Some books use a lot of words to say a little. Others, like this one, use a few words to say a lot.

Theologically-backed, practical, tested, and severely needed in our individualistic approach to outreach today, Dave Harvey brings us a booklet that only a fool would dare not read before planting a church.

As a member of the Sovereign Grace Leadership Team, senior pastor of Covenant Fellowship Church in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania which already planted eight churches by the time of this publication (April 2006), holding an MA in Missiology and a D. Min. in Pastoral Ministry, and as an "apostle" leader in church planting, Harvey does not write as a theoretical dreamer but a man who understands how church planting works and the theology of the New Testament behind it.

How do you take the gospel to "new people and places, whether across town or across an ocean of cultural difference" (1)? This booklet strives to answer that question. Unique in this book is its commitment to the local church's primal role in missions. Harvey writes, "...missiology is most biblical when it flows through and returns to ecclesiology" (3). How does this work? Three elements: the message, the method, and the model.

The Message

The Message, of course, is none other than the gospel—"the good news of the life, death, resurrection, ascension, and glory of Jesus Christ, the Son of God" (7). But this message, writes Harvey, must nurture motives of humility and servanthood (8), for "servanthood complements the message by authenticating its potency" (11). Harvey shows how in the gospel itself, Christ modeled these two attitudes perfectly. A humble attitude and a servant heart make a huge difference in reaching people effectively. Harvey writes, "I can argue with an atheist all day about proofs for the existence of God, but something uniquely powerful happens when I follow Christ by serving sinners" (11).

The Method

The next of the three big elements to Sovereign Grace Ministries' church planting is the Method. If the gospel sits at the heart of the message, then the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 stands at the heart of the method. Harvey notes the problem with doing lots of going, proclaiming, and individual evangelism that is completely disconnected from the local church which often results in an aborted Great Commission. He proposes a simple, threefold solution:

1. Proclamation (going and baptizing)
2. Integration (making disciples/teaching)
3. Expansion (reproducing proclamation and integration in the new geographic area)

I rejoice with Harvey's commitment to integration. But I disagree that "making disciples" is a subset of the Great Commission. I am convinced that it can be proved both lexically and contextually that making disciples is the Great Commission, putting both evangelism and teaching under the rubric of disciple making. However, this distinction would probably have only a small impact on how I'd go about planting a church compared to Harvey. Additionally, I cede to his far greater experience than mine!

Harvey convincingly argues that the planting of local churches is the vehicle through which evangelism and spiritual growth is to happen most effectively and biblically. Lamenting the traditional over-emphasis on proclamation at the expense of church planting, Harvey writes, "Undue emphasis on the individual believer in the mission field creates an inevitable divorce between missiology and ecclesiology" (15). Churches are not to cede missions to para-church ministries. "A New Testament applicaton of the Great Commissiom might...look something like this:

The Gospel + The Commissioned Individual + The Local Church = World Evangelization" (15).

This leads into Harvey's conviction about "apostolic ministry" for today. Unlike the expected health and wealth gospel or emotionally-driven nature of a ministry one might expect when seeing the world "apostle" attached to contemporary ministry, Harvey sees a model of shepherding church planters set by Paul.

But I'm convinced that Harvey squeezes Paul into a mold more defined than Luke, the author of Acts, ever intended to present. Paul planted churches far more than he shepherded church planters. Speaking for Sovereign Grace Ministries, Harvey explains the role of a modern day apostle: "Commissioned by the ascended Christ and armed with the gospel, present-day apostles plant and build local churches for the glory of God" (20). But how are these “apostles” any more commissioned than a non-apostle church planter of today or a pastor called to preach the Word? Trying to bridge Christ’s commission of His apostles into Christ commissioning apostles today seems like hermeneutical hopscotch.

Harvey’s description of a modern day apostle’s role is confusing. In the Sovereign Grace Ministries definition of his role, Harvey defines an apostle as one who plants and builds churches (20). But then he later describes this apostle as one who shepherds church planters. This becomes very unclear, especially when one consider that Acts does not record Paul shepherding church planters, but rather planting churches himself and then shepherding the pastors of those churches. Does an apostle lead others who plant churches (20) or does he actually plant churches himself? And if he does shepherd church planters, how does Harvey pull this role from Paul’s example? Perhaps it would be better to simply state the need for an apostle-like role than to try to use Paul as the model to justify it. T

This apostle ministry, writes Harvey, must be mobile, purposeful, and relational. The focus on relationship is no doubt a key element to effective church planting. Hundreds of church plants have failed due to a lack of strong relationship with mentors and helpers to bring support and aid in challenging moments. Harvey's church-planting model also places heavy emphasis on team ministry—a team that leads, that is plural, and that is unified. "It has been our experience that effective church planting happens when a man called to plant a church is surrounded by a team committed to undergird him in that work" (24).

The Model

In the final third of this booklet, Harvey explains The Model for church planting. The model includes assessment of the potential church planter (his training, calling, and character), specialized training, launching of support (financial and team formation, practical tools, and strategic help), and apostolic care (apostle leaders caring for the pastor of the church planted). He also briefly overviews Sovereign Grace Ministries' approach to adopting existing churches as well as their "Associate Program" which establishes relationships with churches who can not currently consider membership within Sovereign Grace Ministries (35).

Conclusion

Harvey sums it up nicely, "Put it all together, and you have a snapshot of God's work within Sovereign Grace as we have sought to fulfill the Great Commission faithfully and biblically through a specific model of missions" (39).

Harvey's humility, wisdom, and commitment to reaching people for Christ through the biblical model set forth makes this booklet a real treasure. I was challenged and convicted. Praise God for the ministry of Sovereign Grace to see churches planted! Although I think his efforts to use Paul as a model for an "apostle" ministry are a bit over the edge, I praise God for this man and would consider it a privilege to learn from his wisdom and godliness.

Having read this booklet, it is indisputable that Sovereign Grace Ministries' "desire is to employ a missiology as noble and biblical as the gospel [they] proclaim (40).

Dave Harvey. Missiology: Entering the Field of the Lord. Gaithersburg: Sovereign Grace Ministries, 2006. 46 pp.