Taking on the task of church planting is not meant for those with weak resolve.
It’s tough work. It requires commitment, calling, knowledge of your locale, lots of faith, a special spiritual gifting, and some serious trust that the Holy Spirit will supply you with you need.
And unless you have a teaching pastor planting with you, you’ll need to be skilled in preaching.
Church planting is certainly not something you want to just hop into willy nilly. You need lots of help: a “sending” church / organization, partners, and a whole lot of prayer.
And another thing that can be really helpful is reading about advice and gaining wisdom from others who’ve planted churches. So we’ve compiled a short list of some of our favorite books on church planting.
Our 4 Favorite Books on Church Planting
Center Church (Series of 3 Books)
Written By: Tim Keller
This series of books is second to none when it comes to church planting. Tim Keller breaks down first the importance of Gospel centeredness in church planting while outlining the importance of your theology dictating your methodology. Then looks at the nature of the church’s mission and its relationship to the work of individual Christians in the world. And lastly he dives into the need for thoughtful cultural engagement – especially when doing ministry in cities. These books are incredibly helpful for anyone considering church planting.
Planting Missional Churches: Your Guide to Starting Churches that Multiply
Written By: Ed Stetzer and Daniel Im
This might be the single best work on church planting: covering initiative, leadership, strategy, systems, multiplication, multisite, residencies, spiritual leadership, and more. It's super duper thorough.
If we only recommended one book on church planting, this would probably be it. Ed Stetzer (and Daniel Im in this second edition) is a well of knowledge and wisdom when it comes to planting churches.
Church Planter: The Man, the Message, the Mission
Written By: Darrin Patrick
Darrin Patrick is the Vice President of Acts 29, a faithful and impressive church planting network, so he knows a thing or two about planting churches. The main idea of the book is that one of the most important components of a plant is the leader.
This book lays out very helpful biblical principles and sound wisdom for anyone considering planting a church or currently in the process of planting one.
Church Planting Is for Wimps
Written By: Mike McKinley
This book tells the story of the revitalization of a church in Virginia, led by Mike McKinley. He share his own fears heading into leading a church, his rookie mistakes, and encouraging stories of how God moved at his church.
If you're not looking for a guidebook on how to plant a church, but benefit from stories about others' experiences, this book on church planting is for you!
Other Helpful Books on Church, Discipleship, and the Bible
We’re passionate about helpful resources. We live in an age where we have more access to sound Biblical resources than any generation ever before. That said, we also have access to a lot of not-so-sound Biblical resources. So we’re always trying to share books and commentaries that we believe are accurate and edifying.
Here are some other roundups of books and resources we’d recommend:
