God has called his church into being and given it His marching orders: to extend His Kingdom to the uttermost parts of the earth. In every generation the challenge is the same: to publish the good news that Jesus Christ has indeed come to extend His Kingdom by inviting whoever will follow him to become part of His global plan of conquest.

In order to complete the task, the church must understand its purpose and constantly evaluate its progress in fulfilling the commands of its savior. For us, this means developing a church which constantly reproduces. By reproducing disciples, leaders, churches, church planters, and church planting teams, we are answering the call of Christ here in Rhode Island, and, as God gives us grace, to regions beyond.

The house church has presented us with a structure simple and flexible enough to enable continued and unrestrained reproduction. Like a virus, under the right conditions it can replicate itself rapidly and adapt to new conditions. However, it can also turn inward, crystallize, and become an isolated small group of self-centered "naval gazers". Let us be the guerilla invasion force God has called us to be!

To avoid the common pitfalls of a small church, we must know where we are going and how to get there. Then we must ruthlessly evaluate our progress, not by some absolute, legalistic, human standard, but by prayerfully looking at the health of our church, the call of God to reach the lost around us and beyond, and the motives of our heart as we "plunder the strong man's house".

Each house church will be different, but experience reveals common goals and problems. The order in which problems arise, the speed at which the church comes to grips with them, and how they overcome them will vary from church to church. Materials
have been developed by the Fellowship of Church Planters to overcome problems, both of individuals and groups. More materials will be needed in the future and those already developed will constantly undergo revision according to the needs. These are available upon request.

The next chapters expand on the 3 stages we have found normative in birthing a house church. We assume the church planter is starting from scratch. Each stage has a goal, out of which arises a project and from which activities flow. You are encouraged to use these as a starting point and adapt them to your needs. Below is a summary of the three stages.

GOAL: Two church planters gather a group of 2 or 3 family units who realize that God's plan is to extend the gospel through the church.

PROJECT: The church planters find a man/woman of peace who can gather members of his/her social circle to become the nucleus of a house church.

ACTIVITIES: The church planters train the man/woman of peace to penetrate his/her social circle. Gathering meetings begin.