Course Syllabus
DIS 744 Evangelism and Church Planting Movements, 3 credits
May 7-11, 2011
Worldview Center, 6012 SE Yamhill Street, Portland OR 97215 USA
Telephone +1 503.2353818
Course Description
DIS 744 – Evangelism and Church Planting Movements. The broad areas of pioneer
evangelism, planting and developing churches, and bringing those churches to
maturity are discussed in the intensive sessions. Knowledge of church growth
theories is expected as well as the ability to relate critical areas of communication,
anthropology and the other disciplines of missiology to the central challenge facing
the Church—giving every person the opportunity to acknowledge Christ as Savior
and Lord. 3 credits. [Western Seminary Catalog, 2011-2012, page 118]
Instructor
Galen Currah, D.Miss. galen@currah.us, home 503.253.0931, mobile 503.737.4301
Course learning objectives
1.
To know basic, universal, biblical principles of evangelism and church
multiplication.
2.
To understand a practical process for mobilizing evangelism and for
multiplying churches through reproducing leaders.
3.
To initiate reproducible, small-group, worship practices in a temporary,
training church.
4.
To analyze one's current evangelism and church-planting practices in view of
biblical guidelines.
5.
To synthesize a personal program for winning the lost and for multiplying
churches.
6.
To evaluate evangelism and church-planting practices within neglected
populations.
Expected course outcomes
1.
Elaborate a model for winning and making disciples in a specific population
by beginning churches and developing leaders. This will require
communication with your leaders and co-workers.
2.
Project a plan to communicate that model to your coworkers in the field. This
may entail holding workshops, writing a manual, creating a website, or
editing training materials and other tools.
3.
Describe methods and recommend literature that will prove suitable ro
beginning churches and developing leaders in your cultural setting.
DIS 744 Evangelism and Church Planting Movements, May, 2012
Course preparation
1.
Read for a minimum of 1500 pages related to the course objectives,
including the recommended readings (see below). If you have already read
the recommended works, then read from other such works. Try to complete
the reading prior to the course. Write a one-page reading report on each
work, summarizing its most salient points. Reading reports are due by the
first day of the course and may be sent early via electronic mail.
2.
Draft up a summary of the Original, Apostolic Good News, from your own
exegesis of these biblical texts or others like them, in their context:
(a) Luke 24:44-49; (b) Acts 2:22-25 & 32-38; (c) 3:13-15, 18-19, 26;
(d) 5:29-32; (e) 10:38-43; (f) 13:28-33, 37-38; (g) 17:1-3; (h) 17:29-31;
(i) 26:18-23; (j) Romans 1:1-7; 1 Corinthians 15:1-8.
Course involvement
1.
The course participants will form one or more temporary little cell group or
churches that will practice some of the commandments of Jesus as the early
churches did. This will include worship, prophecy, sharing, holy communion
and prayers, done in a simple way that others could imitate easily.
2.
Course participants are encouraged to share their thoughts freely, to raise
questions, to challenge ideas, to share about experiences, to make
recommendations, to generate new ideas, and to kibitz wildly.
3.
Last day the course, each participant will make a presentation of their
current evangelism, church-planting and leader-training practices, with an
analysis of hindrances to the same, making recommendations for the near
future. The other course participants will discuss your ideas and raise
questions, drawing on principles and practices gleaned from their experience,
from their reading and from this course.
Course requirement
By the end of the summer term, you will submit a paper to the instructors which
(a) describes a model for evangelism and reproductive church planting in your field
or ministry, (b) recommending methods suitable to the culture group(s) you work
with. This paper must follow Western Seminary and DIS academic form and
standards, including an introduction, several main sections, a conclusion and
bibliography of works cited and consulted. You may download guidelines and
templates from http://currah.info/pages/format
Course topics
Course discussion will include, but may not be limited to, the following topics:
 The original, apostolic Good News, the power of God for salvation
 Apostolic, historical and contemporary practices that foster CPMs
 Soul-winning and church planting as an integral subsystem of ministry
 Cultural variables within evangelism and church planting efforts
 Definitions of church planting movements (CPM)
 Envisioning, praying, planning, implementing, monitoring & evaluating CPMs
 Mentored, generational training of evangelists, leaders and church planters
 Monitoring and research methods for church planting movements
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DIS 744 Evangelism and Church Planting Movements, May, 2012
Recommended reading
If you have read any of these works, then read some other work on evangelism and
church planting for multiplication. Some of these titles may be read on-line at
http://www.google.com/books. Other materials will be posted for download at
http://currah.info/pages/dis744
1999 Neumann, Mikel
Home Groups for Urban Cultures; Pasadena: William Carey.
ISBN 0-87808-281-6.
2001Patterson, George and Galen Currah
Disciple the Nations, an interactive e-textbook written in the form of a novel
(software); download free from http://www.paul-timothy.net/dn/
2002 Patterson, George and Richard Scoggins
Church Multiplication Guide (revised edition); Pasadena: William Carey;
ISBN 9780878084470
2004 Garrison, David
Church Planting Movements: How God is Redeeming a Lost World, Midlothian VA:
WIGTake Resources (see: www.churchplantingmovements.com);
ISBN 0-9747562-0-2
2006 Schwarz, Christian A.
Natural Church Development; A Guide to Eight Essential Qualities of Healthy
Churches (revised), Carol Stream IL: ChurchSmart Resources.
ISBN 1-889638-00-5
2007 O’Connor, Patrick
Reproducible Pastoral Training: Church Planting Guidelines from the Teachings of
George Patterson; Pasadena: William Carey; ISBN 9780878083671
2007 Zdero, Rad, ed.
Nexus: The world house church movement reader, Pasadena: William Carey;
ISBN 087808374X
2009 Dale, Tony and Felicity, and George Barna
The Rabbit and the Elephant: Why small is the new big for today’s church; Carol Stream
IL: Barna/Tyndale House; ISBN 9-7814-325538
2010 Cole, Neil
Church 3.0: Upgrades for the future of the church. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass; ISBN
978-0-470-58456-9
2011 Smith, Steve with Ying Kai.
T4T: A Discipleship Re-Revolution; Monument, Colorado: WIGTake; ISBN 97809747562-1-9.
Western Seminary Disability Statement
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outlined in both the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of
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responsibility of students with disabilities to identify themselves and the nature of the
disability. Any student who has a disability should contact the seminary’s Disability (Section
504) Coordinator, Ken Epp, at 503-517-1815 or 1-877-517-1800, ext. 1815.
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