Planting Churches among the City's Poor - Volume 1

P ART I: D EVELOPING U RBAN C ONGREGATIONS • 45

to Greeks. A culturally diverse church-planting team is especially effective in the cross-cultural mission.

Third, team members share power. This sharing of authority makes it easier to include indigenous converts in the decision-making structure of the newly forming church. If the team is multicultural, it helps the target people groups feel a sense of identification with the team and representation in the new church. Fourth, team members provide care, support and community for one another. This aspect of team ministry was especially important for the Apostle Paul. In his letters Paul mentions by name thirty-eight partners in ministry. 62 This is a vital principle in urban missions where, because of the pressures and propensity toward “burnout,” the “average length of service is not much more than four years.” 63 Since “a major psycho logical factor [in burnout]. . . is loneliness and isolation” 64 the use of ministry teams is an important part of caring for the ministers so they in turn can care for others. Kevin Dyer, who has helped send church-planting teams to four continents over the past twenty-five years summarizes the value of team ministry in church planting when he says, “We are thoroughly convinced of the value of the team effort. What can be accomplished together is so much greater than what can be accomplished by individuals working on their own.” 65 Forming the Team Mission organizations that employ church-planting teams acknowledge “the success of a cross-cultural church-planting team is greatly influenced by the leadership/followership skills, gifts, and abilities of the team members.” 66 Screening and selection of team members is an important first step in forming a church-planting team.

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62 See Shenk and Stutzman, p. 49

63 David Claerbaut, Urban Ministry (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1983), p. 205

64 David Frenchek, Quoted in Urban Ministry , p. 206

65 Kevin Dyer, “Crucial Factors in Building Good Teams”, Helping Missionaries Grow , ed. Kelly and Michele O’Donnell, (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 1988), p. 126

66 Thomas Graham, “How To Select the Best Church Planters”, Helping Missionaries Grow , p. 46