training research nearing end
Spent another day with Mike Moynagh at Templeton College Oxford (sounds so flash doesn't it!). Apart from a fantastic lunch we had a productive time looking at my draft report into training provision for missional leaders who want to pioneer new emerging churches. We will be presenting the report next week to a group of 30+ anglican and methodist training providers together with the Fresh Expressions team and the CMS team responsible for 'Mission Movement'. Together with a wider group who will meet in the Spring, they are trying to collaborate on finding the most effective ways of training pioneer missional leaders. Should be an interesting time next week.

posted by alexander @ 1:39 PM    2 comments

2 Comments:

Hello alexander

It is good to hear that things are happening. Do you know where the CofE is on its selection process? Are missional people going to get through the hoops?

By  Ross Garner, at 4:12 PM  

Ross thanks for your questions, it took me a while to find them in the archives! Steve Croft at Fresh Expressions would be the best person to give you the C of E status as he has most vested interest. I am not an anglican so am not sure whether missional pioneers will survive the hoop jumping! I think graham tomlin's planned course in London, based at HTB look promising, but still to get all the permissions etc sorted!

By  alexander, at 12:20 PM  

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30 hallmarks - 20: the end of loneliness

Even in some of our so called 'new' churches with lots of great things going on, there can be a sense of loneliness and isolation in the midst of the big crowd. Small organic churches by contrast can have a high degree of 24/7 commitment, rich fellowship and lots of opportunities for "every member ministry". All around us in society this is what people of all ages are crying out for.

posted by alexander @ 3:28 PM    0 comments

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dream day in edinburgh
Love this idea from some guys in Edinburgh. If you live round there and have a dream to share, get along this Saturday.


posted by alexander @ 11:48 AM    1 comments

1 Comments:

Wow I love this idea. Here is a quote from Elizabeth O'Connor

If we were obedient to ou visions the cities would have green spaces, birds in the trees, and architecture to quicken awareness of the divine throbbing in the whle of the world. And the towns? The towns would have galleries to hold the works of their artists; Theaters for the performing arts would spring up in their squares; scientists and poets would confer with each other; students would gather for debate and reflection, children would want to continue in life, and churches everywhere would be struggling "to make use of the wings the creator had given." Everyone would know what it meant to be servant of the Most High.? ....... Let us be faithful to our visions. For without them we perish.

Anotherr quote by Clarence Jordan (founder of Habitat for Humanity) "Faith is turning your dreams into deeds"

This idea reminded me of these two quotes

By  frank, at 2:41 PM  

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so what does a simple church actually 'do' when it meets?


Following on somewhat from yesterdays post I received this from John White a house church coach in the US.

As more and more Christian leaders discover house church, the great temptation will be to simply move the "program" methodology from the church building to the home.

What does a house church actually "do" when it meets?

Some have answered this question by going back to the program of the traditional/institutional church. There is an "Order of Service". Greeting...opening prayer...time of singing...perhaps some personal sharing...the sermon...closing prayer...etc. Isn't that what you are supposed to "do" when you have church? Week after week. Always the same program. With this model, house church simply becomes a mini version of what goes on in church buildings on Sunday mornings all over the country.

In contrast to the "program model" of church, I want to suggest the "prevenience model". The word "prevenience" (rhymes with "convenience") refers to "that which goes before or precedes". The word describes an important aspect of God's character. He is prevenient. That is, He is always at work before we come onto the scene. He is always initiating. In our lives and in the church.

"Prevenience" is most commonly used in reference to grace. Prevenient grace. "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8) Before we ever thought about God, while we were still lost in our sin, He took the initiative and gave His life for us. Before we ever moved toward God, He moved toward us. He is always initiating. He is always starting things. He is prevenient.

Our part? To see what He is doing and to respond. He is the initiator. We are the responders. How we "do church" must be based on the character of our God.

So, what are the implications for ministry in general and house church meetings in particular? More in my next email.

If you'd like to subscribe to John's regular emails you can reach him at DenverWH@aol.com

posted by alexander @ 11:11 AM    0 comments

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giving up
Frank left a great comment after the re:source post below.
It's long but worth reading it all. Here's a snippet

My wife and I are re-thinking house church, emerging church, simple church or whatever you want to call it. No we aren’t heading back to the traditional church, but we feel it first begins with the heart and not the form. After four unsuccessful attempts at a house church we are giving up trying. This is in co operation with another group of people an hour away from us who also have given up trying. They no longer see themselves as “a church” but rather a group of friends connecting with each other. They feel they need to spend the next year or two completely detoxing from church and then let God raise something quite new.

posted by alexander @ 3:04 PM    1 comments

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So exciting to hear that and to keep remembering this is what I am meant to be doing. Every so often it rears up in me that I need to be praying for a partner to start a simple/emering/whatever church and yet I knwo I still need to detox from the system and structure.

By  Diane, at 7:49 PM  

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re:source church planting training


Seven different organisations with a heart for church planting have combined to put this course together and there are a lot of excellent people inputting into it.

Jonny Baker (CMS) explains more:

"Re:source begins a second course in January 2006. I am on the core group for the course and am excited about it. The first time we ran the course it went really well. This time it will be even better as we have learned from the first year and hopefully improved on it.

It’s for people leading an emerging church/fresh expression of church/church plant or who are thinking about starting one. It is aimed at people who are doing it i.e. practitioners.

It consists of 5 weekends through the year, each in a different location, on the themes of mission, culture, leadership, church and transformation. Like all these kinds of courses as well as some teaching, discussion, reflection, coaching and so on, one of the huge benefits is meeting a bunch of other people on similar journeys round the country to learn from each other. Mentoring and assignments are also part of the course.

The stated aims/aspirations of the course are that by the end of it you will:
• be equipped to create church in emerging culture
• develop mission strategies for your specific context
• explore and apply skills in leadership and discipleship
• develop your capacity for spiritual and personal growth"

My one challenge to the guys is whether they can build in and impart a vision for reproducibility in the course. There were several new works initiated by people on the first course which have survived, however it seemed like none of them were easily reproducible forms, thus would not contribute significantly to a movement which many believe is what we need to see.

posted by alexander @ 11:01 AM    2 comments

2 Comments:

Hi its me again

My wife and I are re thinking house church, emerging church, simple church or whatever you want to call it. No we aren’t heading back to the traditional church, but we feel it first begins with the heart and not the form. After four unsuccessful attempts at a house church we are giving up trying. This is in co operation with another group of people an hour away from us who also have given up trying. They no longer see themselves as “a church” but rather a group of friends connecting with each other. They feel they need to spend the next year or two completely detoxing from church and then let God raise something quite new. This is the same feeling that comes from this site http://www.hcna.us/ (click on blog d’jour).After trying to manufacture “house churches” they are now wiser and humbler. They now see that it is a work of the Spirit. Their job (as they see it now) is to pray for workers for the harvest. Multiplying simple churches is a great concept so long as everyone is on the same page, but that is rare.
We believe that it starts with the heart. When the heart is right then the form will not matter that much. So we are beginning to see it more like what these people at hcna are.
“Which, is the point of the HCNA and this website. Whether you're a part of a house church, thinking about it, OR PART OF SOME OTHER REVOLUTIONARY MINISTRY…”
George Barna and Hirscht and Frost also believe that it isn’t the form so much but hearts that long to reach out.
We can no longer get excited about establishing house churches where more than half the people care not about reaching beyond themselves…. Nor even wanting to discuss it. What’s the point? As King Théoden says just as the war is about to start…. “and so it begins” In a nutshell here is our statement of whatever.

Linda and I do NOT believe that our lives are only about our “family” In fact we feel our job is to teach our children (and each other) to be kingdom people. To reach out beyond themselves and their families.

Lynn and I are extremely missional. If we feel we need to reach out we put our whole energies into it. Yet we feel we need further equipping and encouragement to go deeper in this area.

We also believe that church needs to be closer and closer. (geographically). It is very important that each of us find people that we connect with that are close (geographically) to us.

We are beginning to tire with the idea of trying to keep groups together…. Or to try and convince them of mission.

We believe diversity is a gift of God and not a curse.

We believe that what we are doing with (a certain widow) is closer to what church is about than attending a once a week meeting. Our prayer is that each of us find others outside our group that we can connect with like we are with this widow and her family. It is to this end that we want to equip others. (not that people have to do what we are doing but really counting the cost to reach out to others).

We believe that it is not primarily about house church but changed hearts.

We also believe in the values that house churches espouse to…. No special buildings, no tithing, priesthood of all believers, a grassroots movement, no hierarchy, simple, organic, and diversified, incarnational living. (amongst other things). This does not rule out some form of equipping.

We believe the poor, the widow, the orphan, the rejected and so on are given special attention in the heart of God……

We also believe that we are imperfect in living out the things we have mentioned.. but we will not let our humanity be our guide and road but rather the teachings of Jesus and of course Jesus himself….. who in the end is merciful to us all…… even when we fail.

So our first course of action is to pray and pray that God will raise up workers unto the harvest and that he will connect us with those people he wants us to be with…….

Sorry this is so long…..

By  frank, at 2:34 PM  

Frank once again I would certainly agree with you. If folks don't understand that this is something far more fundamental than a new model then as you have discovered it will only be a frustration. And that prayer has to precede all else is a timely reminder for us.
Thanks.

By  alexander, at 3:13 PM  

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leadership development?
More food for thought from Steve Addison

In the past, most leaders were mentored by older pastors who had suffered much. Although they led millions to Christ, they lacked in biblical knowledge. In the 1990s, doors opened to Western-style training (Bible schools and seminaries with libraries and lecturers).

Now Chinese leaders report:

After graduating 10 batches of students, the quality is diminishing year-by-year. Students finish with big heads but little hearts. They lack spirituality, endurance and ministry skills. The church is a family, but these schools are institutional factories producing talkers who can’t shepherd the flock. We don’t want them!

Jesus’ system of leadership development was very different from the traditional “school” approach:

Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve—designating them apostles—that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons (Mk 3:13-15).

Jesus created a relational network—with Himself and each other—as a context for learning. He gave them learning experiences—ministry with reflection and teaching—as the content for learning.

Jesus’ approach produced Eleven men who turned the world upside down (cf. Ac 17:6). Paul used a similar approach (2 Tim 2:2). We are trying to emulate this in “Multiplying Jesus Mentors in China.”

posted by alexander @ 12:14 PM    0 comments

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30 hallmarks - 19: better doctrine, fewer fights

In 1998 the then Cardinal Ratzinger on behalf of the Catholic Church revealed that their archives (two thirds of which are lost) indicate around 25 million have been killed by the church for being 'heretics' over the centuries. How did this all start? Doctrine. It became the reason for bitter division and distrust.

But today doctrine is more like an unchanging foundation beneath our feet, an anchor which keeps us from drifting away from the truth.

Whole denominations today are sinking without trace. Why? Because they chose to depart from conservative doctrine and head down the road of liberalism.

Every major heresy that has afflicted God's people in the last 2000 years has come from organised groups with 'leaders' who thought they knew God's mind better than anyone around them.

posted by alexander @ 11:13 AM    0 comments

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read the experts, but don't take them too seriously
Over on Steve Addison's blog (about movements) some down to earth thoughts from a church planter on the ground:

Mark’s been baffled that a lot of the “Emerging Church” reading he’s done isn’t working in practice. For instance, the idea that the “PostModern” generation isn’t interested by “attractional” church services. After twelve months of immersing himself in his community he’s discovered people can be confused by alternative models of church. They actually feel more comfortable with a traditional concept of church on a Sunday morning. Heresy.

So Mark decided to “suck it and see”. In addition to connecting in the community they began an informal church service every second week in a sports centre. People who have been hanging back from getting involved have started showing up.

Mark’s conclusion?

Read the experts. But don’t take them too seriously. Try a lot of stuff, see what God is doing and keep what works.

Here's the whole post.

posted by alexander @ 6:35 AM    2 comments

2 Comments:

I think we can all have a tendency to want something theoretical to apply in every context, and that just is never the case.

One of my big dreams though is to help people reimagine what church is. Church is so, so much more than a Sunday service and I want to establish something that provides multiple environments where people can connect with "church". One of those environments will at some point be a gathering, probably on a Sunday. But I would see that as one of many environments.

Mark is definitely right with his conclusion. We need to see what God is doing and do that. It can be very easy to be endlessly following new ideas rather than following the Spirit.

Thanks for posting!

By  Sam Radford, at 11:30 AM  

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By  Sam Radford, at 11:34 AM  

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new email update facility
If you would like to be informed by email whenever this site is updated and you don't yet use rss feeds (or have a clue what they are!) then use this new facility from Blogarithm.com by just entering your email address and hitting the subscribe button in the box over on the right column under the 'Be updated' section.

posted by alexander @ 11:41 AM    0 comments

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30 hallmarks - 18: empire -v- kingdom

Are we building our own little empires or are we working with one another to see the kingdom established in our towns and cities?

posted by alexander @ 12:23 PM    0 comments

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neil cole interview


Interview with neil Cole of Church Multiplication Associates in Next Wave magazine. (Click on the pic for full interview)

Next-Wave: What are the implications of the Organic Church for professional clergy, seminary-trained pastors?

NC: For people who choose Christianity as a career, it is very threatening. I don’t think the Kingdom of God was ever meant to be a career. For those who have that calling, that primal urge to be a part of the Kingdom, to be part of transforming lives it can mean freedom. It can bring them back to what they always wanted to be a part of. But it may still cost them a profession. There are people in the Organic Church movement who get their support from doing ministry. But I think it should come after you have been doing ministry, not before. It should be based on proven-ness, not potential. And I think you should do it whether or you are paid or not.

Next-Wave: Do you have any words of encouragement about the Organic Church for those in the emerging church?

NC: I think we are making a shift from the day of the ordained to the day of the ordinary. A day when common Christians are empowered to do extraordinary things for God and they are no longer going to wait for their pastors to say, “Go.”

I think the layers and layers of decision-makers between God’s people and God will be removed, so that God can have direct communication with His people without any filters, without any middlemen to interpret. When we reach that state we will see massive global implications.

I think God is setting us up that way. Some of the trends that are happening today are global in scale. They are not just regional or national, but all across the world people are saying and discovering these things. That has never happened in history, except maybe in the first century. We are on the verge of seeing something akin to the Book of Acts happening in our day, if we are faithful to God’s voice.

posted by alexander @ 12:51 PM    0 comments

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30 hallmarks - 17: who needs apostles anyway?

(Apologies for the recent absence due to illness) Apostles are pioneers who start new churches then move on. They never settle down to supervise them longterm. Unfortunately this is not the pattern for most current church planting.

posted by alexander @ 7:59 AM    0 comments

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