Planting Churches among the City's Poor - Volume 1

28 • P LANTING C HURCHES AMONG THE C ITY ’ S P OOR : V OLUME 1

Modern Missions’ History

An overview of modern Christian missions reveals that two very different church-planting strategies have been employed.

In the early 1800’s, Protestant missions followed the “three-self strategy” which was geared to planting indigenous churches. In the later 1800’s, in large part due to the effects of colonization, the mentality changed and a mission-controlled strategy predominated. Mission-Controlled Strategy The mission-controlled strategy established “mission stations” where missionaries conducted evangelism and service ministries, e.g., a school, a hospital and a church. Local children gathered in the school and a church congregation was formed from the children’s families. 15 These churches were run by missionaries. Indigenous Christians participated but were seldom allowed substantive leadership in the mission enterprise. Missionaries often attempted to change the culture of the converts so that they demonstrated a Western lifestyle. Frequently, the result was that indigenous Christians became socially isolated and could not project a Christian influence on their society. This strategy produced converts, educated future national leaders in Christian values, alleviated human suffering and established a Christian presence in foreign countries, but it did not necessarily result in a widespread, growing Christian church. Rather it often created converts and churches that remained dependent upon foreign funds and mission leadership. Eventually these mission churches broke free of mission control, but the process frequently created bitterness and misunderstanding on both sides. Indigenous Church Strategy The second strategy of missionary church planting sought to create culturally conducive, self-sustaining indigenous churches that were not dependent upon the mission for leadership or finances. In this strategy missionaries accommodated themselves to the local culture and introduced Christ in a way that allowed indigenous Christians to develop their own culturally conducive Christian lifestyle under the Spirit’s leading. 16 ________________________________________________________________________ 15 See R. Pierce Beaver, “The History of Mission Strategy,” Perspectives on the World Christian Movement , ed. Ralph D. Winter and Steven C. Hawthorne (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 1981), p. 196

16 See Beaver, Perspectives , p. 201