by Steve Cordle
There are many excellent church planter assessment programs being offered today. However, before sending a candidate to an assessment program, I look for one trait: have they started and multiplied a group?
Not everyone who multiplies a cell should plant a church, but everyone who wants to plant a church should first multiply a cell. This can save a lot of heartache and money. If someone cannot gather people in a group and equip a new leader, they will not be effective as a cell-church planter, no matter how much they desire to do so.
If the cell is the basic building block of the church, then those who seek to start a church need to be able to create that basic unit.
Ideally, the planter should be able to start a cell not only from within an existing church, but also be able to add unchurched people to the group. When that is happening, you have a candidate to send to the church planter assessment program!
Comments?
Steve