Preface
This book began as an assignment to profile the growing number of Church Planting Movements that are appearing in our work around the world. As the International Mission Board’s associate vice president for strategy coordination, I was given responsibility to describe the qualities and characteristics of this phenomenon.
To accomplish this, I sought input from a wide range of missionaries, members of regional leadership teams, missiologists, researchers and mission administrators. My primary sources were missionaries who have been personally involved in Church Planting Movements. These individuals have been an invaluable resource in the development of this book
I’m grateful for the visionary leadership of the International Mission Board’s Senior Executive Team—Jerry Rankin, Avery Willis and Don Kammerdiener—and to my colleagues on the Overseas Leadership Team: Sam James, Bill Bullington and John White. Their encouragement and counsel along the way have been indispensible.
Special thanks go to missionary practitioners and Church Planting Movement pioneers: Bill and Susan Smith, Curtis and Debie Sergeant, Bruce and Gloria Carlton, David and Jan Watson, Kurt and Wendy Urbanek, Jim and Mary Slack, Scott and Janie Holste, Rodney and Debbie Hammer, Don and Anne Dent, George and Sheryl Gera, and Dale and Jane Ellen Wood. The book also benefited from the reading and counsel of numerous other individuals including Sonia Garrison, Beth Wolfe, Cathy Kissee, Erich Bridges, Vivian White, Dan Allen and Jim Haney.
Despite the generosity of these contributors and editors, the errors remain my. My hope is that this book will serve as a reliable profile of what we mean when we say it is our vision to “begin and nurture Church Planting Movements among all peoples.”