Planting Missional Churches by Ed Stetzer - Church Book Review and Critique

Planting Missional Churches is a very well-researched church planting guide for people who want to plant missional churches. Ed Stetzer is an amazing researcher and scholar, but also a pastor and a deeply spiritual man.

He began his church planting career right out of college when God called him to plant a church in the middle of urban Buffalo, NY, not a place most church planters today would see as a great place to start. Buffalo at the time was losing 3% of it's population every year. So then why did he go? Because God called him. I respect him for his diligence in research, his passion for church planting, and his communication abilities. But I read his stuff and listen to him because he went where he was called, even though it wasn't smart in a worldly sense.

Planting Missional Churches is a great book to have among your church planting resources. It's full of useful information and research for church planters. But again, it also does not neglect the spiritual aspects of church planting that can often make or break a church. He reminds us that if we're not called and it's not a work of God, it will fail...go figure. Stetzer melds the academic and spiritual in much wisdom.

For example, Stetzer talks about the importance of prayer in a church planter's life. Then goes on to cite a research paper that one of his mentees is working on about the place prayer takes in a church planter's life. (By the way, he found that prayer became a bigger part of a church planter's life once he started the church plant, which was a good sign). Then he goes on to tell us where we can find that paper.

In terms of church planting resources out there, this book also includes many websites that will have all the up-to-date information regarding the topics he discusses. Because he provides the most current information on his websites, you can read this book as a context of all the latest information and data that Stetzer collects and documents on his various websites.

This book was also refreshing to me in that there are many different kinds of church plants and church planters. Most of the church planting resources out there are written by wildly successful church planters like Rick Warren or Andy Stanley, guys who are able to build successful mega-churches, not because of their methods, but mostly because of their gifting. This book helped me realize that a successful church plant might not become a mega-church and that a successful church planter may never see more than a couple of people in his church, as long as he is fulfilling his mission from God. Planting Missional Churches described the variety of churches that are currently out there that don't necessarily look like the Saddlebacks or Northpoints, but are actually more in number and are successful at missionally reaching out to the people God has called them to.

Again, Ed Stetzer has based this thoughts and ideas on research, not his own opinions. His opinions do come out, but in surveying the different church planting resources out there, most of them seem to focus on just one model or way of church planting, usually the one employed successfully by the writer. Stetzer looks at as much of the data he can find and basis this book on that foundation rather than his own experience. You can almost look at this book as the aggregate experiences from thousands of voiceless, but successful church planters all across North America.

By the end of this book, you'll get really excited or decide church planting is not for you. If you are already church planting, this will either invigorate you, help you make critical changes to your approach, or help you flat out decide to get out of it altogether.

It's very obvious that Ed Stetzer has a huge heart for the Gospel and for the Kingdom and it comes out in this book.  A book full of research and data has the potential to become dry, boring and lifeless.  Stetzer was able to convey his heart for God through the useful tools of research to convert his heart into practical steps. 

Ed Stetzer is a unique man of God for this generation, mixing a world class ability to communicate, preach and teach with acute observation skills.  He knows how to both talk and listen at a very high level.  The things he imparts will help many church planters to come, both in North America and in the rest of the world.  He's leaving one of those legacies that are crucial and unique and I'm glad he followed the call of God.