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

Planting Urban Churches: Reaping

Segment 2: A Blueprint for an Urban Church that Focuses on Reproduction

Rev. Dr. Don L. Davis

All effective church planting in the city, including all that we do in preparing, launching, assembling, and nurturing believers there, culminates in transitioning the church for the purpose of it becoming salt and light in Christ’s name to the community. Empowered urban churches are those who have been enabled to become independent, who start to associate with other churches for the purpose of fellowship and service, and who reproduce themselves through kingdom-oriented witness. Our objective for this segment, A Blueprint for an Urban Church that Focuses on Reproduction , is to enable you to see that: • Three concepts highlight the character of a process that proves to be empowering to an emerging urban church. An urban church is being empowered for ministry in Christ if we are enabling the church to run its own affairs and so transition to independence, ensuring that the church is connected to other assemblies in godly association, and being encouraged through its giving, service, and mission to reproduce itself, advancing the Kingdom of God in the ways that God leads. • An empowered urban church can be identified according to seven interrelated criteria, all of which together provide a clear portrait of a church that will reproduce.

Summary of Segment 2

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“A newly planted urban church is empowered for reproduction when . . .”

1) a faithful group of converted, gathered, and maturing disciples of Jesus function together in worship and fellowship

2) it is governed by its own pastors and leaders under its own processes

3) it no longer functions in dependence upon the missionaries and workers who help to found it 4) it encourages and spawns unique, burden-driven, gift-oriented ministries carried out by its members