In yet another sign of how church networks are replacing denominational identity, the Acts 29 network announced Jan. 11 that it will provide up to $50,000 apiece for new churches started through its sponsorship. Leaders of Acts 29 insist it…
How a Nigerian church’s ambitious goal raised questions about its business model and the faith industry
In February last year, David Oyedepo announced that his Nigerian-based church was going to establish 10,000 new branches in Nigeria. Such a gigantic goal raised more than a few eyebrows. Living Faith Church Worldwide, also known as Winners’ Chapel International,…
How one Vietnamese convert sparked a church-planting movement that defied the odds
The afternoon Bible study in what was then called Saigon began as most others, with a group of curious Vietnamese nationals walking into a small, nondescript home. They attended for a variety of reasons, but primarily to learn English and…
State conventions beyond the South question SBC North American Mission Board’s spending and accountability for church planting
A decade-long disagreement over how Southern Baptists fund church planting and missions in North America is coming to a head and threatens the sanctity of the denomination’s spirit of cooperative giving. The result: State conventions outside the South are reducing…
10 years as a church planter made me a church planting skeptic; here’s why
By themselves, entrepreneurial values in church planting are not bad, but there is a fine line between tailoring church to people’s needs and making church a commodity. In church planting this line often gets blurred.
Church planting may lead to marriage woes, food stamp eligibility, reports study
Financial stress is overtaking many church planters, leading some to even consider quitting the calling altogether, new research shows. An April study by The Barna Group found that only 41 percent of church planters feel personally secure in their finances,…
Ed Stetzer leaving LifeWay for Wheaton College
Missiologist and researcher Ed Stetzer is leaving after nine years as executive director of LifeWay Research to become executive director of the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism at Wheaton College, the Christian liberal arts school near Chicago announced May 16….
Healing the world in one of Philadelphia’s toughest neighborhoods
With a name like Strawberry Mansion, it would be easy to assume one of Philadelphia’s most notorious neighborhoods is full of lavish abodes and Lamborghinis. But Wayne Weathers, a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship church starter and pastor of Vision of Hope Baptist…
Paige Patterson details missiological ‘battle’ at IMB
By Bob Allen Four months before the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board announced plans to eliminate between 600 and 800 jobs, a seminary president said about 750 missionaries need to be removed because they are ineffective or doctrinally unsound….