... Definitions ...
CPM: Church Planting Movement
“a rapid and multiplicative increase of indigenous churches planting churches within a given people group or population segment.”
10 Universal Elements of a Church Planting Movement
- Prayer
- Abundant gospel sowing
- Intentional church planting
- Scriptural authority
- Local leadership
- Lay Leadership
- Cell or house churches
- Churches planting churches
- Rapid reproduction
- Healthy churches
10 Common Factors of a Church Planting Movement
- Worship in the heart language
- Evangelism with communal implications
- Rapid incorporation of new believers into church families
- Passion and fearlessness
- A price to pay in becoming a Christian
- Perceived leadership crisis or spiritual vacuum in society
- On-the-job training of church leadership
- Leadership authority in the churches is decentralized
- Outsiders keep a low profile
- Missionaries suffer
Status of CPMs happening in Central Asia
International Mission Board missionaries and strategists have identified more than 20 church-planting movements among people groups in Southeast Asia, India, China, North Africa, Latin America and Europe. Potential or “almost” church-planting movements rapidly approach full bloom among many other peoples.
Currently, no CPMs (as defined above) are occurring in Central Asia; however, signs are promising among the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz.