Movement Definitions

As a ministry committed to "building spiritual movements," we are constantly wrestling over definitions. How can you hit it, if you don’t know what it is? The June edition of an ezine called the movement: Global City Church Planting had an article by Allen Thompson which discussed "church planting movements" and how they are variously defined. I thought I’d include his definitions and comments here–perhaps as a starting point to getting our arms around this elephant.

Allen Thompson suggests: Start with the word movement.

Several uses of the word are common in the literature from both an organizational and sociological understanding.

Organizationally: (a) a series of organized activities by people working concertedly toward some goal; (b) the organization consisting of those active in this way; (c) the rapid pacing toward the goal.

Sociologically: (a) a tendency or trend in some particular sphere of social change; (b) doctrines, opinions, or way of thinking that can change public policy, e.g. feminist movement; (c) body of ideas on which a particular social system is based; (d) a group of people who are organized for, ideologically motivated by, and committed to a purpose which implements some form of personal or social change.

The common definitions used by church planters…seem to favor the former "organizational" definition. For example:

1. A CPM is a rapid and exponential increase of indigenous churches planting churches within a given people group or population segment (David Garrison). Here the main focus is on fast multiplication within a specific context. Those who adopt this thinking call it church multiplying movements. The strategy of choice is the development of cell groups and house churches.

2. Don”t focus on numerical growth; concentrate on qualitative growth.(Christian Schwarz) We should not attempt to manufacture church growth, but rather to release the biotic potential which God has put into every church. In his research, Christian Schwarz identifies eight quality characteristics and asks, Are there distinctive quality characteristics which are more developed in growing churches than in those which are not growing? The obvious answer is Yes; and, therefore, Schwarz’s definition involves spiritual momentum within churches that are addressing quality control. He adds, Neither the absolute level of quality reached (60-80%), nor the speed with which improvements are made is decisive’although both are worth striving for. The most important factor is the direction in which the quality index is moving.

3. In World Team’s nomenclature,

a movement is defined as a: strategically planned, divinely empowered expansion of the church in a given region or people group that can be observed in: a dramatic increase in the number of disciples (conversions);

a prevailing deepening of spiritual devotion;
a widespread increase in evangelistic and social involvement on the part of Christians;
a noted increased in the church’s influence in society;
significant multiplication of churches (churches or individuals starting new churches);
marked growth in the vitality and maturity of churches; emergence of competent, biblical leadership

This definition de-emphasizes rapid expansion in favor of national leadership development and spiritual depth.

4. We desire to establish in the country of our labors a strong church patterned after the New Testament example. Further, we believe that in order to have a New Testament church, we must follow New Testament methods. Melvin Hodges, former field secretary for Latin America of the Assemblies of God, emphasized the classic definition of the three- self church (self-government, self-propagation, self-support) supported by Roland Allen, Henry Venn and others. Hodges focused on indigenous principles, training of national leaders, and re-training of missionaries to promote indigeneity. Hodges and other Pentecostal leaders would summarize a CPM as having two foci: indigenous church methods and the power of the Holy Spirit. The mechanics of a successful church on the mission field are the New Testament methods; the dynamics are the power and ministries of the Holy Spirit. Either factor alone is incomplete and inadequate.

5. This then is what I mean by spontaneous expansion. I mean the expansion which follows the un-exhorted and unorganized activity of individual members of the Church explaining to others the Gospel which they have found for themselves; I mean the expansion which follows the irresistible attraction of the Christian Church for men who see its ordered life, and are drawn to it by desire to discover the secret of a life which they instinctively desire to share; I mean also the expansion of the Church by the addition of new churches.

In his definition, Roland Allen emphasizes a mobilized laity in evangelistic efforts, then an attractive standard of life that draws others to Christ, and finally the unhindered emergence of new churches. In addition, Allen identifies six obstacles to this expansion in the Anglican Church (ineptness of professional missionaries, fear of false doctrine, fear of lowering moral standards, pride of enlightenment and prejudice, cumbersome missionary organization, and elaborate, non-apostolic church structures).

Thompson’s Summary. While all five aforementioned definitions focus on movement as resulting in more churches, none captures the idea of movement as an ideology that sets a person on fire compelling him or her to tell the story of personal transformation. Perhaps Roland Allen comes closest to this in his emphasis on the gospel that transforms ordinary people into compelling witnesses or Hodges in his insistence on the power of the Holy Spirit as the underlying dynamic in all movements. Each definition, apart from focusing on momentum and multiplication, highlight individual preferences such as cell churches (Garrison), spirituality (Schwarz), leadership development (Thompson), local methods (Hodges), and removal of obstacles (Allen).

Allen Thompson suggests that these defintions are "primarily" interested in the organizational type of movement definitions, e.g. organizing activities and people to work cooperatively toward planting hundreds of churches. He even uses CCC’s vision of "starting 5 million churches for a billion soul harvest" as an example of this type of movement definition. He implies that these definitions might be improved if we and others embraced the "sociological" definition. He then goes on to argue the importance of planting "gospel" churches…in other words, churches with a broader definition of the gospel which includes "changing people and renewing culture."