Planting Churches Cross-Culturally: North America and Beyond

by David J. Hesselgrave

I just finished reading Planting Churches Cross-Culturally. SEND International recommends it for all missionaries in church planting roles. I found it to be an insightful book. Mostly it was very readable but at times could become a bit tedious. Although filled useful, scriptural approaches toward expanding God's kingdom on earth, it isn't always practical. As a new missionary on the field, the level of research that Hesselgrave recommends before starting anything would make me want to go back the the U.S. Over the upcoming years, these may be good research projects but not all at once.

Two very good points that I am thinking about from this book are:

1. A great way to train new pastors is to meet with five potential church leaders weekly. Share the Bible text for the upcoming week with them and ask them for cultural insight and review the previous weeks sermon. Have them critique it for what worked and what didn't. When this has gone on for a while, schedule an appointment that keeps you away for a Sunday. When these individuals ask who will preach show them how qualified they have become!
   
   
2. Another point is that although the idea of self-propagating, self-supporting, and self-governing churches may sound wonderful to a North American congregational thinker, it may not be what is best in another culture. Perhaps it is best to have a more centralized form of government more akin to Presbyterian or Catholic structure. It could also be the self-propagating or self-supporting argument that needs to be re-evaluated depending on the culture.

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