In doing the work of church planting and development, it is helpful to study the means of growth for the first Christian churches as found in the Book of Acts. Specifically, Acts reveals the work of a church planter as engaging in steadfast prayer (1:14, 2:1), practicing bold and sacrificial evangelism (2:41, 4:3-4), cultivating a radical commitment to community (2:42-47), exercising church discipline (5:13-14), developing shared leadership (6:1-7), nurturing lay evangelism (8:4), and championing church planting (9:31). These means of growth accompanied the explosive and joyous expansion of the early church.

The New Testament Sequence
Beyond the biblical means of growth is the significance of sequence in the early church narrative. Study of the text reveals an order that is as significant as the events themselves. The biblical writer Luke seemed conscious of providing the church with a pattern for future mission activity by presenting an intentional chronology that is worth examination. Specifically, the New Testament mission consisted of the following five stages in chronological sequence:

1. Prayer
The first priority and first in sequence is empowerment through importunate and waiting prayer. The emphasis is on waiting:  The disciples were to “wait for the Promise of the Father, which you have heard from me, for John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”  Waiting involved obedience and was absolutely necessary in order to receive the Holy Spirit’s endowment before proceeding. The battle was hard-pitched and to the death. Every advance was met by a counter attack. The disciples were commanded to wait. They did wait but were not idle; they were involved in importunate prayer:

These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers ....Now when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place...(Acts 1:14, 2:1)

2. Evangelism
The second stage of the Acts model was an evangelistic advance that resulted in a great harvest of souls. After being baptized with the Holy Spirit, New Testament believers went forth to a harvest of three thousand and then two thousand new believers. Having listened to Christ, they waited. After waiting, they received the power of the Spirit, and having received power, they witnessed tremendous results.  

3. Community Formation
The third stage in Christ’s pattern for mission is community formation. As fellow church planters, our hearts are thrilled with joy (and perhaps a bit of envy) at the description of the first community of believers in Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-25:

Those who gladly received the word were baptized…and they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers…Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common…breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor of all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

It’s impossible to argue against the fact that the health and excitement of the New Testament church was directly proportional to the abundance of new converts. A vital community formed spontaneously out of the fertile soil of evangelism–radical witness, amazing deliverance, radiant joy, and selfless and sacrificial giving. This was the fruit of newly regenerated hearts.

4. Leadership Mobilization
Leadership mobilization is the fourth stage in the sequence. The rapid growth of the early church resulted in problems among attendees and required swift mobilization of leaders (Acts 6:1). Wisely, the apostles chose to simultaneously expand the leadership base and involve the people in the decision-making process. The results were outstanding! To the credit of the Hebrew Jewish leaders, seven Grecian Jews were selected. These men became outstanding ministers, with Stephen and Philip leading the way. Stephen became the first martyr; Philip became the first evangelist to the Samaritans and beyond. As a result, “a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith” (Acts 6:7), and the church was mobilized as never before.

5. Church Multiplication
The final stage of the New Testament sequence is church planting. Acts 9:31 reads as a summary and celebratory culmination of the first four stages: “Then the churches throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified. And walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.”  This was the completion of Phase One of Christ’s strategy to reach a world. Prayer had received empowerment; bold evangelism had brought forth new believers, who were united in sacrificial and joyful community, who were mobilized by leadership and witnessed the formation of new congregations “throughout all Judea, Galilee, and Samaria.” Whole countries were reached! 

The Order and Repetition of the Sequence
Each stage in the sequence builds upon the previous one; no stage can be omitted nor should the order be altered. For example, without power through prayer, evangelism produces little fruit. Without conversion growth of evangelistic advance, community formation fails. This highlights a weakness to some present mission endeavors: inadequate prayer base results in weak evangelistic efforts and anemic church growth. Even if new churches experience rapid numerical growth, it can be the response of Christians to advertising and programs instead of the hearts of unbelievers being changed by the gospel.

Not only do the five stages build upon each other, each is continually repeated, as seen in the vital church growth of the Acts narrative. Following the first Pentecost-harvest-community sequence in Acts chapters 1 and 2, culminating in the community formation of Acts 2:42-47, the key events are repeated in Acts 4:31ff.

An expanded representation of the five stages looks like this:

When we examine the church today, we find that the Acts' history has often been neglected. Following the Acts' sequence is more the exception than the rule. Whatever the implications, we must return to the New Testament pattern—it is a matter of integrity in our church planting efforts. As we do this, there will be practical consequences for church planters and church leaders. In haste to generate offerings for a new church we may hurry to community formation-worship (stage 3), and leadership selection (stage 4) before building a strong prayer foundation (stage 1) and evangelistic fruit. It is easy to neglect the priority of prayer and evangelism. We need to be honest and admit that we can define our goals and objectives in categories where success can be achieved with or without a manifest work of God’s Spirit.  In order to guarantee that quotas are met, we simply bypass the uncertain element of God’s working. 

[The church] is not in control of the mission.  Another is in control, and his fresh works will repeatedly surprise the church, compelling it to stop talking and to listen.  Because the Spirit himself is sovereign over the mission, the church can only be the attentive servant.  The  sober truth is the Spirit himself is the witness who goes before the church in its missionary journey...  The church is witness insofar as it follows obediently where the Spirit leads.
- Lesslie Newbigin, The Open Secret

In conclusion, the five stages of New Testament mission as presented in the book of Acts are successive and symbiotic. Prayer fuels evangelism; evangelism necessitates prayer. Community formation is a result of prayer and evangelism; and as the new community devotes itself to prayer, it grows evangelistically (Acts 2:47). Effective mobilization (leadership selection) results from prayer, evangelism and community formation; but the first three stages are enhanced as a result of effective leadership selection. Notice how the community of believers in Acts shared in the process and rejoiced in the outcome of leadership selection and how “the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly” as a result of wise leadership (Acts 6:1-7). A similar encouraging epilogue accompanies the fifth stage as the churches grow in “the comfort of the Holy Spirit, and were multiplied” (Acts (9:31). Thus, the church progresses through the five stages by adding to, not leaving behind, the prior elements. At the same time, the prior stages are expanded and strengthened as the church grows.