Critically discuss the missional strategies used by 21st century Essay

Critically discuss the missional strategies used by 21st century church growth practitioners, showing how models adopted are connected to early Christianity - Essay Example The 21st century saw the resurgence of the allegorical methods. Initially, Christians resisted the gospel community, but at the end of the century, Christianity spread rapidly. The growth was due to the level of education system and the indigenous church structure. This growth was as a result of the native evangelists and missionaries who went to the unreached and neighbouring villages. During the twentieth century, Christians continued to increase rapidly. The method mostly used to grow Christianity was through education at the low level in schools. Here, leaders were trained and consequently, they went to teach the unreachable and the people who had little or no knowledge about Jesus. Missionaries have aimed to develop methods to help in the growth of the church and many ways have been used in its development. The growth of the church depends on its ability and how it nurtures its believers. According to Hunter III, â€Å"a local church experiences expansion church growth when people enter the church’s ranks and become new members† (2009, n.p.). The church can experience three kinds of growth namely biological, transfer and conversion growth. Biological growth occurs when parents bring their children to the church and the children grow in that church, rising through the ranks, until they old and bring their children. Transfer growth occurs when members of another church move into a church and are received there. Conversion growth occurs when new Christians from all over the world become members of a church. Through media: The earliest Christians didn’t have churches or buildings to worship in. They instead worshipped in homes or under trees. They neither had public ceremonies nor mass media to share information. Before the development of the internet, there were great barriers and challenges to passing information. Due to the advanced technologies