Pioneering Movements: Leadership That Multiplies Disciples and Churches

by Steve Addison

If mission agencies were churches, they could conclude, “Our people don’t need to participate in or plant local churches. We are already a self-contained church.” Paul’s team existed only to form new churches in unreached areas. His team was not an end in itself. It was not a self-contained entity that existed apart from planting and strengthening local churches. Paul never called his team a church because the missionary band was not the goal of their mission. The goal of his apostolic ministry was a new church in an unreached field. The team existed as both a missionary band and a local church in formation. When new disciples were made, they were gathered into the church. But only a few ever joined Paul’s mobile missionary band. Paul’s apostolic band was an expression of the body of Christ in mission, not an end in itself. It was the seed for a new church or churches in a region. The danger of calling mission structures churches is that they may lose sight of their unique mandates. They do not exist to be a church; they exist to form new local churches in which team members participate. Apostolic ministry does not elevate individuals out of the local body of Christ. Once local churches are established, pioneers begin looking for new, unreached fields. The churches continue the spread of the gospel in depth. This includes planting new churches in their regions. The churches also send out workers to take the gospel beyond their local areas. The Great Commission is the respo...