Evaluating the Church Growth Movement

Paul E. Engle, series editor for Counterpoints Church Life, is an ordained minister who served for twenty-two years in pastoral ministry in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Illinois, and Michigan. He is an adjunct teacher in several seminaries in this country and internationally. He serves as associate publisher and executive editor in the Church, Academic, and Ministry Resources team at Zondervan. He and his wife Margie, live in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Dr. Gary L. McIntosh teaches at Talbot School of Theology, is a professor of Christian ministry and leadership, leads 20-25 national seminars a year, serves as a church consultant, was president of the American Society of Church Growth in 1995-1996, and has written over 95 articles and 10 books, including Finding Them, The Issachar Factor, Three Generations, One Size Doesn’t Fit All, Overcoming the Dark Side, and Staffing Your Church for Growth. He has over 15 years of experience as a pastor and Christian education director. He is a graduate of Colorado Christian University, Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, and Fuller Theological Seminary. He is editor of the Church Growth Network newsletter and the Journal of the American Society for Church Growth. Elmer Towns (DMin, Fuller Theological Seminary) is cofounder with Jerry Falwell of Liberty University, where he currently serves as vice president and dean of the school of religion. He is an author and editor of popular and scholarly works, a seminar lecturer, and the creator of over twenty resource packets for leadership education. Dr. Towns has published over fifty books, including four CBA bestsellers and the 1995 Gold Medallion Book of the Year, The Names of the Holy Spirit. A visiting professor at five seminaries, he has received four honorary doctoral degrees. He and his wife, Ruth, have three children. Gailyn Van Rheenen ( PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is the facilitator of Church Planting and Renewal at Mission Alive (www.missionalive.org), adjunct professor of missions at Abilene Christian University, and former missionary to East Africa. His website is www.missiology.org.

CONTENTS
Introduction: Why Church Growth Can’t Be Ignored: 7 Gary L. McIntosh
1. EFFECTIVE EVANGELISM VIEW: ELMER TOWNS 29
Church Growth effectively confronts and penetrates the culture
A Centrist Response 54
A Reformist Response 58
A Renewal Response 62
A Gospel and Our Culture Response 65
2. GOSPEL AND OUR CULTURE VIEW: 73 CRAIG VAN GELDER
Church Growth lacks a sufficient view of the church, which hinders it from effectively engaging the culture
A Centrist Response 103
A Renewal Response 107
An Effective Evangelism Response 110
A Reformist Response 113
3. CENTRIST VIEW: CHARLES VAN ENGEN 121
Church Growth is based on an evangelistically focused and a missiologically applied theology
A Renewal Response 148
An Effective Evangelism Response 151
A Reformist Response 154
A Gospel and Our Culture Response 158
4. REFORMIST VIEW: GAILYN VAN RHEENEN 165
Church Growth assumes theology but ineffectively employs it to analyze culture, determine strategy, and perceive history
A Centrist Response 190
A Renewal Response 195
An Effective Evangelism Response 198
A Gospel and Our Culture Response 201
5. RENEWAL VIEW: HOWARD SNYDER 207
Church Growth must be based on a biblical vision of the church as the vital community of the kingdom of God
A Centrist Response 232
A Reformist Response 237
An Effective Evangelism Response 241
A Gospel and Our Culture Response 246
6. PASTORAL REFLECTIONS 253
David C. Fisher 255
Douglas Webster 258
Roberta Hestenes 262
Afterword: Gary L. McIntosh 265
Selected Bibliography 269
About the Contributors 273
Discussion Questions 277
Index 281