The Facilitator Era: Beyond Pioneer Church Multiplication

by Tom Steffen, Sherwood G. Lingenfelter (Foreword)

Some time ago, Ralph Winter brilliantly identified three eras of modern Era 1: William Carey focused on the coastlands; Era 2: Hudson Taylor focused on the inlands; Era 3: Donald McGavran and Cameron Townsend focused on unreached peoples. With all the fast and furious changes swirling around us today in twenty-first century missions, have we entered a Fourth Era? If so, who are the people primarily involved? How are they selected? How are they trained? How long do they serve? Has the Third Era ministry focus—reaching the unreached—changed? If so, to what? Are there any successful case studies out there? Have McGavran and Townsend passed the baton to a new leader(s)? If so, to whom? This book seeks to answer these and related questions.

Contributors

Dr. Ben Beckner 

Dr. Monroe Brewer

Dr. Don Finley

Mike Griffis

Dr. Gary Hipp, MD

Jerry Hogshead

Kaikou Maisu 

Judy Manna
 
Kenn Oke 

Dr. A. Sue Russell

Dr. Robert Strauss 

Peter Swann 

Bryan Thomas

Diane Thomas 

Dr. Mike Wilson

Dr. Sherwood G. Lingenfelter

“The Facilitator Era marks a quantum leap forward in strategic thinking and practice of mission. With an eye to planting and multiplying churches among every people, Steffen combines a readable narrative with case studies from around the globe. He examines the promise and pitfalls of current developments pointing the way forward with uncommon wisdom. If you don't want to be left behind as the church moves into the next era of global mission, read The Facilitator Era.”
—Craig Ott
Associate Professor of Mission and Intercultural Studies
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

“Once again Dr. Tom Steffen has provided a 'leading edge' study of missions strategies and practices. I remember my conversation with Tom a few years ago about this very subject. How has the role of the missionary changed from one who 'passes the baton' to one whom never really picks it up? The Facilitator Era answers the question. Steffen's teaching fable connects powerfully with today's learner. I like his chalkboard illustrations. Students will love this book. Missions thinkers and practitioners will celebrate the scope and depth of Steffen's sources. The global tour of recent, relevant case studies is unprecedented. This is truly a groundbreaking work in missions theory and praxis. The students in my 'Facilitating Church Planting Movements' class will be the beneficiaries! So, after reading The Facilitator Era, why would I still teach pioneer church planting movements? Read the book!
—Mike Barnett
Associate Dean, College of Intercultural Studies
Columbia International University

Tom Steffen and his family served with New Tribes Mission for twenty years, fifteen of which were in the Philippines, planting churches among the Ifugao and consulting for the agency. He is Professor of Intercultural Studies and directs the Doctor of Missiology program in the Cook School of Intercultural Studies at Biola University in La Mirada, California. He is the author of Encountering Missionary Life and Work (with Lois McKinney Douglas), Great Commission The Emerging Role of Business in Missions (with Steve Rundle), Passing the Church Planting That Empowers, and Reconnecting God's Story to Crosscultural Storytelling at Home and Abroad.

420 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Tori Tj · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was super insightful as to the current state and strategy of Evangelical missions. It gives a synopsis of the past "waves" or eras of global missions and an in-depth view of what the facilitation era is, why it's good, why the other eras are no longer useful, and how to take advantage of this wonderful strategy. I loved the case studies in the end that give a wide variety of examples of how facilitation works in the real world. This book is definitely a missiology textbook, not a leisire read. But it expanded my thinking and is a must for anyone wanting to do missions effectively in our modern world.

[Bob Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Identifies current mission efforts as being in the 4th Era, characterized (he says led) by Rick Warren and Saddleback's PEACE plan. A bit of an unusual way to present the material using fictional characters — a couple, Bill and Bev, who have recently returned from a 2-year stint in the Philippines and who are trying to determine where they should commit long-term and what kinds of ministry they should pursue and a missions professor, Professor Nobley. Bill and Bev meet with the professor over a period of about 3 months to talk about various missions topics and focusing primarily on the 4th Era role of facilitator in contrast to pioneer church planter. Because of the format, there was some extraneous material as they develop and maintain their relationship with the professor. I also didn't particularly empathize with the character of Bev as she interrupted quite often. Fiction is difficult to write well. The second part of the book was a set of 16 case studies. The first set of studies weren't particularly well written but they got better. The most difficult part of the case studies was that there were so many, one after the other. The third part of the book was the best, most informative and helpful part as Bill, Bev, and the professor summarized and synthesized what they had talked about and read in the previous weeks. The 13 take-aways from the case study (I identified an additional one that they talked about as a point under one of the 13) were good — Steffen calls them "best practices" but I think they are more appropriately called "characteristics" of facilitative missionaries. I also appreciated the discussion of the continued need for pioneer church planters as well as facilitative missionaries and, in fact, a good pioneer church planter will also facilitate local involvement. There was some confusion in terminology — for example, in parts of the book he talked about "locals" being empowered but in other parts he used the term "nationals". In that particular case, "locals" was a good term as it was less ethnocentric in the context of this book. If one can get past the format (and some will probably **REALLY** like it), then this is a good survey of the directions of effective missions in the 21st century. Steffen doesn't pull punches as he talks about struggles and incomplete successes as well as unmitigated successes.

[Glesnertod · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book paints with a broad brush, which I appreciate. I do much better with the big picture. In the end, I didn't find the book exceptionally helpful, but that's because it caters to people who have served as pioneer church planters for many years and perhaps in many contexts. I am no facilitator as I do not have the background to be. This is a good resource for the many pivotal/integral books on the various missions movements and streams of strategy.