T4T: A Discipleship Re-Revolution

Abstract

T4T:  A DISCIPLESHIP REREVOLUTION, BY STEVE SMITH & YING KAI, reviewed by George G. Robinson.There have been several key methodological shifts in missions over the last few decades, each in some way aimed at the church fulfilling her role in the completion of the Great Commission.  In the 1960s Donald McGavran was a catalyst in initiating the Church Growth Movement, which sought to see the gospel extended among receptive peoples through the application of sociological research.  In 1974 Dr. Ralph Winter gave a watershed address at the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization effectively helping missionaries to gain much-needed insight on engaging the remaining unreached people groups of the world. Then in the late 1990’s missiologist Dr. David Garrison released a pamphlet documenting a phenomenon known as church planting movements (CPM), from which he derived certain “universal elements” that are present in places where there is a rapid multiplication of churches planting churches.  Each of these paradigm shifts in missions has served to shape the missiological landscape as we enter the 21st century. Since the time of Garrison’s initial publication at least one such CPM has emerged in East Asia, which claims millions of new believers and tens of thousands of new churches.