The Craft of Church Planting by Christian Selvaratnam

'Those who are thinking of planting from a large and vibrant congregation with a number of potential participants will find this book useful; less so a small and elderly congregation in a very secular context'

The Craft of Church Planting;  exploring the lost wisdom of Apprenticeship
By Christian Selvaratnam
ISBN 978-0-334-06181-6
SCM Press
Reviewed by Helen Wordsworth

 
 
It was early in the 1990s that research emerged from Derek Allan, then head of Mission at the Baptist Union, revealing that the failure of many church plants was due to a lack of training amongst both ministers and potential church planters for the leadership of their new project. This book is one of many that have since followed with the aim of rectifying this problem.

The writer focuses on the results of his research into the historic art of craftsman-like apprenticeship as a model for teaching people how to plant churches. His inspiration derives, somewhat surprisingly from the City Guilds of the Middle Ages, where different levels of apprenticeship were utilised. He adopts a detailed theoretical approach to the subject, resulting in a deeply academic read. There are extensive lists of references, although it is difficult to find any serious acknowledgement or critique of previous literature on training for church planters. At the end of each chapter there are challenging but complicated questions for reflection.

The book is commended by New Wine and has a foreword by Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York. Those who are thinking of planting from a large and vibrant congregation with a number of potential participants will find this book useful, if a little hard to read. 

However, if the reader is hoping to learn how to apply this approach with a small and elderly congregation in a very secular context, they will be somewhat disappointed. More work is needed on this topic for leaders who are working in a difficult missional environment with few if any potential co-workers.
 

The Revd Dr Helen Wordsworth was a Regional Minister in both the Heart of England and Central Baptist Associations, and founder of Parish Nursing Ministries UK. She now helps with a church plant in France, and advises on Parish Nursing internationally