Hey. If you are starting churches in Europe then we need your input. There is still time to get your information into a survey hosted by some friends of mine.
Go here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/eurochurch
IT’S ONLY 5 MINUTES OF YOUR TIME. COME ON!!!
I noticed that most of the groups represented are European or American mission groups but very few are from outside Europe, despite starting lots of new churches inside Europe. And 90% of respondents have been MALE which makes sense because the “church planting” thang is quite a male way to look at the European mission project and less integrative than . . say . . ‘missional social enterprise’ in which many of my female colleagues prefer to invest their energy.
Also, one of the categories is “emergent” church planter or networker and although it is not clear what that word means, I chose it to represent the simple, non-institutional churches or monastic centers [including holistic missional enterprises] we are helping to start in European cities. You might choose it to, even if you dont like the term.
One of the observations arising from this survey is this: Its really hard for church planters to accurately measure their impact, both personally and for their church/ministry and for their community. Especially their wider community. One of the problems of a sharp focus on church planting is that it can be unhelpfully self-referential in its critical approach and accounting of a holistic impact beyond its four walls. Counting bums on seats and numbers of new communities tends to rule as the main measurement criteria. A few other tools are helpful but there is a need for something more comprehensive.
But some of us want to change that. One of the projects we are sponsoring is a tool to measure holistic impact. Its called the Transformational Index. Later this month a team of people will gather in UK to add some final touches. I will not be there but will let you know what happens. You can read more about it from Brad Sargent.
But if you want to know the real brains and heart behind this project, then you need to meet the girl who started the emerging church network.
