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CHAPTER 6
CONCLUSIONS
Church-planting teams have become an increasingly
important vehicle used by mission agencies for the
evangelization of today's world-class cities. However, many
organizations have incorporated team ministries into their
methodology without a sufficient base of research to inform
their decisions. This research examined teamwork in church-
planting missionary teams to determine if relationships exist
between individual team members' characteristics and
experiences and their effectiveness as members of a church-
planting team. Hopefully this descriptive research will
provide a base for further research of church-planting
missionary teams toward more effective use of personnel and
financial resources in the quest for world evangelization.
Overview of the Procedure
Due to the descriptive nature of the research
problem, a qualitative methodology composed of two studies was
employed. In the Preliminary Study, all members of two
church-planting teams were interviewed by telephone in order
to corroborate the relevance of the thirteen proposed
operational questions. As a result of the telephone
interviews, two operational questions were added; and two
others which were found to be similar were combined into one.
The Field Study was a longitudinal, ethnographic
study of one church-planting team which included data from
team meetings, church meetings, interviews, newsletters, a
demographic questionnaire, and documents circulated during the
participant-observation period. Data concerning each of the
fourteen operational questions were gathered, transcribed, and

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analyzed, using The Ethnograph, a computer-assisted data-
analysis program (Seidel, Kjolseth, and Seymour 1988).
Summary of Findings with Recommendations
for Mission Agencies and
Church-Planting Teams
Notable findings from this research can be distilled
into the following themes: a composite profile of an effective
member of a church-planting team, the influence of the North
American world view, team orientation as a continuum,
developmental issues which affect church-planting teams, and
team leadership as key to effective church-planting teams.
A Composite Profile of an Effective
Member of a Church-Planting Team
Based on the analysis of the data from the research,
a composite profile of an effective team member emerged. It
is imperative to recognize that the interrelation of factors
represented by the operational questions is extremely complex.
Therefore, no one definitive indicator of team orientation
exists. While some have postulated that personality
determines effective or ineffective team members; others have
suggested it is commitment; and yet others would make
spirituality the determining factor. All of these factors are
important; but after months of observation it became obvious
that no one factor alone is definitive as an indicator of team
orientation. The tremendous complexity of this research topic
eliminated simplistic answers as detrimental to determining a
person's level of team-orientation. Because of this, the

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following description must not be used as a check list.
Rather, it is an attempt to bring together into one short
description the complex factors discussed in Chapters 4 and 5.
This profile is proposed as a guide toward a composite
identification of characteristics and experiences which have
been repeatedly observed and discussed during this research.
On a church-planting team, a team member with high
team orientation would be a person who values others and who
is willing to sacrifice personally in order that others
succeed. This others-orientation enables team members to work
in cooperation together, for the benefit of all, and toward
the goals established by the team. Interdependence, a sign of
emotional and spiritual maturity, is the goal of this person,
as they seek to overcome independent tendencies and
competitive urges.
The effective team member participates fully in the
team, realizing that to remain silent is to rob the team of
needed input, but to dominate the discussion is to rob the
team of valuable insights and enthusiasm.
In the distribution of roles, these members gladly
accept those roles which they are able to perform, not
striving after positions assigned to others. Although these
team members have skills which are crucial to the team, they
exercise these skills in an unostentatious and inconspicuous
manner. The excitement produced by cooperation in ministry
readily identifies a genuinely team-oriented person. A good
follower, the high team-orientation person supports team
leadership, especially when the team leader is struggling to
preserve the integrity of the team in the face of internal
conflict.

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An effective team member is a developing person, as
well as a maturing Christian. Among those of high team-
orientation, communication is transparent and not forced,
practiced from the realization of the importance it holds in
working and living together as a team. Effective team members
have a reliable self-understanding; they do not profess that
of which they are not truly convinced. They value truth
highly enough to not deceive other team members, even when
their own welfare is at stake. Although they will experience
relational and interpersonal problems, high team-orientation
members have the ability to apologize, initiating
reconciliation. Effective team members are peacemakers,
mediating when conflicts arise between others. They are easy
to be around. They are good listeners; they do not readily
misread others' intentions, nor are they easily offended.
Often effective team members have had prior cross-
cultural experiences which have taught them to hold their own
cultural beliefs and ideas a little more loosely, valuing
different ways and new world views. Language learning,
although not necessarily easy, is a top priority. Effective
team members rarely speak the national language poorly, a sign
that they value the culture of the nationals and are willing
to learn to think in new ways.
Although they will experience typical family problems
(whether it be marriage or child-related), these problems are
not the cause for alienation from others. On the contrary,
such problems provide an opportunity for sharing which results
in an outpouring of support, further binding the team
together.
This composite profile of an effective team member is
particularly valuable for those who are responsible for

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recruitment of candidates for church-planting teams. A
profile such as this would enable the recruitment department
to pose meaningful questions and to more easily interpret
personal references. Many who would make qualified
missionaries, are not necessarily equally qualified to be
church-planting team members. While many elements would be
the same, recruitment of members of church planting teams and
general recruitment of missionaries should have distinctive
and separate processes. As a result of this research,
Appendix E is included as a proposed outline for the
evaluation of potential recruits for church-planting
missionary teams.
The Influence of the North American World View
The target population of this research was North
American missionaries, the members of three church-planting
teams. Both the research and the literature indicate that the
characteristics and attitudes necessary for teamwork are
antithetical to those typical of middle-class North Americans.
Becoming an effective team member requires the adoption of
several values uncommon to the North American world view.
A large number of those who were ranked high in team-
orientation had former cross-cultural experiences, which
increased the possibility that they had learned to modify
their world view; and would therefore be more likely to make
the additional world view adjustments necessary to become
effective team members. When maturing, flexible, open, and
adaptable people acquire cross-cultural experiences, then it
is reasonable to expect that they would also be able to adapt
to teamwork, learning to be an effective team member. On the
other hand, dogmatic, inflexible people who are not able (or

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willing) to entertain new ideas, whether or not they have had
cross cultural experiences, are not usually found in the high
team-orientation group. Obviously, openness to modifications
of one's world view is not restricted to those with cross-
cultural experiences; and all who serve in a cross-cultural
setting will not necessarily be more open to new values.
Lone ranger, entrepreneur, innovator, self-starter,
and pioneer are some of the descriptors of those who are
entrenched in the North American world view. The correlation
between values held by those of a strong North American world
view and low team orientation is sufficiently high to warrant
strong caution for those recruiting candidates for church-
planting teams. On the positive side, any indicators which
demonstrate a candidate's ability to adopt new cultural values
should be followed-up (procedures outlined in Appendix E.)
Another caution which surfaces under the theme of
world view pertains to the forming of international church-
planting teams. Many non-North American cultures are group-
oriented, a fundamental world-view assumption which is
opposite of the individualistic, North American world view.
With only one international team member (Team 3), insufficient
data were available for findings. However, observation of
that person, along with the detailed analysis of North
American world view, indicates that combining dogmatic people
entrenched in their North American world view, with group-
oriented people from another culture carries with it the
potential for damaging interpersonal relationships and
unsuccessful church planting. Given these differences, as
international church-planting teams are formed, careful
selection of North American team members is advised.

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The Need of Support for Church-Planting Teams
Many missionaries join teams for the support they
hope will counterbalance the difficulty of living and working
overseas. The novelty of working together, a new vision, new
friends, and each team members' personal insecurity converge
to elicit internal support during the formative period of the
team. During this early stage of the team, external pressures
(i.e., culture and language) also cause the team to band
together, showing support for each other.
Teams, however, require a great deal of energy to
keep them together. Both internal and external support are
necessary. Factors which deplete energy at a high rate, if
they are not counterbalanced by an equal or greater input of
energy (called support), will cause teams to fail. The
church-planting team is in a race against time to accomplish
its task before these factors begin to weigh in against it.
In this research, the following were reported or observed to
be sources of high internal energy drains for the three
church-planting teams: family, language, slow progress in
church planting, members who ranked low in team orientation,
members with psychological problems, changes in team
composition, changes in team leadership, and laissez-faire
leadership style. When the energy to counteract these factors
is accessible, the team is able to function in spite of the
presence of some of these handicaps. A systematic reduction
of these energy drains will promote the longevity of the team.
Support is needed both internally (from the team
leader and fellow team members) and externally (missionary
colleagues and mission administrative personnel). Because
unexpected crises are a common element in missionary life

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(especially in church-planting teams), all four sources of
support should be in place before the team begins the church-
plant. This will mean that support will be available at the
moment when an extra energy source is needed to counterbalance
whatever factor is draining team energy. Church-planting
teams devote considerable attention to maintaining the two
internal sources of support, but often ignore as unnecessary
the external sources of support. When the energy drain
involves interpersonal relationships (or any other difficult
personnel problem), the internal support shifts toward certain
team members instead of the team as a whole and produces
division. At this moment it is the external support which
becomes essential to surviving the crisis. A church-planting
team should not be formed if it does not have the deliberate
support of both non-team, missionary colleagues on the field
and mission administration in the home office.
The literature referring to workteams in the business
world addresses the subject of synergy, defined as the ability
of a team to produce more than the sum of its individual
parts. This phenomenon has been verified for teams with very
specific work goals and short life spans. However, no
research exists to indicate that synergy occurs in the case of
church-planting teams. Planting a church is a task which is
more complex than that which workteams are typically called
upon to perform. Due to the length of time it takes to plant
a church, as well as the many energy-draining idiosyncracies
inherent in church-planting teams; much less certainty exists
that synergy can be reached and maintained.
Because many mission agencies are targeting resistant
peoples and have made team ministries an integral part of
their strategy, this support factor is particularly relevant.

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Exceptional care should be exercised in the recruitment of
members for church-planting teams for resistant areas of the
world. The research suggests that very high levels of
external support from the mission administration would be
necessary to offset the drain caused by resistance and lack of
results; especially if the team is isolated with no in-country
missionary support. The research would also indicate that
these teams should be composed of a limited number of team
members (lessening the potential for interpersonal
relationship problems) uniquely suited for working together.
Team Orientation as a Continuum
Based on the findings of this research, team
orientation appears to be a continuum rather than dichotomous
in nature. Instead of falling into two groups (effective and
ineffective team members) as implied by the wording of
questions 3-6 of the Team-Member Questionnaire (Appendices A
and B), a medium team-orientation group which revealed mixed
characteristics and experiences emerged. Over time, some in
this group were observed to move either higher or lower in
team orientation. The presence of this middle group appeared
to be healthy for the team, enlarging the number and variety
of ideas in team discussions and helping to avoid groupthink.
The purpose of team building is to help team members
become more effective as a group. Unfortunately, most team
building is front-loaded and time-intensive, delivered at
moment when those who have volunteered for the team are
excited, optimistic, and have high expectations for working
together on a team. This idealism gives the team and its
leader great confidence, as together they experience unity,
cohesion, and team spirit. However, this research revealed a

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possible negative inverse relation between teambuilding and
team longevity. It would appear that the team building
experience for some team members produced a false perception
of team unity and personal high team orientation which was
overly optimistic. These findings recommend that team
building be conceptualized as a process which would be
initiated at the beginning of the team, and extended
throughout the history of the team. This would facilitate a
consistent movement of medium team orientation members toward
high team orientation.
In Team 3 (particularly in response to Operational
Questions 2, 8, and 12) there was a wide variety of mixed
characteristics in the middle group. In this team, the crisis
produced by the team leader's unexpected changes in leadership
style induced a polarization of the middle group which broke
the team spirit and became the portend of the demise of the
team. Those leading church-planting teams should not
underestimate the negative consequences of the polarization of
the medium team-orientation members. Causing team members to
chose with which of the two extremes they will identify can
paralyze growth in team orientation.
As reported and observed in the research, the team
members of the low team-orientation group were those who
brought conflict and the ensuing polarization to the team,
tending toward aggression in gaining support for their
position. This scenario was reported in Team 2 and in Team 3.
Those of low team orientation who carry with them potential
for the demise of the team should not be considered as
candidates for church-planting teams. Those who would
polarize the team, requiring others to take sides, are of
special danger. Further research is necessary to identify

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this group more precisely, because not all of the low team-
orientation group carry the same kind of threat to the life of
the team.
Developmental Issues which Affect
Church-Planting Teams
The literature indicates that one function of teams
is to assist in the personal development of the team members.
This is especially true for church-planting teams, where the
spiritual nature of the task naturally leads to the promise of
personal growth as a result of participation. Growing from
dependence, through independence, to interdependence is a
natural developmental pattern which one would expect to
observe in the lives of team members in a longitudinal study.
An on-going, team-training program which was developmental in
philosophy could possibly do much to help team members
develop, thereby decreasing the attrition rate of church-
planting missionary teams.
Because the team members studied in this research
demonstrated a lack of understanding of the developmental
process, it appears that their ability to develop was
hindered. Criteria for judging levels of maturity (emotional
or spiritual) were extremely vague, and in many cases self-
evaluation was inaccurate. Neither team members' formal
education nor team-building experiences had prepared them for
teamwork, nor given them the understanding necessary to grow
as a result of crises. During the participant-observation
period, only two of the Team 3 members were observed to
develop. Their obvious growth in emotional and relational
maturity paralleled their move toward higher levels of team

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orientation. The unrealized potential for personal growth of
individual team members is perhaps the greatest challenge that
missions face as they continue to deploy church-planting
teams.
Team Leadership as Key to Effective
Church-Planting Teams
This research reaffirmed the literature base which
indicates the team leader is the most important factor to the
effectiveness of team members as they work together. As
mentioned earlier in the conclusions concerning support, the
team leader provides a large part of the internal support
necessary for the team. However, when external sources of
support are weak or non-existent, the team leader carries an
inordinately heavy load. If the team leader becomes entangled
in conflict with those of the low team-orientation group, this
lack of support becomes critical.
Changes in leadership style are not well-received,
especially when unexplained. Whenever possible, the same team
leader should continue through the life of the team. In a
temporary leadership vacuum (until a new leader builds trust
and establishes direction) competition for the informal lead
of the team surfaces. Although with North Americans,
competition for leadership will always arise in a leadership
vacuum, the intensity will be greater among those of the
medium and low team-orientation groups.
An integral part of the team-leader task should be to
seek external support for the team (from colleagues as well as
mission administrators). Because the danger for serious
problems seems to increase over time, the team leader should
continue to foster that support even as the team progresses
toward the completion of the task. If this support is

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non-existent, it is not advisable for a mission to launch a
new church plant.
Often missions will choose team leaders who are
gifted church planters. In these cases a danger exists that
they will employ the team to multiply themselves so that the
church-planting task can be accomplished more rapidly and
effectively. As in Team 3, when the needs of the church came
into conflict with the needs of the team, the church planter
will choose the church, in effect abandoning the team. As
observed in these three teams, the team leaders' position and
maturity insures that they will be leader of the church
whether or not it is their desire. In reality, the team
leader is leading two teams (the team of missionaries and the
new church) with insufficient time and energy to properly
support them both groups. Because the support infrastructure
in the church is weaker, the team leader assumes that the
church is the most needy of his attention and energy. The
team then reacts to the perceived abandonment, the low team-
orientation group rebelling openly against the team leader.
This paradox represents the greatest challenge for church
planting that both team leaders and mission agencies must
address.
Recommendations for Further Research
Because there is a large movement to deploy church-
planting teams, further research is needed to facilitate the
task of world evangelization. Some of the areas that merit
such research are the following:
1. In light of this research, the development and testing
of team-building programs (both pre-field and

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continuing over the life of the team)
2. A longitudinal study of the relation between the
length of time which a team works together and the
team members' level of team orientation
3. The relation between urban church planting among
resistant populations and the team members' level of
team orientation
3. Correlations between cultural adaptation and team-
orientation as a possible indicator in the
recruitment of effective team members from veteran
missionaries
5. A study investigating the synergy which results from
teamwork in church planting
6. The effect of team members' church tradition on their
level of team orientation
7. A comparative study of church-planting teams
composed of members from group-oriented societies
and those composed of North American teams
8. A longitudinal study of levels of team-orientation and
the effectiveness of teamwork of international
church-planting teams
9. Comparison of levels of team orientation and member

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effectiveness in specialist versus general
practitioner teams.
Both the precedent literature and theological
foundations affirm that the strategic movement toward planting
churches through church-planting teams is positive. However,
theory and idealism aside, the recent experiences of church-
planting teams have not fulfilled the great expectations of
missiologists. Confronted with high attrition rates which
plague church-planting missionary teams, action must be taken
to avoid the personnel and financial losses that is increasing
proportionately with the number of teams being deployed world-
wide. Hopefully, this research will provide motivation as
well as increased understanding which will facilitate those
searching for solutions.