European Church Growth Association ECGA Manchester 2004 European Case Study: Harvest Dynamics in Ger

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European Church Growth Association (ECGA)
Manchester 2004European Case StudyHarvest
Dynamics in Germany

• DAWN European Network
• andreas wolf

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ECGA2004_KingdomStatus_Germany_aw
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concession of limitations of the report

• personally limitating evangelical perspective
• no up-to-date research available, only personal
  interviews with around 10 (again mainly
  evangelical) key persons in various areas of
  Christian life
• Thus the resulting presentation is to be
  understood as my subjective qualitative
  assessment of the present situation of the German
  church.
• Furthermore by the way of your invitation I feel
  encouraged to lay the emphasis on what is on my
  heart personally for the church in Germany

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the church in Germany in a nutshell
Presentation Outline
increased prayer movement, recognition of
prophets, prophecies of hope, call for the
apostolic
De- velop-ments
P4
quali-tative
new cultural expressions, new structures on
small-scale and on large-scale
Harvest Dynamics
New Models
P3
a low planting rate declining - stagnating -
transferring growing diaspora churches
P2
Church Planting
quanti-tative
a weak church around 2 believers established
marginality struggling for attractivity and
growth
Harvest Force
P1
P1
Existing Churches
socio-logical
Harvest Field
P0
P0
Situation of Society
a needy nation crises and struggles for
reforms, multicultural, post-Christian,
post-modern
focus of presentation
research needed
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P0 HARVEST FIELD situation of society

• crises, fears and struggles for reforms - a time
  of questions
• multicultural core player of EU - missions is at
  home
• post-Christian society - marginalization of
  church
• post-modern society - open doors for God

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Germany crises, fears and struggles for reforms

• economic recession and unemployment
• unemployment is THE buzzword in the country
• uniform political helplessness and
  disillusionment
• deconstruction of social welfare systems, need
  for social reforms
• decline of population
• living standard too high
• frustration Eastafter 14 years of unity
• West goes bancrupt because of the East and the
  East is not helped
• existing mental wall
• former GDR, the most atheistic region of Europe
• increasing immigration and multi-culturality
• 9 foreigners in Germany, Berlin hosts 192
  nations
• increasing anti-Semitism, decreasing tolerance,
  xenophobic attacks
• EU legislation and EU East-expansion
• bridge between west and east

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Germany post-Christian and post-modern

• post-Christianity makes Germany one of the
  worlds most desperate mission-fields
• old church structures are dying or under crisis
• Church - irrelevant to societal problems and
  questions of daily life.
• decreasing knowledge about Christianity
• anti-fundamentalism is on the forefront
• chances
• less pseudo-Christian immunisation of the
  population
• missionaries to and intercessors for Germany from
  the 2/3 world
• increasing awareness among evangelicals for the
  necessity of societal relevance
• a recognized need for a structural reformation
• open doors of post-modernity
• importance of values as stabilizing factor
• shares Christian values like personal
  development, authentic relationship, community
  experience, relational faithfulness
• interest in spirituality (God yes, Church no)
  and supernatural experience

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P1 HARVEST FORCE existing churches

• religions and religiosity
• evangelicals and denominations
• church growth and church development
• society impact and ecomenics
• challenges to churches

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background bipolar nominal Christianity

• Catholic around 32
• Catholic surveys 20 committment to church
• service attendance 14-18
• Protestant around 32
• Protestant surveys. 10 committment to church
• service attendance 2-5
• evangelical believers around 2
• religiosity of society
• 70 believe in a God or a higher power
• 45 believe in a personal God
• 50 value high the classical Christian doctrines
• 43 describe themselves as religious
• 38 believe in direct Creation
• special East German condition
• from 19 to 15 of German population
• in highest measure non-religious

WCDB2000
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Evangelicals - established marginality

• Alliance of Evangelical Free Churches (VEF) ca.
  400.000 attendants
• Baptists/ Brethren Bund Evangelisch-Freikirchlich
  er Gemeinden
• Methodists Evangelisch-methodistische Kirche
• Free Evangelicals Bund Freier evangelischer
  Gemeinden
• Pentecostals Bund Freikirchlicher
  Pfingstgemeinden
• Mennonites Arbeitsgemeinschaft Mennonitischer
  Gemeinden
• Adventists Gemeinschaft der Siebenten-Tags-Advent
  isten
• Others like Moravians, Salvation Armee etc.
• Younger Church Planting Movements ca. 150.000
  attendants
• FEGW (Foursquare)
• Vineyard
• New Churches (Faith Movement and Associated)
• Immigrant Churches ca. 750.000
• Mennonites and Baptists mainly Russian-Germans
  (ca. 300.000)
• African, Gipsy, Russian-Jewish, other (ca.
  450.000 attendants)

• evangelicals (att.) - largely excluding Catholics
• 550.000 alliance 0,5
• 750.000 diaspora (attendants) 1
• 500.000 protestant 0,5
• 30.000 charism. catholics 0,05

2,2
1,4 to 2,0
up to 2,8
more inclusive
more restrictive
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what happens on the church growth scene?

• church decline of most free-churches
• average size of evangelical congregations 40-90
• few mega churches, some of them multiply
• relativity of church census figures
• employed tools do not change the situation
• strong alpha-movement great tool used by various
  denominations
• willow-type seeker-oriented service events
• ncd quality emphasis

• biological growth
• transfer growth (migrants, immigrants,
  ex-members)
• converts (mostly alpha)
• daughter church

• -- transfer (movers, leavers)
• -- backsliders (own youth, converts)
• -- backdoorers (officially still counted)
• - frontdoorers

net result after 10 years /- 0
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trend reconciliation and ecomenics

• strong ecomenical movement among the various
  churches
• strong Alliances (ACK, VEF)
• Kasseler Declaration
• Ecomenical Church Congress
• motivations
• unity
• influence
• ways of implementation
• ecomenical events
• missionary alliances

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challenges to the churches - summary

• ageing congregations
• distance to society
• confirmation gap
• alpha gap
• postmodern expectations
• front-doorers
• rampant conflicts
• normality of burn-outs
• anxiety of change
• the country is at stake either we allow God to
  re-invent church in Germany powerfully or we will
  loose the harvest
• greatest danger acknowledge this situation and
  go on doing church as usual for lack of
  reflection or courage

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P2 HARVEST DYNAMICS church planting

• current dynamics LOW
• current result we are surviving

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current dynamics of church planting

• Catholic movement of re-evangelisation planting
  communities
• ICPE (The International Catholic Program of
  Evangelism)
• Protestant state churches continue to decline
• second Sunday service initiatives and alpha
• church planting in state church is not dead!
• slow rate of church planting among evangelicals
• average rate of planting denominations ca. 10
  churches per year
• church planting strategies
• resurgence of interest in church planting
• top priority of some evangelical free-churches
• coaching processes for denominational church
  planting strategies
• church planting training
• coaching and training on the job as additional
  qualification
• incubators, assessment centers, regional hubs
• church planting research
• incomplete or obsolete

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current result of church planting we are
surviving

• declining, stagnating or
• the small wins cannot outgain the losses
• transferring believers
• high mobility of believers between churches and
  denominations
• mergers and denominational fishing/ adoption
• percentage of transferred Christians in church
  plants 75
• result
• fruitless denominational parallelism
• widespread spiritual frustration
• need for a new reformation
• change is needed but avoided
• denial of current fruitlessness
• we are winning the fight, we will are inevitably
  loosing the battle

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P3 HARVEST DYNAMICS new models of church

• new cultural expressions of church post-modern
  or multi-cultural
• new small scale form networked house churches
• new large scale form city church
• second large scale form region reaching

P3 new forms
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new cultural expressions of church

• multi-cultural churches
• try to make use of the dynamic among the more
  receptive immigrant population groups to attract
  Germans nearly as a by-product
• integration of various cultures and languages
  into one church
• chance
• integration instead of clash of cultures
  delivering a model for cross-cultural unity in
  Christ
• reaching out to Germans without loosing sight to
  the ripe harvest fields
• post-modern churches
• facing the 14/25 window
• from youth churches to inter-generational
  emerging culture churches
• small experimential avant-garde community of
  practicioners
• international network events and connections
• chance
• churches NEED to find ways to relate to the
  post-modern generations!
• stressing the inter-generational aspects

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new small scale form networked house churches

• house church buzz-word of the year
• introduced by Simson in 2000 regionally
  networked un-denominational house churches as
  church model of the future
• two forms
• house-church according to the book
• house church values within existing structures
• 400 house churches estimated in Germany
• national and European support structure emerging
• chance
• basic ingredient for an organic and
  uncontrollable grassroots faith MOVEMENT
• danger
• frustrated Christians using house church as a
  club of the wounded in separatistic isolation

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new large scale forms city or region reaching

• city reaching impacting a city together
• Together for Berlin started 2002 as a
  catalysator for joint service
• initial phase of developing strategy and
  partnerships
• working groups for different societal areas,
  internet portal, news
• Prayer for Berlin initiative, Prayer Bridge
• region reaching impacting a whole region
  together
• regional think-tanks for joint strategies and
  missions
• emergence of relationally recognized regional
  eldership
• listen prophetically and act apostolically
• locally birthed prayer initiatives growing
  together
• pilot project Rhein Valley Covenant
• regional transformation process initiated in 2002
  as an open missionary alliance at the
  German-Swiss border
• covenanting with God, with each other, with the
  mandated territorium for
• intercession and healing of the local past
• forming networks of the five fold ministry
  including training structures
• initiating an apostolical house church movement
• meeting and ministering together as the church of
  the region on the basis of regional eldership

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P4 HARVEST DYNAMICS prophetic developments

• increased prayer movement
• desire for national transformation
• recognition of prophets
• prophetic messages of hope

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increased prayer movement

• there has never been a time of broader prayer
  with a political-societal focus in Germany
• Wächterruf movement 24/7 interdenominational
  city wide prayer
• 24/7 strong German participation
• Prayer altars and mountains
• Herrnhut house of prayer recently been opened
• prayer booklets and initiatives
• 40 Days of Fasting and Prayer for our Land
• 120 Days of Prayer for your City
• results
• growing ecomenical unity
• increasing awareness of societal needs
• hope for a new move of God
• needed
• yet the widespread hope for revival has no
  effect on evangelistic activity or church
  planting
• the momentum of prayer needs to be directed
  towards a church planting movement (prophetic
  PLUS apostolic going together)!

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spiritual developments and trends

• desire for national transformation
• intercessory healing the past type activities
• growing participation at proclamatory mass events
• reconciliation of generations turning the hearts
  to each other
• growing emphasis on fatherhood instead of
  leadership
• hunger for the supernatural normality
• rediscovering supernatural healing
• calls for exorcism as basic missionary activity
• widespread recognition of prophets among
  evangelicals
• prophecies of hope
• God is the origin of the present crises in
  society and in church
• HE will manifest His glory again - undeservedly
• Germany will serve the nations and Israel

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P4 HARVEST DYNAMICS outlook to future
developments

• calls to action
• where do we go from here?
• personal perspective
• prayer focus

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calls to action

• within the prophetic dimension
• call for unity and reconciliation
• call for the generations going together
  mentoring and releasing/ empowering fatherhood
  instead of leadership
• call for the supernatural in prophecy, healing
  and exorcism
• call for national transformation
• call for repentance for doing church as usual
• within the apostolic dimension
• call for societal relevance and ability for
  everyday witness
• call for regional strategies and model projects
  of transformation
• call for a structural reformation towards a lay
  MOVEMENT
• call for a resurgence of the apostolic ministry
  (not Peter Wagner appointed, but locally
  recognized)

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where do we go from here?

• here we are
• the situation is dramatic marginalization
  coupled with frustration
• yet, God is announcing hope for a new era
• prophetic prayer and apostolic church planting
  need to go together!
• reformation yes! - but on which way?
• Evolution
• building on the existing structures and expect
  God to use them in new approaches, quality and
  impact
• renewal movements
• church planting momentum
• ecomenical and prayer movements
• Revolution
• abandoning the existing denominationl system to
  start from scratch
• re-invent church as an infectious movement
• regional transformation processes
• apostolic ministry within God mandated
  territorities

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personal perspective

• spiritual stirring - something new is coming
• covenental movements for regional transformation
• inter-generational fatherhood, especially the
  release of my own fatherless generation X to
  serve the Yers
• time for building nests as regional hubs
• in revival for training
• in persecution for refuge
• please pray for
• Germanys relationship to its Eastern neighbours
  after May 1st
• another godly and value-based federal president
  after May 23rd
• for 100 reformators for region based structural
  reformation
• for the transformation initiative Rhein Valley
  Covenant
• for the city of Berlin and its Together for
  Berlin initiative

pray for Germany - it is a country in great need
and a spiritual cross-way
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may His glory come to a sinful nation
may HIS light be seen again when the German sins
are covered by Christs blood