Chasing Windmills: Tearing down the Giants of Church Growth Movement

The Reformed Church Center Looks at a New Vision for Church Growth

Because we are called to “make disciples of all nations, and yet we realize that growth for the sake of numbers is an idolatry, issues of church planting and church growth are often problematic for Reformed Christians. We feel called to grow the church, but the goals and even the language used regarding church planting often seems contrary to a Reformed understanding of the church.

On Thursday, October 5, from 12:00 noon to 1:30 pm Eastern Time, the Reformed Church Center will host a webinar presentation by Chad Farrand, Executive, Classis de las Naciones, RCA and a Doctor of Ministry Candidate at NBTS, in which he proposes new ways of speaking and thinking about this issue. In “Chasing Windmills: Tearing down the Giants of Church Growth Movement,” Chad will give a brief overview of the Church Growth Movement (CGM) and its beginnings in the RCA, review some mental models that have created harmful spaces, and sketch out a process for dismantling CGM and replacing it with a holistic Spiritual Growth Movement centered on Christ, strengthening RCA churches for the flourishing of our world, including these steps:

1. 1. Restrengthening What Is and Remembering What Has Been
   2. Spiritual Disciplines and the Inner Journey
   3. Reclaiming the Reformed Identity in Multiplication
   4. Tending the Garden before Bearing the Fruit
   5. Welcoming the Stranger in Hospitality
   6. Empowering the Next Gen Leader
   7. Drawing Closer to Jesus Forever

There will be a response by Mashona Walston, senior pastor of First Church (Reformed) in Albany, New York, who holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from NBTS. She is a proponent of neuroscience and prayer as means of providing resilience, and works with individuals, faith groups, and community partners for stronger and more positive relationships locally, nationally, and globally. followed by time for everyone participating to ask questions or comment on what they have heard.