There are a number of books on the shelves that deal with church planting, there are on the main very American biased and therefore although they offer some good pointers to those of us outside of the US of A they are not reliable guides to church planting in other contexts. Some of course like Ed Stetzler’s Planting Missional Churches (review here) are fantastic works and have helped many people gain an insight into what it takes to plant a church. However many of us have been crying out for a manual for church planting in the UK or anywhere else other than the USA.

Well David Stroud has produced this new work to fill that gap. “Planting Churches changing communities” is an easy to read “How to” guide for church planting in the UK o a basis for any setting.

It is straight forward and presented in a very readable way. It looks at all aspects of church planting, from the biblical basis for church planting, who should church plant, the call of church planting, how to prepare to church plant, how to gather the team, finances, how to gather new people, how to keep motivation and momentum high through to the legal aspects, what to do when it goes wrong and where to look for help.

It is the best book I have read on this subject, written by someone who has planted a number of churches in the UK and has a lot of experience. In addition there are numerous quotes from those who have planted churches in the NewFrontiers family of churches sharing their trials and successes. It has been great to read about how these people overcome certain obstacles or navigated tricky waters. Also knowing a number of them personally has helped as we know what they have had to do to achieve their God given dream.

This book is also excellent for any church leader to read as it will help you focus on what is really important in the church and show a clear way forward to reach more people with the Gospel.

Go buy it now!

A friend of mine who is gay and an ex-Christian, he is now a humanist, posted this video clip onto his blog (see here), it shows some of the issues behind people being Gay. It is pointed at the Christian community in general and explodes some of the myths that Christians have placed around the whole “Gay” thing.

Our job is to love them just the same as everyone else, we might not agree with their sexual habits but we must still love them as much as we love our family and friends.