본 논문의 목적은 자연적 교회성장론(Natural Church Development Theory)과 선교적 교회론(Missional Ecclesiology) 의 비교·분석에서 나타난 두 이론의 신학적 공통점을 통해 교회성장과 선교의 균형을 이루는 통합적 성장 원리를 도출하는 것이다. 먼저 자연적 교회성장론은 하나님께서 자연에 부여하신 생명체적 잠재력을 교회성장의 원리로 이론화한다. 다음 선교적 교회론은 ‘하나님의 선 교’(Missio Dei)를 중심으로 교회의 본질을 선교로 간주하여 창조 세계를 선교와 공존의 대상으로 이해한다. 물론 두 이론은 서로 다른 교회론적 관점에서 해석할 수 있지만, ‘하나님에 의한,’ ‘하나님의 나라 를 위한’ 성장과 선교를 추구한다는 점으로 볼 때 하나님 관점의 교회론 (Ecclesiology)이라고 말할 수 있다. 따라서 교회성장과 선교의 상관관 계는 하나님 나라의 성장을 위한 ‘복음적 궤도’(Evangelical Orbit)로 해석해야 한다. 이런 논리에 따라 본 연구의 결과로 얻은 통합적 성장 원리들, 곧 파송과 성육신, 성령에 의한 역동성, 이해와 소통, 공생과 번식, 그리스도적 사랑의 통전성은 교회의 존재론적 본질을 추구하면서 동시에 건강한 교회성장과 통전적 선교를 균형 있게 추구하는 신학적 토대가 된다.

The purpose of this study is to analyze and evaluate Orlando E. Costas' wholistic concept of church growth in order to build a new paradigm of church growth for the future of the Korean Church. His concept was a result of critical reflection for traditional theories of church growth centering around Donald A. McGavran. Whereas he accepts some positive views of those traditional theories, Costas also criticizes some negative contents. Costas' understanding of the church is based on images of the church portrayed in the New Testament. He sees the church as organism, community, and social institution. In his view, the two objectives of the church's call are worship and mission. He understands church growth from a perspective of wholistic mission: while church growth is a natural and imperative result of the wholistic mission of the church, it cannot be an end in itself and is nothing but a sign, a provisional and penultimate goal of God's mission. From a viewpoint of wholistic concept, church growth has complex and multidimensional characteristics that cannot be simply evaluated by some external aspects. The growth of a church should be critically evaluated on the theologically right basis. In this point, qualities and dimensions of growth present some useful insights for overcoming distorted thoughts of church growth and establishing its healthy model. On the one hand, he speaks of spirituality, incarnation, and faithfulness as qualities of growth, which are controlling variables; on the other hand, he speaks of numerical growth, organic growth, conceptual growth, and incarnational growth as dimensions of growth. The church growth movement that started from Donald A. McGavran has had a great effect on the development and the growth of churches around the world including the Korean Church. However, according to changes of the times and their cultural environments, new paradigms of church growth are demanded. In particular, such demand is urgent in the Korean society in which the characteristics of postmodern culture are becoming stronger more and more. In this context, Costas' wholistic concept of growth offers a valuable frame of thought for a new paradigm of the Korean Church's growth. However, his theories must not cease by simply suggesting some theological principles but must be developed into a practical tool for analyzing and evaluating churches in the field.

The church growth in Jerusalem in Acts shows us the very model of a rapidly growing church that was emolled the church members about 3,000 or 5,000 into. All the church in this world nowadays envies such an amazing church growth. However, this does not mean the growth model of the single church, but the reality of the church growth in a total meaning for the all church in Jerusalem that was ministered by the apostles at that time. Hence, such a growth in Jerusalem means an essential figure that was searched by modern churches, because of not the growing model of the local church all over the world. At the moment of the earlychurch the abruptly growing church fortunately was possible by the power of the Holy Spirit, but is it possible of modern churches that are added a day about 3,000 or 5,000? This paper shows the model of the church growth theory of Jesus on the basis of the faith of Emmanuel that Jesus taught in his saying, “ For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am 1 in the middle of them."Although this teaching is on the smallest church that can be formed by the church members, one can evaluate that modern churches must reconsider obsessing the church growth in the sense of number. Later on Jesus' concept of church affected to Paul in that church means member, not building. When Paul addressed that church is the body of Christ, each part is working properly, and building makes bodily growth and up builds itself in love, the building means the body of Christ that is organic. The purpose of this paper is to find the principle of the church growth theory of the early church in the Gospels. For this purpose, this paper suggests that the view of discipleship and church growth theory of Jesus, by establishing the church theory of the synoptic gospels on the basis of the faith of Emmanuel. Here the role of layperson and women is necessarily reconsidered by the view of the church minisσy in modern churches. As a result, this paper suggests that churchgrowth model in the internal and external sense moves from the function of pastors to one of layperson.