back into line with biblical principles. For a church to grow it must be grounded in scripture. In Ephesians 4:11, God defines a churches' job to the laity. Pastors and teachers are to equip the laity do be able to go out into the world and minister to peoples' needs (p. 76). This is the thrust of Tillapaugh's whole book. His technique, of running any church, can be summed up as get the laity involved in active ministry; target the population groups which are not being served by a local church and minister to them. By ministering to these hidden, unreached groups in society, a church will bring in souls for God, the primary call of the Great Commission, and the church congregation will expand.
Tillapaugh talks about the need for pastors to realize how the type of area the church is located in can affect the values that its congregation holds. The Baptist and Methodist churches were founded on the value systems of the rural area. These mainline Protestant churches continue to use the same value system in arranging their programs. The rural values of sameness and consistency do not work in today's urban society where change is constantly occurring. Leaders in today's church need to adapt to the changing situation around them and allow ministries to change, to be flexible, to begin and end as the Holy Spirit leads not as the church committee dictates (Tillapaugh, 1982, p. 42).
Towns' philosophy, in planting a church, is that the pastor fails or succeeds depending on whether he understands the nature on the New Testament Church and a pastor's role in planting and nurturing the church. According to Towns, the New Testament provides for all the information necessary to plant a church if God has ordained the church to exist. A New Testament church is:
an assembly of baptized believers, in whom Christ dwells, under the discipline of the Word of God, organized for evangelism, education, fellowship and worship; administerin...