Introduction

The purpose of this work is not to offer a correction for the course church has taken over the past several decades. Neither is it an indictment against any particular church planting strategy. Rather, I will supply anecdotal evidence that God is large enough to allow for more than one strategy for planting churches and reaching those who have not yet met him. This evidence is born out of a twenty-year (so far) project where a small community answered God’s call to reach those people who might not find their way to traditional modes of church and worship. To this end, I will tell stories about our experiences in hopes that future church planters might consider church planting strategies that have been, relative to the mainstream movements, left largely untried. Moreover, I believe our American culture is shifting like sand beneath our feet. I believe that our methods of making disciples, worship, and evangelism may need to make room to adopt new methods and strategies. What follows are some various strategies for communities to consider as they might advance in this changing social or cultural landscape.