Planting Churches among the City's Poor - Volume 1

P ART I: D EVELOPING U RBAN C ONGREGATIONS • 61

When discipling indigenous leaders, church planters must proceed with “phase-out eyes.” 107 As Jesus selected disciples to carry on the work of the Kingdom after his departure, so church planters must oversee development of indigenous leaders who can guide the church once the church-planting team departs. The end goal of missionary phase-out must be kept in the forefront of team planning. It is important that the missionary spend time training group leaders, not only individually but also together so they can mutually equip and support each other. Because the discipling groups will eventually be combined into one church body, it is necessary that individual group leaders learn to function as a team. The indigenous group leaders’ practical training should include, not only character development and a study of the Word of God but also an instilling of the church-planting vision, and an understanding of the Biblical priority of justice for the poor and the church’s role in that process. 108 It should also, at this stage, include in-depth work on witnessing and group leading as well as specific instruction on how to teach the curriculum utilized by the Fellowship groups. The growth and maturity of these emerging leaders is the key to developing new Fellowship groups. Form New Groups The goal is to multiply the groups as soon as possible. Splitting the groups helps to insure continued growth by making room for new converts and by allowing opportunity for the emergence of additional indigenous leadership. It is important to remember that many people in impoverished urban areas are reluctant to deal with institutions and have experience only in leadership roles involving small groups. While gifted leaders of large groups will undoubtedly emerge, the majority of the people encountered will probably be more comfortable in small group leadership roles. Thus, the embryonic church is much better off with ten discipling fellowships containing ten people each than with one group containing one hundred. “The responsibility given to each man must not exceed his strength, ability and time. A large group will

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107 Tom A. Steffen, Tribal and Peasant Church Planting: A Comprehensive Phase Out Model, (unpublished doctoral dissertation, Biola University, 1990)

108 See Robert C. Linthicum, City of God, City of Satan: A Biblical Theology of the Urban Church , (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1991) for a study on this theme.