tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13873773.post4253831413529610768..comments2023-09-17T08:45:50.720-04:00Comments on Stuff Out Loud: Concerns about MissionalLarryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04886866662463467215noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13873773.post-20061976893098953002012-01-10T14:58:22.894-05:002012-01-10T14:58:22.894-05:00The article about 9 reasons not to plant a church ...The article about 9 reasons not to plant a church are good arguments for not church planting, but Jones seems to have thrown out the baby with the bath water. You are entirely right that our N.T. model is church planting. <br /><br />I myself have launched a "more sustainable, more holistic, more measurably transformational Kingdom solutions" when I started Urban Transformation Ministries (UTM) which happens to be a Christian Community Development non-profit ministry reaching out to the urban poor and about 7 years into it, I realized we needed to start a church because it wasn't enough. We were partnering with an existing Baptist Church, but these thugs (gang members and drug dealers) that God was redeeming in our ministry had a difficult time assimilating into this church with over 100 years of tradition. Within UTM, we were able to do evangelism and social ministry, but the discipleship was slow-going. <br /><br /> Since our church plant (New City Church) has started, we have seen phenomenal spiritual growth in many of the inner-city teenagers and young adults that are part of our ministry. The evangelism is more focused, the discipleship is more intentional, and the social ministry to the poor has been more effective since helping launch New City Church.Joel Shafferhttp://utmgr.org/blog_index.htmlnoreply@blogger.com