Planting a Church Using the Four Fields

A simple tool has helped Iglesia Cristiana Renuevo focus on kingdom work emphasizing empowering others to make disciples.

Article by Juan José Lagos

Because our church, Iglesia Cristiana Renuevo, has a vision for multiplication, we are using a tool called Four Fields (Entry, Gospel Seeding, Discipleship, and Gathering), along with leadership training. Using these simple tools has helped us focus on the important pieces of the kingdom work with an emphasis on empowering others to make disciples in our Winston-Salem, North Carolina, community.

First, Four Fields has helped us to identify our “empty field.” We have defined this as our family members, close friends, co-workers and neighbors who are far from God. We all have an empty field to enter with the gospel and we have taught this to our members.

Gladis is a teacher who works at a school in our city, Winston-Salem. She sees her class as an empty field. She reached out to a student and her mother with the gospel and they are now following Jesus. Selenny, the student’s mother, in turn shared the gospel with Sergio and Margery, a couple she knew who were about to get divorced. This couple started attending church and God restored their marriage and helped them heal. Sergio and Margery now serve in the church; Margery is in charge of planning our first 2024 celebration “Love and Friendship Celebration Day.” Sergio and Margery brought Martha to Christ, and now she is starting to attend church.

The seeded field correlates to our evangelization plan. I go out regularly to evangelize as the Spirit leads me. My wife and I encourage people to share their personal testimony, to share conversion stories that we find in the Bible, and to invite people to study the Bible and to come to the church.

Arlene came to church through her grandmother’s witness; she then invited Heidi and Julio, and both of them gave their lives to Christ. We are glad that the disciples are learning to overcome their fear when sharing the good news. This is a good first step for them and something that we expect them to do.

The Gathering (or church formation) field is still a challenge to us. Even though we meet together as the Renuevo Church in our new building, we are still in the process of establishing disciples in a biblical community.

It can be hard for our community to understand that a building does not equal a church. Difficult work schedules hinder people from attending church or small groups. They also deal with transportation problems and complex family situations. This has been the hardest part for us. Many times we sow and tend the seeds, but people’s lives are so complicated that they can’t continue a simple discipleship process.

We are not there yet, but we will continue adjusting the Four Fields tool to our context and its challenges because our end vision, with the help of the Holy Spirit, is to plant a church-planting church. We believe that this tool is fruitful when used along with the power of God’s word, the obedience of his servants and the powerful work of the Holy Spirit. We give honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Juan José Lagos is a church planter and pastor of Iglesia Cristiana Renuevo, Winston-Salem, N.C.