Defining Steps of a Dynamic Saturation Church Planting Strategy for the Discipling of a Whole Nation

It will be an effective SCP strategy if:

• There is a national leader and a national committee with a firm resolve to work at mobilizing the whole Body of Christ in a whole nation in a long-term repeating strategy that leads most directly at the discipling of the nation including all the people groups within it. Such a leader, along with the national committee, is sometimes referred to as a John Knoxer, a man or small group who embody the prayer "Give me my country or I die."
• It is built on the premise that the most direct way to work at the discipling of a whole nation is to fill it with evangelical congregations so that there is one within easy access both practically and culturally of every person of every class, kind and condition of mankind in that nation. This includes all "reached" and "unreached" people groups.
• There has been adequate research that determines:
  • the number of evangelical denominations in a country,
  • their respective number of local churches and members and/or average attendance,
  • the average annual growth rates (AAGR's) of each denomination,
  • the methodologies being used by various groups that are producing the best growth,
  • the ratio of churches to population for the whole nation and for every sub-group of the nation and
  • such contextual factors as the history, economy, religion, culture, politics, natural disasters and other societal forces that tend to indicate the relative responsiveness of the population and the methodologies and themes that might best see a response to the gospel.
• A national congress is held where the primary leaders of all denominations and other parachurch organizations gather to consider the discipling of their whole nation and analyze the data that has been collected.
• The delegation gathered at the national congress collectively commits itself to a specific number of churches to be planted by a specific date. This goal can either be suggested by the national committee based on the research done or can be the addition of all the denominational, mission and other parachurch goals that are set.
• Each evangelical denomination and group sets it own goals for number of churches to be planted by a certain date and develops and implements plans to reach that goal. It is expected that all parachurch organizations that do not plant churches themselves will so orient their ministries that they truly work "alongside" churches and denominations in their church-multiplication projects.
• There is a national committee formed to keep the movement alive
  • through continuing data gathering by means of a permanent national research function
  • through a publication that reports on the exciting growth and challenging aspects of each denominational program,
  • through seminars and consultations with denominational leaders and pastors in various regions and
  • through planning for the next national congress where evaluation is made of progress to date and new plans and goals set for the future.
• It is under girded by effective prayer movements on national, regional, denominational and local church levels.

Our experience in more than 70 national SCP projects convinces us that putting together these eight steps will result in a powerful national strategy, but leaving any step out will greatly weaken its overall impact.