Getting Ready for CPM - intro
We are going to begin a series of articles on CPM, written by various practitioners working in different parts of the world. These are taken from the Jan-Mar 2006 issue of the CPM Journal published by Write Words and edited by Paul D Watson. The full journal can be downloaded by registering on www.davidlwatson.org and going to the downloads section.

LET’S BAKE A CAKE
David Watson

A friend of mine is a pastry chef at a five star restaurant. He spends his days creating recipes for cakes and then baking these cakes to the delight of the customers. I am always curious about how things work,and a few years ago I spent some time quizzing my friend regarding his profession.

My friend is passionate about baking. He loves to create and to perfect recipes. When he enters his kitchen everything is ready for him to do his thing. He doesn’t shop for kitchen supplies. He doesn’t shop for ingredients. All is ready for him when it is time to bake. Assistants take care of the logistics – making sure everything he needs is at his fingertips when he begins to create and perfect cakes and pastries. For every hour the chef invests in preparing and baking a cake, assistants spent hours making sure he has everything he could possibly need in order for that cake to make it to the customers.

Where CPM is concerned, God is the Chef. One of the most common mistakes many Church Planters make is to think they are the chef. At best, Church Planters are chef’s assistants, making sure the chef has in hand everything needed for church planting to happen. We must never forget that CPM is a God thing. Without Him it does not happen. Church Planters are God’s assistants, helping to make sure that everything needed for CPM is in place for God to use at His good pleasure.

There are some ingredients that are optional for cake baking. Flavors, fillings, toppings, and textures can change, but the basic building blocks of a cake are always the same. Almost every cake includes flour, milk, eggs, sugar, baking powder, shortening, salt, and vanilla extract. A good chef takes these basic ingredients and produces perfection. I can make sure the ingredients are available, but I will never be a pastry chef.

In the same way that there are basic ingredients for a cake, there are basic building blocks for church planting. It is the responsibility of the church and the Church Planter to gather these building blocks and have them in place when God decides to move. Remember, we can have all these building blocks in place, but nothing happens until God decides to move.

David L. Watson is the Vice President for Global Church Planting, CityTeam International, San Jose, CA. David and his wife, Jan, are among the pioneers of Unreached people work and helped develop the methodologies that led to one of the first Church Planting Movements. His ministry is highlighted in David Garrison’s book, Church Planting Movements.

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