“I don’t see a lot about ‘Church Planting’ mentioned in the Bible. Do you?”
An interesting question, given that it was being asked to a room full of church-planting pastors. Takeshi Takazawa was leading this group of pastors from throughout South India in the sixth of the eight training times they will spend together over a two-year period. They are the latest group in a series of cohorts A3 is conducting in India under the leadership of A3 National Director David Dayalan.
The pastors looked quizzically at Takeshi as he repeated the question. Takeshi then went on: “So if there is not mention in Scripture about ‘Church Planting’, why are we here? What is God trying to tell us about His vision for the Church?”
Takeshi directed the group to three passages in Genesis—1:22 and 28, 9:1 and 7, and 35:11. “What is God saying in all three of these passages?” he asked. Several pastors spoke up with the answer: “Be fruitful and multiply.” “Exactly!”, Takeshi replied. “The question for us to ask is not, ‘How do we grow a church?’; the question is, ‘What is preventing us from planting churches that reproduce other churches’—not addition, but multiplication?”
It was the beginning of a fascinating and dynamic four days… my first exposure to A2’s core program. The spirit of the group from minute one was tight-knit. In their times of sharing, discussion, learning, and fellowship together, they had clearly developed strong bonds of love and trust—something that doesn’t necessarily come easy in a group of pastors in any part of the world. Even as a late-arriving observer from the outside, I was warmly welcomed into their midst.
In A3, we talk about Developing Leaders Who Multiply Churches. It was exciting to see firsthand how A3 brings together a group of proven leaders, enables them to form and build a trusting, supportive learning community, and works with them to develop a vision for how God can build His Kingdom in Asia—exponentially.
- Read Noel Becchetti's profile here... Noel serves as A3's VP for Leader Development.
- Read Takeshi Takazawa's profile here... Takeshi serves as A3's VP for Strategic Engagement
