Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age

Ed Stetzer has written a vade mecum for church planters and for congregations considering planting a new mission. Not only does he provide theological basis for church planting, but he gives excellent nuts and bolts advice. Not everyone will agree with all of his advice, but following it, will greatly increase the chances of success for a new mission plant.

If I could give a church planter only one book to read it'd be this one. As a former church planter and now as a Church Planting Strategist, I resonate with what Ed shares in his book. At last, a book that wrestles with the modernistic formulas of church planting with the postmodern culture that we swim in. Ed's depth of knowledge is evident and he exposes the reader to a multitude of ways of planting churches. He's not hooked on one approach whether that be seeker driven, cell groups, house churches, or whatever. He lays everything out for the reader to process and in assessing their own culture to plant a relevant church (cell, house, etc).

Ed combines the insights of both a respected theoretician and experience of a successful church planter into a very accessible and insightful book. I help oversee the Acts 29 church planting network and have read just about everything on the subject. Without reservation I can recommend Ed's work as a must read. I wish it had been out before I planted my church, Mars Hill, as it would have been tremendously helpful.

I was very impressed with the book. It begins with a good theology based on biblical teaching-- very unusual in much of church planting and a lot of "emerging church" books. Stezer explains that good theology leads to good methodology. Unlike some, he does not de-emphaize theology or, for that matter, re-invent it. After building a good theology, he then explains how we are to reach our community by using good missiology. That is where some of the more cultural issues are addressed. The last part of the book is practical "how to" material. It is a big book, but worth the read. Very thorough and helpful. We plant our church in a few months and our whole team is reading it.

This book and this author are the real thing. I just completed the resident portion of a doctoral program for church leaders and preachers. Many of us were leaving to plant churches and we all agreed that this was far and away the most helpful of the 100+ books we read this year. More church planting books have been published over the last two years than at any other time in history. We read most of them. Some were heavy on theory. Some emphasized fads. Some seemed more intent on creating a new lexicon than offering practical help. This books stands above the rest in that Stetzer hit the sweet spot every preacher dreams about - it's the intersection of biblical truth with real life. For any church planter who is in the "real life" trenches of planting churches in a postmodern culture, that kind of practical help is a welcomed relief. As Ed paints a picture of our sending God and his heart for this emerging culture, he weaves in the most practical wisdom for those who would answer the high and holy call to be postmodern missionaries. As I've navigated the whitewaters of church planting in an urban context in Atlanta, GA, I've returned to this text so many times that it is dog-eared, underlined, highlighted, and tattered. I bought two more copies. A new one for me and one to give the next church planter I meet. This is great stuff.