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References

Eriksson, Cynthia

2015. Health, Healing, and Shalom: Frontiers and Challenges for Christian Health Missions. (Author: Bryant L. Myers, Editors: Erin DufaultHunter, Isaac B. Voss). Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library.

Fikkert, Brian and Kelly Kapic

2019. Becoming Whole: Why the Opposite of Poverty Isn’t the American Dream. Chicago, Ill: Moody Publishers.

Glenn, Mary

2018. “Helping Youth Find Joy in the City.” Fuller Youth Institute Journal (https://fulleryouthinstitute.org/blog/joy-in-the-city).

2014. “Ministry of Presence.” Fuller Youth Institute Journal (https:// fulleryouthinstitute.org/articles/ministry-of-presence).

2019. “Responding to Suicide with the Ministry of God’s Presence.” Fuller Magazine (Issue 14): 42-45.

Heidish, Marcy

2008. Soul and the City: Finding God in the Noise and Frenzy of Life. Colorado Springs, CO: WaterBrook.

Junger, Sebastian

2016. Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging. New York, NY: Twelve.

Reyes, Patrick B.

2016. Nobody Cries When We Die: God, Community, and Surviving to Adulthood. Atlanta, GA: Chalice Press.

Collins, K., K. Connors, A. Donohue, S. Gardner, E. Goldblatt, A. Hayward, L. Kiser, F. Strieder, and E. ompson

2010. “Understanding the Impact of Trauma and Urban Poverty on Family Systems: Risks, Resilience and Interventions”. Family Informed Trauma Treatment Center Executive Summary. Baltimore, MD.

Tiersma, Jude and Charles Van Engen, editors

2009. God So Loves the City: Seeking a eology for Urban Mission. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock.

Tiersma Watson, Jude

2005. “We Have Forgotten that We Belong to Each Other.” Fuller Youth Institute Blog (https://fulleryouthinstitute.org/articles/we-haveforgotten-that-we-belong-to-each-other).

Tutu, Desmond

2005. God Has a Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Time. NY, NY: Image.

WHERE SHOULD WE FOCUS MISSIONARIES FOR CHURCH GROWTH? EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM GHANA

Solomon Kwasi Kyei (Rev.) ACMA CGMA1

Abstract

Like the triune God of mission, missionaries desire that all creation be reconciled to God. is calls for missionaries to be focused on themes known to determine church growth. Using quantitative data from one of the fastest growing Pentecostal churches in Africa and employing econometric analysis, church growth was found to be signi cantly a ected by mission orientation, frequency of evangelism outreaches, water baptism, and the raising of congregations that have zeal for evangelism. e study recommends the training of missionaries and operation of churches around these themes to help make all nations disciples of Christ.

Introduction

Christian mission is rooted in the concept of the missio Dei which is a Latin theological term translated as “mission of God” (Arthur 2013). With a long history traceable at least as far back as Augustine, the term missio Dei is a description of the activity of the triune God the Father sending the Son and the Son sending the Spirit (Englesviken 2003, 482; Bosch 1991, 402). us, the mission of the Church is sourced from a loving God who, as a result of His loving nature, seeks to reconcile all creation unto Himself. If that is the spirit behind Christian mission and that mission is God’s work with the Church having no mission of its own, then it must be done in God’s way and with God’s objective of redeeming all creation unto Himself. Building on this, it will not be wrong for the Church to seek to increase the sphere of the rule of God’s kingdom in its part to redeem all creation unto the triune God. It is therefore not surprising that, irrespective of how ecclesiologists disagree on various issues, including even the genesis of the Church, there is no ambiguity regarding the need for the growth of the Church through the mission of the Church.

Since the day that Christ declared that the Kingdom of God is at hand, the focus of the believers of this Kingdom has therefore been on its growth. Surprisingly, in both of the events in the Bible that scholars of ecclesiology divide with respects to the genesis of the Church, there are indications of a kind of supremacy (or growth) that must occur in the Church. In Matthew 16: 16–19, Jesus talks about building His Church: “ e gates of hell shall not prevail against it . . . Whatsoever though shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven . . .” (KJV). And then just before the episode in Acts 2, the essence of Pentecost was to “receive power, a er the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8 KJV).

Like the triune God of mission, missionaries therefore desire that all nations be blessed with the Gospel. is desire results in the search for ways of achieving growth in the converts and churches that are established through the Church’s mission. e question therefore is, should mission training and curricula be built around themes known to determine church growth? If yes, is there empirical research evidence on determinants of church growth that can inform such actions? Using quantitative data from one of the fastest growing Pentecostal churches in Africa and employing an econometric approach in analyzing and examining the data, church growth was found to be signi cantly related to mission orientation, open-air rallies and outreaches, water baptism, Holy Spirit baptism, home discipleship classes, and raising of congregations that are evangelism focused. It recommends that churches adopt various forms of mission orientation and approaches in their bids to grow in the spread of the Gospel. It further recommends the determinants of church growth as critical areas of focus in the formation of missionaries.

Having brie y placed church growth as an important objective of Christian mission, the next section seeks to highlight theories and concepts in church growth so as to direct the operational de nitions of the quantitative variables of the study. e adopted methodology is then well explained and then ows into the narration of results and ndings of the study. e paper then ends with the conclusion and recommendations.