Grove Books Church Multiplication – Launch Event

A reflection by Dave Criddle - Minister, Pathway Church

“There’s an app for that!”

It’s not uncommon these days for someone to pipe up with those words. A problem or need is brought up and it turns out someone has already thought of it and made an app designed for exactly what you need. Big issue or small, common or rare, chances are there’s an app for it.

On April 2nd this year, I got to attend the launch of a new Grove Books series in Durham, and could sense the desire in the room from those involved in it. They want people more and more to be able to say, “There’s a Grove Book for that!” Grove Books aren’t new, and there are already hundreds of titles spanning multiple different series. Some cover big, broad topics in a bitesize way, and others drill down into something very specific.

The launch event was for a new series focused on “Church Multiplication” which is being put together in partnership between Grove Books, The Gregory Centre for Church Multiplication and St Hil Centre for Church Planting. We heard contributions from Christian Selvaratnam who is compiling the series, and Joshua Cockayne who has written the first book in the series.

Christian described Grove Books as “the Parkrun of Christian publishing”. Parkrun is just 5k, not a whole marathon, and a Grove Books are shorter than 10,000 words. They are short, sweet and get to the point quickly. Parkrun is also open to all, with seasoned runners and newbies all joining in. Grove Books provides space for new voices, including those who don’t see themselves as authors but as practitioners with useful stories, research or ideas to bring.

 The new series, with its church multiplication focus, has been created to meet the need for robust thinking that informs the work of pioneering and church planting. The first in the series brings a historical perspective, drawing lessons from the life of St Bede in “Exploring a Theology for Church Planting”. Also planned is a contribution from Stefan Paas exploring planting in Post-Christian Europe, along with a practical volume by leaders in our own Baptist family (Alex Harris and Chrissy Remsberg) on microchurches and disciple-making groups.

 Those first three books in the series highlight the breadth of contribution this new Grove Books series will contain, ranging from the historical, through the historical and sociological, to the practical. The voices featured will include those studying theology in scholarly environments, as well as practitioners and those conducting research.

Plenty of time at the launch was devoted to inviting people to consider contributions they might make to the series. Perhaps we had a historical perspective, or theological reflections based on our own experiences? Maybe we had conducted some kind of research that could be shared, or had done a theological deep dive in a particular area. Or could we be aware of someone else who’s story needs to be shared that we could write for them? The invitation was made, the desire for diverse voices was made clear, and we were also encouraged to pass the invitation on to others. So I’ll do that now for you. If you feel there is ministry experience, research, historical perspective or a story to tell (yours or someone else’s), the team at Grove Books would be glad to hear from you. You can find all the information you need here.

Two last encouragements from me. First, draw on the wealth of resource Grove Books made available to those of us in ministry. Two minutes of searching their website and the hour (or less) it takes to read the book could help solve the issue you’re facing. “There’s a Grove Book for that!” Second, join me in praying for this new series, that it would be more than just an exercise in Christian publishing and become an accelerator for the multiplication of God’s Church, both within our Baptist movement and beyond.

Dave Criddle leads a small church re-plant in Sheffield, UK. He has also written The DNA of Healthy Discipleship, a book aimed at helping disciples become more and more like those Jesus longs to fulfil the Great Commission.