Church growth is founded on God's Word. Church growth is interested in disciple - making. Yes, these statements are all true, but do these simple statements really explain the idea of church growth? Through reading these statements alone I cannot fully attain a thorough explanation of what church growth is, however, there is a book that does a very good job explaining church growth in its entirety. It focuses on the history of church growth, the theology behind it and involved within it, and its principles. The book is full of thorough explanations and many details of a wide range of aspects all surrounded around the topic set before us; church growth. So what is this book? It is a text written by Thom S. Rainer, appropriately titled; The Book of Church Growth.
This text is divided into four main parts and includes a total of thirty-one chapters. Part one of this book is "The History of the Church Growth Movement." Chapter one really sets the tone of the entire book and allows the reader to better understand the rest of the text by first explaining the basic principles behind church growth, the church growth movement and evangelism. By understanding these basic principles and ideas at the beginning the reader can easily follow the chapters to come. Chapter one really sets this up for the reader and in the way that it introduces the main ideas first, before getting into the detailed ideas that the reader afterwards begins to present.
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Much of this text specifically focuses on the movement, which began with the missionary work of Donald McGarvan. 1955 is the accepted birth date of the church growth movement, although many factors precipitated and began .
influencing this movement years before its original birth date. Donald McGarvan is credited with being the founder of this movement. Throughout chapter two of this text the reader learns about the direct influences of McGarvan, including people like Roland Allen and J.