Reproducible Pastoral Training: Church Planting Guidelines from the Teachings of George Patterson Review

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(More customer reviews)Read this book and be prepared to take a backseat. Those who micromanage and who are unable to delegate will not find this book congenial. This manual for church planters is the fruit of many years of successful field experience in Honduras by George Patterson, as compiled, weeded and organized by Patrick O'Connor. It begins with a list of the 68 guidelines, which are then expanded and illustrated by field experience in the next eight chapters. Patterson and O'Connor have found that it is the newest believers who do the most reproducing, not the ones who have lengthy book training and senority. Therefore, they lay out the mentoring and coaching guidelines to train these new believers who are given the freedom and responsibility to set up new churches. The mentoring church planter works with the new believers, using their individual abilities and giving them step-by-step training and coaching. As each new church planter works in a different situation, the coach chooses which area is needed first and customizes the training. Eventually all the bases of Biblical knowlege are covered, but in the order best suited for each. Some practices might be controversial, such as baptism immediately following conversion instead of a long probation period.
I read this book from three different angles--as a mission mobilizer for a local church, as a member of a bi-cultural (Anglo & Hispanic) congregation, and as a Sunday school teacher. This is definitely not just a book for church planters. I have shared this material with our Hispanic pastor who is doing just as Patterson did in training new leaders. My students are now using their beginning skills in the field and not just absorbing and parroting Biblical knowledge. Flexibility, cultural sensitivity and learning by doing are the three key elements. I highly recommend this book, even as I am at times overwhelmed by the need to change my whole orientation to passing on the faith. Fortunately, O'Connor recognizes the need to fail and demonstrates how to come back from mistakes.
Additional resources are links to Patterson's Training and Mobilization booklet manuals and the Spanish only version of Preparacion y Movilizacion.

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