Focus on Reproduction, Mentor's Guide, MG12

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F O C U S O N R E P R O D U C T I O N

stinginess and hoarding on the other? How can you best decide if an activity or event is breeding dependence in the urban church plant?

7. What are some clear and helpful ways to discern whether or not a prospective leader is commissioned, i.e., a person of distinct recognized call? How can we determine whether the prospective leader is a person of character , i.e., a person of proven experience? How can we detect if they are a person of competence: a person of gifting and skill? What about their identity as a person of community: a person who lives to serve and sacrifice on behalf of others? 8. If no leaders emerge, given these criteria, what is the church planter to assume, if anything at all?

What Does a Church Planter Look Like?

The task of church planting requires people who are uniquely gifted. Since you are reading these words, you may be asking, “Am I a church planter?”

A planter’s S.H.A.P.E. includes:

S piritual gifts: Gifts of ministry bestowed by the Holy Spirit

H eart or passion: A burden to establish an outreach toward a specific people group, in a particular location, or through a specific type of ministry A bilities: Entrepreneurial talents useful in planting (or perhaps in generating income in a bi-vocational church plant) P ersonality type: Analysis of personality types often appearing in church planters E xperiences: Tools for describing experiences to help the planter understand when, where, and how to plant a church

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~ Ed Stetzer. Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age . Nashville: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 2003. p. 78.