There are a number of types of church planting catalysts and contexts within which they do their work. There are catalysts who work in a specific region, national catalysts who work to see churches multiplied throughout a country, and global or international catalysts who work in several or many countries. There are also catalysts who work inside a particular movement, network, or denomination and outside catalysts who work alongside leaders of various movements, networks, or denominations.

 

In some cases, external catalysts come alongside a coalition that already exists, but in others, they help to create them. Sometimes it takes an outside catalyst to help build trust and cooperation because of the distrust and competition that exists. The “big players” tend to grow networks under their umbrella but keep other “players” at a distance. Movement catalysts always try to broaden the tent with other like-minded people. They are not content to oil the wheels of the denominational system; they pull people together to storm the gates of hell.

Each type of catalyst works within a context which helps define their authority and the boundaries within which they work, whether cultural, linguistic, theological, or geographic.

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We are interviewing successful catalysts from various parts of the world in order to highlight best practices, common obstacles, most favored resources, and help create a global learning community of church planting catalysts.  Due to security concerns, some catalysts cannot be identified except by pseudonym and by the global region within which they work.

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