Planting Churches among the City's Poor - Volume 1

P ART I: D EVELOPING U RBAN C ONGREGATIONS • 79

The timing for constituting is important. The congregation risks collapse if the spiritual and leadership foundations are not secure. Redford advises that, Formal constitution of a mission congregation into a self-governing church should be deferred until everyone concerned is convinced the group is spiritually mature and sufficiently stable to govern themselves. Countless instances can be cited of mission churches which died because they were constituted prematurely. 163

There are six checkpoints that will help the church determine the right time to constitute:

1. The congregation has a sense of fellowship with Jesus Christ and with each other. 2. The church has a true sense of its identity and mission. 3. The church is aware of community needs and has a vision for how they can help meet those needs. 4. The congregation is numerically and financially adequate to carry out its vision of ministry in the community. 5. The congregation has adequate training in church function, Christian doctrine, and stewardship. Church leaders are trained to fulfill their respective responsibilities. 6. The congregation has become self-supporting and is able to phase out all 164 outside help. 165 Formal Independence Constituting the church removes the last vestiges of mission leadership and financing, thus making the indigenous church fully self-determining and self-supporting. By assuming responsibility for itself the church takes a giant step toward spiritual maturity.

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163 Redford, p. 97

164 This does not negate an ongoing mission/church relationship or suburban/ urban church relationships that involve financial affairs. It does suggest however, that the church is now capable of being responsible for itself and enters into such partnerships voluntarily because it sees an opportunity to work more effectively to build the Kingdom of God.

165 See Redford, pp. 98-99