New Churches Podcast | Season 1 | Episode 751

The Legacy of Tim Keller on Church Planting

Ed Stetzer & Trevin Wax

Episode 751

Hosts Ed Stetzer and Trevin Wax sit down to discuss the life and impact of Dr. Tim Keller. Known for his many roles as an author, pastor, apologist, and evangelist, he was also an esteemed urban missionary to New York City and beyond. Listen to learn more about Dr. Keller’s legacy in transforming the world of church planting as we know it.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

  • Dr. Keller’s influence on urban missions
  • The significance of his missionary mindset in pastoral ministry
  • How cultural engagement shifted his approach to church planting
  • What grieved Dr. Keller about modern evangelism
  • Why he didn’t recommend his early preaching style be replicated

Helpful Resources:

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Sharable Quotes (#NewChurches):

Tim loved church planting, and he loved church planters. — Ed Stetzer

Keller’s concern was that everybody had their own medicine they were in love with and that they were constantly belittling other people’s medicines for an ailing church and culture. — Trevin Wax

Tim was one of the first people to say that if you’re going to learn contextualization, you have to be an exegete of the culture and of the Scriptures so that you can bring the Scriptures into what you know.  — Trevin Wax

What I love about Tim’s work is that he didn’t just tell you what to do; he taught you how to think like a missionary. — Trevin Wax

Tim would say that you want to present Christianity in such a way that people who aren’t believers want it to be true. That comes out in his preaching and theological vision for ministry as well. — Trevin Wax

Tim Keller’s church planting was driven by evangelizing secular people. That’s the future, and that’s where we’ve got to learn. — Ed Stetzer

Published on June 29, 2023

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About the Podcast

New Churches Podcast

The New Churches podcast offers practical answers to your real ministry questions. We aren’t going to provide lofty pie-in-the-sky theories. Instead, we are going to help you in your real ministry context, with your real thoughts, questions, and issues.

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Meet the Authors

Ed Stetzer

Ed Stetzer, Ph.D., is a professor and dean at Wheaton College where he also serves as Executive Director of the Wheaton College Billy Graham Center.  He is the incoming Dean of Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. He has planted, revitalized, and pastored churches; trained pastors and church planters on six continents; earned two master’s degrees and two doctorates; and he has written hundreds of articles and a dozen books. He is Regional Director for Lausanne North America, is the Editor-in-Chief of Outreach Magazine, and regularly writes for news outlets such as USA Today and CNN. His national radio show, Ed Stetzer Live, airs Saturdays on Moody Radio and affiliates. He serves at his local church, Mariners Church, as a Scholar in Residence and Teaching Pastor.

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Trevin Wax

Vice President, Resources & Marketing NAMB

Trevin Wax is Vice President of Resources and Marketing at the North American Mission Board and a visiting professor at Cedarville University. A former missionary to Romania, Trevin is a regular columnist at The Gospel Coalition and has contributed to The Washington Post, Religion News Service, World, and Christianity Today. He has taught courses on mission and ministry at Wheaton College and has lectured on Christianity and culture at Oxford University. He is a founding editor of The Gospel Project, has served as publisher for the Christian Standard Bible, and is the author of multiple books, including The Thrill of Orthodoxy, The Multi-Directional Leader, Rethink Your Self, This Is Our Time, and Gospel Centered Teaching. His podcast is Reconstructing Faith. He and his wife, Corina, have three children.

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