Movement Features and Contrasts

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Paul Huyghebaert, from renew.org: "It is not the climate of the culture, but rather the climate of the Church in those regions, that has paved the way for movement." This means traditional churches play a significant role in spiritual support. That climate includes the following:

• Radical dependence on the Holy Spirit in fasting and prayer empowers the mission.
• Scripture is the curriculum, not some other content.
• The mission is always clear to everyone involved.
• Disciple making is the church's cultural identity.
• Leaders and staff make and coach disciple-makers.
• Stories of disciple-making abound.
• Discipling expectations are high.
• Multiplication (not just growth) happens at every level: disciples, groups, leaders, churches, movements themselves, and movement families.

"We already do that at our church."

I hope so, but let's make sure! In practice, disciple-making strategies contrast with many traditional church-planting approaches in a variety of ways that make DMM exponentially more effective in multiplying disciples, churches, leaders, and even movements themselves. In places such as Africa and North America movements often collaborate and partner with one another and with traditional churches, ministries, and even denominations.

Cory Hartman says "a disciple-making movement (also called a church planting movement) is an active chain reaction with these characteristics:"

• Repeated reproduction: Disciples of Jesus make disciples who make more, and gatherings of disciples spawn gatherings that spawn more.
• Outside the faith: Most new disciples were not following Jesus at all before they became disciples.
• Ordinary people: Few of those who are making disciples have special religious status or education.
• Preexisting social network: Most disciple makers make most new disciples from the relationships they already had, and most gatherings are transformed social circles that already existed.
• Generational overlap: It is normal for people to start making disciples without their instructor present with however much they have learned so far, before they have been fully taught, with the result that multiple generations of disciples are being made at the same time.
• Disciple persistence: Most disciples remain active disciples for an extended period, with the result that many generations of disciples exist at the same time.
• Multiplication: Each generation of gatherings has roughly double or more gatherings than the one before it.

Are these what's happening where you are? Are they something your church could support and pursue?