Church of God Announces Global Planting Thrust
The Church of God has announced the launch of an initiative that will give the denomination’s church planting enterprise a new global thrust. Global Fire Advance, an international movement dedicated to recruiting, training, and deploying men and women to establish new congregations, will take the lessons learned during the past three years in the Firewall Africa Project and propel them onto the global stage.
A cooperative effort involving Church of God World Missions and its continental field directors, missionaries, and volunteers—coordinated by Men and Women of Action—Global Fire Advance aims to use in Europe, Latin America, and Asia the methodology that has been employed in Africa to start new congregations. The Africa program succeeded in opening an astounding 5,300 worshiping groups in 30 countries in just 30 months.
The announcement was made jointly by Dr. David Griffis, director of World Missions, and Hugh Carver, director of Men and Women of Action (MWOA). MWOA is an organization of Church of God men and women who work primarily in construction and disaster relief, along with a strong discipleship component.
Ronnie Hepperly, the superintendent of Southeast Asia, will occupy a dual role as director of the new enterprise. Hepperly has an impressive track record as a planter of new churches. Working with networks in Latin America, India, and in the Firewall Africa Project, he has directed the establishment of several hundred churches. He is especially gifted in recruiting team members and inspiring them to initiate the new congregations.
The approach that will be introduced by Global Fire calls principally upon indigenous lay men and women to open new groups in communities and villages within walking distance of the people who attend. Each congregation is connected to nearby congregations through a web-like structure, reminiscent of the district approach that characterized early Church of God organization.
A unique feature of Global Fire Advance is the training mechanism that prepares the lay ministers who will begin the new groups. It will vary to some extent, based on the group that is being trained and the area where the training takes place. Generally, however, the prospective initiating pastors will take two days of specialized training on site where the churches will be established. Those who receive the training then utilize it in conducting the initial church services. Further—in a change from traditional church planting efforts—the groups will not be encouraged to construct buildings, and some will continue indefinitely to meet in informal venues—suited to their village or community context—rather than build.
The new movement acknowledges the incredible openness to growth of the Christian population in geographic locations where, before now, Christians have been in the minority. A century ago, 80 percent of Christians lived in Europe and North America, compared to just 40 percent today. In 2016, the Christian community in Latin America and Africa, alone, account for 1 billion people, nearly half the global total of Christians.
Global Fire Advance is a volunteer organization guided by a seven-member Board of Directors, consisting of Hepperly, chairman; Carver, director of MWOA; Teddie Bennett, executive assistant, MWOA; Peter Thomas, field director of Africa; Raymond Lombard, director of Wheels for God’s Word, Cape Town, South Africa; Roberto Taton, chaplaincy coordinator, Latin America; and Bill George, consultant. The movement is approved by World Missions, organized as an initiative of Men and Women of Action, and serves as an important component of the church’s FINISH initiative.
