1st Edition
Caring Deeply About Church Planting Twelve Keys from the Life of Jesus
Never has the need for church planting been more acute or more necessary. The world around us is beset with problems of every kind—political, social, economic, racial, and moral. The list is endless, and the difficulties are systemic and entrenched. The best minds, institutions, and efforts are being marshaled to address these problems, but are we getting to the root issues? Could it be that the solutions lie elsewhere?
Indeed, the greatest reformer to ever live told us the hope we need comes from the church. Yes, the church, as anemic and as irrelevant as it may seem to some (or many). Jesus said of the community He would birth, "You are the light of the world and the salt of the earth" (Matt. 5:13-14). The church, in all its forms, from small to big, whether found in the countryside or in megacities is God’s redeeming force for society, for culture, and for the nations. The church is God’s secret weapon and His change agent for the world. He’s all in on the church.
As such the church is God’s organizational servant on the earth. It’s to be an enterprise of the highest quality. It’s to sparkle with kingdom power, love, and truth. As Ephesians 3:10 states, "[God’s] intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms." For such a task, outstanding leaders are needed. Great leaders are not just for the arenas of business, politics, or the military. The church must also focus on recruiting, training, and deploying the best. As the leader goes, so goes the organization.
This book assists in the great endeavor of planting churches. It gives church planters a biblical and conceptual framework so they can be armed with a map for how to go about establishing new works. This framework is rooted in the humble yet glorious, small yet significant, quiet yet powerful ways of Jesus.
1. Church Planting Is an Organizational Initiative
2. Church Planting Is a Breakthrough Initiative
3. Church Planting Is a Prophetic Initiative
PHASE 1 - CONCEPTION (Leader)
4. Caring Deeply: The Call of God
5. Clarity: Caring Deeply Must Have a Compelling, Tangible Goal
6. Capability: Planting Must Be Connected to Skill, Especially Preaching
7. Consecration: The Key to Your Plant
PHASE 2 - CONSTRUCTION (New Plant)
8. Core Team: Finding Those Who Will Plant with Me
9. Culture: How Will This Plant Work, Look, and Feel?
10. Creativity: Planting with Genius
11. Coordination: Infrastructure for This Plant
PHASE 3 - DISRUPTION (Global Impact)
12. Commitment: Having Follow-Through as You Plant
13. Coin: Faith for Finances
14. Constancy: Protecting the Plant from Diversions
15. Continuation: Raising up the New Disruptors
CONCLUSION
16. Canvas: Jesus’ Model of Impact - Church Unleashed
17. Challenge: Paul, Apostle of Love
18. Coda: God’s Glory Rests on the Church
APPENDIX Five Stones Church: Our Start-Up Story and a Little Beyond Free Church Planting Boot Camp References
Biography
Rich Kao has been in pastoral and church planting ministry for nearly thirty years. He was Senior Pastor of City Hill Fellowship in Minneapolis, Minnesota, before founding Five Stones Church in Vancouver, British Columbia. Rich has been involved in a variety of start-ups, humanitarian and leadership ventures, and business concerns. He is a member of the Cabinet of Canadians, and has served the Harper administration and presently the Trudeau administration on issues of religious freedom and human rights. Rich also leads the Five Stones church planting team, with a focus on planting churches in global cities around the world. He is a frequent conference speaker in Asia. Prior to being in ministry Rich worked in the diagnostic and pharmaceutical industries, holding research positions at Kallestad Labs (Hoffman-La Roche) and 3M Co. He is currently a director with Measurement Technology Laboratories in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a high-tech company specializing in air quality measurement. He is also Founder and President of a new green company, Hive City, a design studio that specializes in green event architecture, retail elements, and custom branding by utilizing repurposed paperboard. He has a B.A. in Biology from Carleton College, an M.S. in Immunology from the University of Minnesota, and a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership (D.SL) from Regent University.
This is a massive work. Rich Kao has prepared an education in a box for future church planters. Having planted six church, I truly understand the dynamics behind every detail which Rich has written about. I also believe churches will take their staffs through this book to instil and inspire the apostolic passion contained in this book. This could be a game changer.
- Jerry Daley, Pastor and Church Planter, JerryDaley.com
It's been a great honor to plant churches and do apostolic work with Rich Kao in some of the most "impossible" places. In each location Rich brought wisdom and innovation to diverse people groups. This book will help both seasoned church planters and first timers. His twelve keys are brilliant, well proven and most likely what you need to unlock your city and region to bring forth "fruit that remains."
- Ron Lewis, Sr. Leader, Every Nation NYC; Church planter in 20 nations
I have known, respected, and served with Rich Kao for over 20 years. There is not a man I know who is more open to proactively growing in the areas of faith, flexibility, innovation, pioneering, and leadership. These traits, along with his wealth of experience, culminate in this challenging, insightful and impactful book. I would highly recommend this book not only to current church planters and church planters in training, but to anyone called to positions of leadership within Jesus' Church.
- Ben Goodman, Pastor of Leadership Development, Manna Church; Oversight Team, Truebridge Network
