Church Planting and Church Growth in Western Europe: An Analysis
Church planting is often seen as the best way to grow the church numerically. However, there is surprisingly little research examining this claim in any detail, and the research that exists turns out to be not very well-founded or unclear in terms of sources, definitions, and so forth. Recently, res...
| Main Author: | |
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| Contributors: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sage Publishing
[2016]
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| In: |
International bulletin of mission research
Year: 2016, Volume: 40, Issue: 3, Pages: 243-252 |
| Further subjects: | B
returnees
B Netherlands B church planting B Converts B Church Growth B Research |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | Church planting is often seen as the best way to grow the church numerically. However, there is surprisingly little research examining this claim in any detail, and the research that exists turns out to be not very well-founded or unclear in terms of sources, definitions, and so forth. Recently, research has been conducted in three small Reformed denominations in the Netherlands, comparing older and younger churches with regard to converts and returnees. The results show that the younger churches gained approximately four times as many converts and five times as many returnees as did older churches. Three explanations seem the most plausible: younger churches are more often in good demographic locations, they spend more time and energy on outreach, and their leadership is more entrepreneurial. |
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| ISSN: | 2396-9407 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: International bulletin of mission research
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/2396939316656323 |