They came to him from every corner : a new testament model for rural church planting with reference to Jesus' ministry

Abstract

The study explores the hypothesis that the New Testament contains a model of church planting that could assist in rural church planting. After reflecting on the ministry of Jesus as portrayed by Mark, the study continues to unpack the Base Christian Community model that emanates from the Brazilian context, before it proceeds to outline the socio-economic background of first-century Palestine. In the main chapter the text, namely Mark 1:35-45, is reflected on against the socio-economic background and through the grid of the Ecclesial Base Community (CEB) model.

Having done the above the study concludes that people gravitate towards an individual (as seen in the case of Jesus) who promises an alternative to their experienced reality. This begins a community, which, for the purposes of this study, is the church. Thus, the pattern of developments that led to the emergence of the church after the Crucifixion provides us with a church-planting model.