Review: Replant Roadmap: How Your Church Can Help Revitalize Dying Churches
Mark Hallock (Acoma Press, 2017)
As God begins to call sending and replanting churches to help dying congregations live again, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with next steps. It sometimes looks like there are a thousand miles between where you are and where you want to be.
Mark Hallock’s book, Replant Roadmap, is the ideal antidote to this confusion. The book provides anyone intrigued by replanting with a step-by-step process to bring life to a dying church. Hallock’s process has eight parts:
- Counting the Cost & Joy
- Raising Up a Planter
- Assessing the Potential Planter
- Evaluating the Potential Replant
- Marrying Sending & Legacy Congregations
- Growing a Core Team & Building Momentum
- Designing Gospel-Centered Environment
- Creating a Strategy for Support
Hallock doesn’t simply tackle these topics with theory. He lays out practical advice in a clear and concise manner. One of the most unique and helpful sections of the book is where he describes eight essential meetings sending churches and legacy churches (the church being replanted) should have as they move toward a “healthy replant marriage.” As he writes about these meetings, he clearly spells out the specific points that must be covered in each meeting.
“Remember what is most important in all of this — building trust,” Hallock writes as he introduces this important section. “Building trust is absolutely crucial, and it is built through time spent together. The more time together, the better. Trust is also built through clear communication. The more opportunity for clear communication, and asking questions to clarify, the better.”
Hallock also includes critical appendices, such as: frequently asked questions, a sample replant proposal, a replanting blueprint and a tutorial for leading your church through a name change.
If you’re considering participating in a replant, this is an ideal book to give you an overview of what’s on the horizon. If you’re stuck somewhere in the process, it will help you see how to get back on track.
