you see bones, I see an army
If you want to be challenged to your socks and taken on a paradigm shifting journey towards a new way of seeing life, church and mission, then fasten your seat belt and get a copy of this book. Floyd McClung's words have impact because he lives by them. I can testify to that personally.

Floyd is passionate about Jesus and seeing Him worshipped by people from every tribe, tongue and nation around the world. To see that passion satisfied he is willing to go to any lengths that Jesus asks of him; including pioneering new forms of church and mission at the cost of misunderstanding and even rejection by others.

If you want to learn some more about the global context of and reasons for the grassroots simple church movement then this will help answer some of your questions.

Be challenged; then go out and do it. It's that simple.

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Organic church planting w/e with Neil Cole
A report from the guys at Neighbours & Nations who hosted this weekend:

Around 90 eager participants gathered from across the country to hear Neil Cole deliver his ‘Greenhouse Training, part 1’ (as they call it in CMA circles) on the subject of planting organic churches.

We had a fantastic time both listening to and learning from Neil, as well as getting to know each other and hearing the exciting things that God is doing in different places through simple church adventures. I’m sure that many friendships have been formed that will strengthen in times ahead, and that all present were encouraged and helped practically to be effective back on home soil.

What is so attractive about Neil’s teaching is that he doesn’t come with formula or methodology but rather a passion for Christ, his church, and reaching people with the Good News of God’s kingdom in very simple, reproducible ways that everyone can do! More than once in response to questions, his reply was simply “that’s something you’ll need to ask the Holy Spirit to show you”.

Specific subjects covered in the teaching were ‘What is church?’, ‘Reaching your oikos’, ‘Sending out workers’, ‘Multiplying disciples’ and ‘Multiplication movements’.

If anyone would like to get hold of a copy of the teaching sessions, you can download an MP3 order form here.

Finally, a date for your diary – we have the privilege of hosting Tony Fitzgerald on Saturday 28th June, sharing his journey and thoughts on simple/house church. More details to follow soon…but it will be somewhere in the Midlands!

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simple church gathering - bristol
Carriers of the Kingdom - A simple church gathering in Bristol - MARCH 1st.

An invitation from Mark Cutliffe:

Martin and Alison Holland who some of you may know and myself hosted a gathering in September of last year at the Bible College of Wales called the Catalyst Gathering. Due to the response we had from that event we have felt that it would be good to once again gather those involved in simple/organic church together for a day, to share, pray and encourage one another.

Our friends, Ken and Helen Stout are also helping us out on this one and have found a great venue at a more central location for everyone. The Old School rooms at St Michael's Church, Stoke Gifford. (For more info on the venue please see: www. st-michaels-church.org.uk)

Directions to the venue are as follows:
Leave the M4 at junction 20, then at roundabout take the 1st exit onto the A38 (signposted Filton)
At roundabout take the 2nd exit onto the A38
Branch left, then merge onto Gipsy Patch Lane - B4057
At roundabout take the 3rd exit onto Hatchet Road
At roundabout take the 2nd exit onto Hatchet Road
Turn left onto North Road
Turn right onto The Green

The venue should be quite visible from there but we will make sure that there are some signs to make it easier. If you want to double check the directions the post code is BS34 8PD.

We will be aiming to start around 10:00am and probably finish about 4pm. Lunch will be provided as will tea and coffee.
For any more info please contact Mark on: 01792 555412 or email water.fall (at) ntlworld.com.

Could you also please contact us to let us know how many are planning on coming, just so that we can make catering arrangements?
Thanks - Mark Cutliffe

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counter-intuition
With thanks to New Generations International.

The revolutionary impact of Church Planting Movements can be traced to the counter-intuitive nature of the characteristics that make up these movements.

Counter-Intuitive Characteristics of Church Planting Movements:

• Spend a long time preparing to multiply rapidly

• Don’t teach the Bible…teach every new Christ-Follower how to discover God’s truth and obey what they learn

• Expect miracles to accelerate the church planting process

• Stay only where a “person of peace” (Lk. 10) is ready to hear and obey

• Disciple people to conversion…not vice versa

• Focus only on the few who can be leaders now, so many will hear later

• Expect the hardest people and places to yield the greatest results

• Focus on discipling ordinary people, not developing professional Christians

• Always enter as a servant, never a master

• A novice insider will produce more fruit than a highly trained

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the person of peace
Lots has been shared about this subject; I thought this was a pretty good overview from someone with a lot of practical experience, albeit from a non-european context. See what you think:

The Person of Peace is the one God has prepared to receive the Gospel for the first time into a community. Our understanding of the Person of Peace changes the way we plant churches. It radically increases the number of churches planted. We have seen church planting teams go from planting a few churches per year to planting dozens of churches every year, and in some cases, even hundreds of new churches every year. I developed the Person of Peace strategy from a composite view of Jesus’ teachings when He sent out His disciples in Matthew 10, Luke 9, and Luke 10...

The Person of Peace teaching is an entry strategy to new communities. In the Great Commission Jesus commanded us to “go.” What do we do when we get to where we are going? We find the Person of Peace...

The Evangelist Church Planter does not do any of the traditional things required by traditional church planting. He does not preach or teach. He does not hand out tracts or sell books or give away Bibles. He does not do mass rallies or healing services...

Let’s look at what the Evangelist does and how the Person of Peace strategy works. It starts with obedience to Christ. It looks for where Christ is about to visit. This is evidenced by the presence of the Person of Peace. If there is no Person of Peace then you move on. The Person of Peace is found through prayer and ministry. The Evangelist freely gives of himself or herself. We are told to pray for harvesters. The Person of Peace will be this harvester. We equip this person to be the church planter for his or her community..

We train evangelists to enter new communities after extensive prayer. When the evangelists enter the community they look for ways to meet the felt needs of the community through service, education, or business. As they meet these needs they are meeting people and sharing openly about the Kingdom of God/Heaven. When the Person of Peace reveals himself or herself, the evangelists shifts the focus to the Family of Peace...

Full article here

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