, because it is difficult to become self-supporting. Finances on the mission field have always been somewhat of a concern. (Hodges 76) The bulk of funds, both foreign and domestic, flow into the national leadership and building projects. To be true to the indigenous principle, the missionary must seek to implement and practice a self-supporting system. Difficulties inevitably arise when taking stock of the income level of the converts. Accumulation of their tithes over several years would still leave the building fund inadequate. Some strongly motivated missionaries have worked to the point of exhaustion to motivate the people to give sacrificially. Temptation to "help out" becomes nearly impossible to resist, yet foreign funds open the door to serious stagnation of growth in the national church.

In a town of a hundred thousand people in Mexico, this stagnation has taken place. Foreign money was dumped on the national church. Construction teams were sent to help with the building. Thousands of dollars were spent on materials. The end result was a beautiful church building, only partially filled with people who are apathetic about its care because they sacrificed nothing for its construction. They began to expect the foreign money. It anesthetized them to their own responsibility to be a giving body.

Although there are instances where a cell church is operated by foreign funds, the system is conducive to a self supporting structure. Most of the gatherings, and certainly all of them in the infancy stage, are best held in homes. Obviously, the expense of meeting in a convert's house is negligible. Many home gatherings could be established before the necessity of a corporate worship center is felt. When they reached that point, a larger building would only be needed for a few hours once a week. Renting facilities that are within their budget becomes a viable option. Ideally, as the congregation grows their tithing increases. Eventually a construction project may be considered. Because the focus of a cell church is the small group, not the larger meetings, ministry could still continue and flourish while in any stage of the building or renting process. Ralph Neighbor said: The only cell church in the world that I have perused where money was a significant problem was in Abidjan. In that case, eighty percent of the members are unemployed. (266)

Subsidizing national leadership is troublesome because of the decisions of whom to give to, how much to give them, and for how long to give. Jealousies can arise among the nationals. The workers are then drawn away from serving the Lord and begin comparing themselves with each other, which the Bible tells us is not wise. (Patterson 44) The funds that a Mission has at its disposal for the support of national workers are usually limited, and as a result are spread out too thinly to care adequately for the workers. As a result the worker fails to receive sufficient support either from the Mission or from his congregation. (Hodges 82) Great care and prayer must be exercised before one cent is put into the national worker's pocket from foreign resources.

Piedras Vivas Church in Monterrey, Mexico was given one thousand US dollars a month to rent their facilities and pay their pastoral staff. One of the assistant pastors left for personal reasons. His salary was thought to be up for grabs. The other assistant was expecting to receive the additional monies so he would not be forced to seek secular employment. The senior pastor had already designated and spent the funds on his special interests. In contrast, the supporting church had only forty people, who were sacrificing to give to their Mexican brothers. The Pastor himself was working a full-time job to meet his own expenses. Yet, these national leaders had become money-hungry, grappling for every dollar to make their own lives more comfortable.

National leadership is a precious commodity on the mission field. In our attempts to help them financially, we fail miserably by making them dependent. The cell church system promotes a shared leadership concept where every member is a minister. (Neighbor 143) In this system, each leader would have only ten to twelve people under his charge, rather than one person caring for the entire congregation. (Kreider 117) Commissioned lay leaders reduce the need for paid leadership. Pastors in this system find they are not overburdened because the lay workers are carrying a large portion of the load. (2 George 55,56) A pastor could be bi-vocational, if necessary, until the offerings were sufficient to support him and his family. The leadership structure is multi-leveled, with only those who have risen through the system being considered for a salary. (Hurston 121) Any salary would be part of the mission's church budget and would not include foreign subsidy. The main source of income for a full-time pastor would be tithes and offerings collected in the cell group meetings.

While many church plants have gotten into trouble over finances, the second element of the indigenous structure has its own set of challenges. Of the three aspects of an indigenous church, self-government seems to be the most difficult to accomplish and requires the longest time for achievement. (Hodges 22). The various factors of church government include: approving a biblical doctrinal statement, agreeing on a standard for membership, choosing officials in the church, and adopting a policy for church discipline. (Hodges 26-36) Relinquishing control is difficult for the missionary church planter. In a parent's eye, the child is always a child. Allowing them to make poor decisions or watching them stumble and fall is a painful ordeal. However, the child learns best when he has to do it on his own. Dependence on the missionary is normal in the primary stage of church planting, but continued dependence stifles growth and gives a foreign flavor to the national church, which is the very thing we must guard against in our attempt to plant indigenous churches. Issues of discipline in the church can sever relationships within a community. Discipline should ideally come from a respected member of the church and community and not from the foreigner. Policies should be set to reflect the biblical standard, but also the cultural context of the local church. Even the most culturally sensitive missionary cannot achieve this balance as successfully as the nationals themselves can.

I am acquainted with a missionary who has struggled in the area of planting self-governing churches. He is currently involved with the third church plant of his career. The two churches that he has "left behind" are still under his control. From another country, this man is giving advice and making decisions for churches that have national leadership. The nationals seek his opinion in matters of policy, finance and discipline. While he was with these leaders, he never gave them opportunity to govern themselves, therefore, he created a dependent relationship, which continues to this day. It is imperative in order to achieve a self-governing church, that we must teach the nationals to stand on their own. They need to be equipped and then let go.

Self-governance is a component of an indigenous work that keys more on the relationship between the missionary and nationals than on the particular church planting method employed. In other words, if a missionary uses the cell church system it is not a guarantee that a totally independent, self-governing church will exist. However, the cell church system does lend itself to the self-governing pattern if the missionary chooses to follow that path. Decentralization of control is one of the major factors of growth within cell churches. (1 George 100) One pastor or missionary cannot, personally, oversee every home group. Each cell leader has a certain amount of freedom to project his style into the meetings. Even with the same instruction and material used, it would be difficult to find two cell group meetings that were exactly alike. Leadership structure is multi-tiered based on a model modified from Exodus 18. (Cho 19). Appoint officials over thousands, hundreds, and tens. (Exodus 18:21)

The home cell leaders would be the leaders of ten. The leaders of hundreds are over five to ten home group leaders. Each level continues on in the same manner. Discipline is handled through the same chain of command. Everyone in this system is accountable to the leader above them, or in the case of the pastor, to his pastoral staff. The missionary role in the self-governing aspect of this system is to effectively equip and motivate the leaders directly beneath him. (Cho 109) The Pastor in the cell church is usually one who has started as a home group leader and has worked his way up through the system. This man knows the church and how it operates. He is a perfect candidate to trust with the responsibility of running the church. Other leaders, such as elders or deacons, will also have come up through the ranks. Fully equipping national leadership delays self-governance; but it produces confident leaders that are committed to the local body and know how it functions.

Self-propagation is the evangelistic thrust of the indigenous church plant. Gospel crusades, canvassing door to door with Bible tracts, and Sunday school programs have been prominently used in evangelism on the mission field. While all have merit, these tools lose their impact if used alone. Most Christians claim to have come to the Lord through the witness of a close friend or family member, which shows us that relational or friendship evangelism should be given priority. The church has principally taken a "come and see" posture: programs are created so the church members can invite their lost friends and neighbors. The problem with this thinking is that most people do not want to darken the door of a church building, and especially not in an antagonistic culture. The great commission tells us to go and seek the lost, yet instead of going to them, we expect the lost to come to us.

The beauty of the cell church system is that the burden of evangelism is shifted from the individual to the group. The various members each have different gifts which enable the group to reach lost people in a way no individual could. (Comiskey 81) Praying for, and meeting the needs of, the next door neighbor is a big drawing card for a non-believer. This person gets a taste of the Christian community that is rarely experienced in large group gatherings. Entering into a home of a friend or neighbor is less threatening than stepping into a church building. The person is not extracted from their circle of comfort. A seeker gets to know believers in a familiar environment. He is welcomed and included in the lives of people that genuinely care for him. Cell ministry capitalizes on the human need for relationships of intimacy. The new person is the center of the cell ministry and is given personalized attention because multiplication is the goal of all cell groups. With a constant lifting of the eyes to the harvest, the cell group becomes a vibrant multiplying entity that has unlimited growth potential. The new person can be won to the Lord, discipled and equipped for ministry, all in the context of the single cell group. In this system, people are assimilated into the inner workings of the church. Rarely does someone slip through the cracks.

Another factor that ensures a self-propagating church is in the area of leadership development. Most churches send potential leaders to Bible school in hopes that someday these young people will be the leaders of the future. The difficulty with this is two-fold; the current shortage of leadership is not addressed, and a high percentage of Bible school graduates never go into full-time ministry. Extension Bible classes are offered in some areas for those who are already in the ministry. But adding leadership classes does not increase the number of people participating in the ministry. A high percentage of church members are overlooked simply because they are not pastor material. Leadership positions have traditionally been limited to children's workers or preachers. If someone is not gifted in either of these areas, he or she is not usually considered for a ministry role. The church planter's position is crucial because all those under him will emulate him. A performance standard can be set or an attitude can be portrayed, that will discourage the nationals from pursuing ministry roles. Lay ministers must be developed on an ongoing basis in order to be prepared for a multiplication of members. A structure also must be in place to give ministry opportunities to these lay people. The church is anticipating a great harvest of souls in these last days. She must prepare for this harvest with effective leadership training systems and with positions for these trained leaders to occupy.

A missionary family started a church plant in a small town of fifty thousand people. Their vision was to plant an indigenous church. The initial meetings were held in their home until a rental facility could be procured. The church began to grow through conversion and transfer growth. Although there were some mature believers attending, they always seemed too busy to commit totally to any leadership roles. A young couple in another town was recruited to be groomed as pastoral candidates. Prior to their arrival, the church planting family was doing everything. The missionary was preaching every sermon, his wife and son were leading worship and their daughter was running the Sunday school. Leadership classes were initiated but lacked momentum to continue. Recently, more people have become involved with the Sunday school and midweek services. However, the number of actual ministry positions is limited. The missionaries have been called home after three years on this field. Although by all appearances this has been a successful church plant, the reality is that there are no leaders equipped to propagate other leadership positions. The prognosis for multiplication of membership is poor.

The measure of success for a self-propagating church is that it is able to multiply and reproduce itself. The church can only grow as fast as the capacity to care for the new convert.. Carl George says that the Meta-church (cell-church) has,blended evangelism and pastoral care with leadership development in such a way that they win people to Christ as they care for them; and as they develop new leaders, they are constantly able to expand to accommodate whatever harvest of souls the Lord of the harvest is calling into the body of Jesus here on earth. (2 George 26)

If training leaders is the key to success in church multiplication, it is imperative that the church is performing this task. Lecturing is valuable for information dissemination, but the best learning is caught, not taught. (Comiskey 55) The cell group becomes the class room. Not everyone can preach a homiletic masterpiece but anyone can lead a cell group. Leadership candidates are given on-the-job training. Under direct supervision, the cell group leader is given freedom to make mistakes and grow in the skills required to care for a small group of people. Ongoing training is provided for those in the system. Bible school is also made available for those who desire to increase their theological knowledge. The student who enters Bible school, at this point, is already experienced in ministry and wants to add knowledge to his skill. In the cell group system, each leader is taught not only to lead, but to seek out others that can be raised up for future leadership. Multiplication occurs when a cell group has reached twelve to fifteen people and the leader has an assistant that is trained sufficiently to guide a separate, but equally functioning, cell group. In this way, leaders are multiplied at the same rate as the cell groups. The average time for multiplication of the cell group is six to eight months. (Neighbor 204) This would enable the church to double their membership and leadership twice a year. Cell churches can grow indefinitely without losing sight of the individual and their needs. In the world's largest church in Seoul, Korea, as the size increased, the care delivery system became smaller and more personalized. The church of the future will be large enough to celebrate but small enough to care. (1 George 22) This is only possible with an extensive leadership training system.

If the cell church is perceived as the "new wine skins" of the church, it could become the method of choice in church planting efforts. With indigenous principles as the goal, it makes sense to use a structure that can support and carry through to completion that objective. Cross-cultural church planting is always a challenge. When a missionary's preconceived ideas about church and worship styles are maintained, the impact of the message is lost amidst the foreignness of the method. Cell churchs allows for indigenous expression in each area of the church planting effort. Staying true to the Word of God is vital, and so is a church that looks and feels like home, a national home with a national leader using national finances and a national form of government.

Cell church, like any church planting method, is only a tool. Caution must be exercised that we do not exalt a method over the leading of the Holy Spirit. God can move in whomever and through whatever means He wishes. However, moving in the Spirit should not be used to the exclusion of preparation and strategy. Yonggi Cho believes two of the most important components for a successful church are prayer and goal setting. (Hurston 122,3) Before responding to the "go" of the gospel, the "how" must be addressed in order to reach the nations effectively with the good news. Cell church is the "how" of the twentieth century and beyond, to plant indigenous churches in every land before Jesus comes again.

Annotated Biblography

Cho, Yonggi. Successful Home Cell Groups; South Plainfield: Bridge Publishing Inc., 1981 (176 pages read), Cho tells of his pioneering effort in cell church and the keys to his success.

Comiskey, Joel. Home Cell Group Explosion; Houston: Touch Publications 1998 (133 pages read), A research project on eight cell churches and how they function.

1 George Carl. Prepare Your Church for the Future Grand Rapids: Fleming H. Revell 1992 (224 pages read) A new concept in church growth: the meta-church is presented.

2 George, Carl. The Coming Church Revolution; Grand Rapids: Fleming H. Revell 1994 (315 pages read) Leadership issues in the meta-church system are discussed.

Hodges, Melvin. The Indigenous Church; Springfield: Gospel Publishing House 1953 (151 pages read) The three-self church is presented as an approach to church planting.

Hurston, Karen. Growing the World's Largest, Springfield: Gospel Publishing House 1994 (223 pages read) A study of Cho's church in Korea and the cell-church in general.

Kreider, Larry. House to House; Houston: Touch Publications Inc. 1995 (93 pages read) A personal journey of one man into the cell church system and the lessons he learned.

Neighbor, Ralph. Where Do We Go From Here; Houston: Touch Publications, Inc.1990 (440 pages read) Cell church is compared to the program based church - A manual on how to do cell church.

Patterson George and Scoggins, Richard. Church Multiplication Guide; Pasadena: William Carey Library 1993 (121 pages read) Multiplying churches by obeying the commands of Jesus - A training manual.

Steffen, Tom. Passing the Baton: Church Planting That Empowers, La Habra: Center for Organizational & Ministry Development 1993 (219 pages read) How to phase-out as a church planter and leave behind an indigenous church.

Recent comments from Mary:

I hope the cell church paper can be of some help to you. It is written mostly from a missions standpoint and some of the strategies of evangelism in a third world country differ than what will be effective here. For example, the community groups in Mexico are usually those that live in the same neighborhood. Extended family members live either in the same home or next door. Lack of transportation make it difficult to maintain relationships with those in another part of town, thus most of the friendships etc. are carried on a few feet from their front door.

Contrastly, we have a very mobile society. Our friends and family members rarely live next door to us. Forming a cell group that include these people would require a commute for some of the members. Just assuming that you are friends with your neighbors just because you live next door to them can be frustrating in the push for neighborhood evangelism. I think it is wiser to stick with the people you already have a connection with to begin and then be constantly on the look out for others to invite --this is where the neighbor may be included.

Another thing to think about is that each member of the cell group needs to be cultivating relationships outside the group. You may meet someone and befriend them, but it may take weeks or months before it is appropriate to invite them to a cell group meeting. What happens outside the group does as much to promote the growth of the group as what happens inside the group.

Cell groups as just another program of the church will not have the impact as a church who has cell groups as their main focus and the head Pastor as the one spearheading the vision. I do not think it is ever a mistake to start a cell group, but be informed as to what to expect given those particular circumstances.

Thanks so much Mary for your input. If you would like to contanct Mary directry her email address is included. I would apprecdiate a copy to keep track of all this

From my perspective from being in the military and a dedicated creationist, Iwiil begin next week to set out some other aspecdt gleened from the chaff of my experiences. Shall we call it militant gardening.

Prayer plants:

I was looking for another way to say prayer requests. I thought of this last night as I lay on my bed. Plants meaning, plant seeds, planting seedlings, or small plants, hoping for growth into large plants.

It looks as if the wells have all dried up or been stuffed up. The sky is clear with no clouds in site. Oh, God did you bring me out in this desert to perish, I would like to go back to Egypt, eat melons, and onions or something. Of course I am only speaking metaphorically, this is a La Nina summer in Seattle, but you get my drift.

Grace and peace from God our father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Jerry