a day conference on CPM's in Bristol
If you are anywhere near Bristol you may be interested in this day conference on Saturday Feb 25th:

CATALYSTS FOR CHANGE
EXPLORING THE NATURE OF CHURCH-PLANTING MOVEMENTS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD

It includes Wolfgang Simson, Alex Abrahams (India) and Tony & Felicity Dale.

Although mainly for Doctors and Med students others are welcome. The day has been organised by friends of ours in Bristol who are pioneering home churches there.


Check here for more info and booking.

posted by alexander @ 1:43 PM    0 comments

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more from the crowded house
Thanks to Hammo for digging up this old article by Steve Timmis from The Crowded House in Sheffield.

An alternative approach to Christian life and witness in the community by a group in Sheffield

Let's say you are a novice missionary in a foreign country, working among a previously unreached group in the back-of-beyond. What would you do?

This may be slightly presumptuous of me, but I imagine that one thing you wouldn't do was simply what you did back in England: for example, construct a special hut with pews and a pulpit, and meet twice on a Sunday at 10.30 and 6.30.

What I think you would do is take time to learn the language, get to know the people, familiarise yourself with the local customs, integrate yourself into the community, etc. From all this, you would try to develop a pattern of 'doing' church that was consistent with the gospel and pertinent to the people. Admittedly, this would take a long time and you would have to agree that you were there for the long haul. No quick 'fly in and rush out' approach.

However, before you did any of this, you would have to be clear that the one reason you were in that situation was because of your love for the people and your desire to tell them about Jesus as the most tangible expression of that commitment.

In other words, you're not interested in perpetuating your own hobby-horses or maintaining your traditions. You simply want to be faithful to the directive of Jesus to his church to: 'Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them into the name of the Triune God and teaching them to observe all that he has commanded' (not least to: 'Go and make disciples . . .'!).

But let's say you took that same approach, undergirded by those same convictions, in the missionary situation of the UK on the threshold of the 21st century. What could 'church' look like then? Allow me to 'share with you' the conclusions reached by a small group of people in the city of Sheffield, who had the privilege and opportunity of 'starting from scratch'.

You can read the rest of the article here. And a more recent update of their story on the 'stories' page.

posted by alexander @ 12:48 PM    2 comments

2 Comments:

good value hey!?

By  hamo, at 11:31 PM  

Hamo hi, good to hear from you. not totally sure what your comment means!? Is it good or bad?!

Anyway it may be of interest that I spoke with Steve yesterday (by email) and asked whether they still used the coveneant in their home churches and what effect they had. here's his reply:

"Quick answer! No longer use the covenant, as came to conclusion that the gospel is the only covenant we need, and we need to hold one another accountable to that. Not surprisingly, we've found that it works exceptionally well!"

Interesting!

By  alexander, at 8:37 AM  

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new stories
Lots of new stories now on the Stories Page. Check them out.

posted by alexander @ 11:16 AM    0 comments

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mission 21 on course for March
There have been rumours floating around over the past few weeks that the
conference in March might not be happening. I can now confirm that the rumours of its demise were greatly exagerated!

The final program is almost complete and main platform speakers include:

• Bob Hopkins
• Gerald Coates
• Graham Cray
• Agu Irukwu
• Paul Weaver
• Dave Stroud
• Martyn Atkins
• Roy Searle
• Pete Greg
• Tom Stuckey

With worship led by Jonny Baker and the Northumbria Community. Plus a large number and variety of seminars to choose from it should be a busy 3 days!

posted by alexander @ 5:53 PM    0 comments

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the shift continues
Here's a little quote from a recent prophetic word from Dutch Sheets.

The Shift of '06
Dutch Sheets

This will be a year of the greatest change the church has experienced in our generation. While preparing to minister in Dallas on January 5, I heard the Holy Spirit very clearly say, "Tell them. . ." I quickly grabbed a pen and wrote the following as it was givento me:

I must bring further changing of paradigms, not just to those who have not been moving in the flow of My spirit, but even to those who are in the flow of My Spirit. I heard Him say, Restructure, restructure, restructure. Ministries will restructure, churches will restructure, businesses will restructure, individuals will restructure (the way they do things, their time, the way they think, the way they operate), families will restructure. Teaching on the kingdom of God will bring about great changes of paradigms, taking us back to the original mandate of Genesis. You will hear it taught over and over again this year. Kingdom theology is going to be at the forefront.

Thanks to Next Reformation News for this quote.

posted by alexander @ 11:36 AM    0 comments

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new simple church directory
After several enquiries from people looking for a simple/organic/home church in their area I have started to put together an online directory. Follow the link above and add your group to the listing by filling in the form. It should take just a few seconds.

We will be sending out an email to all we know of to encourage them to join the list so hopefully it will slowly build in numbers.

Please ignore the ads that come up having submitted the form, that's the price we pay for a free service.

posted by alexander @ 10:33 AM    0 comments

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new site search facility
Have added a 'search this site' facility over on the right side. So if you want to hunt for a specific topic, person, book etc - voila! Thanks Google.

posted by alexander @ 1:06 PM    0 comments

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simple/home church in SE London or Beverley in Yorkshire?
We are starting to get a steady trickle of emails from people looking for simple, organic, home churches in their area. Another one today: If you know of any people doing home/simple church near Anerley in SE London (SE19/20) or beverley nr Hull please let me know by email or leaving a comment and I will pass your details on.
Thanks.
PS. We will look into providing a central online listing of simple/organic churches.

posted by alexander @ 5:51 PM    1 comments

1 Comments:

I live in SE London but don't know of anything that would count. However, I'd be very interested in seeing what kind of list you can come up with.

By  Wulf, at 2:30 PM  

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de-centralised kingdom?
More thoughts from Neil Cole's book Organic Church.
The Kingdom is meant to be de-centralised, people tend to want to centralise everything. God's intention was always that we should spread out, multiply and fill the earth: Genesis commission; tower of Babel; Great Commission; Jerusalem church...

The whole point of His death and resurrection was so that He could escape from 'behind the curtain' in the temple, dwell in His people and thus through them spread out and touch the whole world - God on the move, Missio Dei. He paid a high price to make this possible.

posted by alexander @ 1:12 PM    2 comments

2 Comments:

I have thought about getting the book. I think you've convinced me.

Peace,
Jamie Arpin-Ricci
www.emergentvoyageurs.blog.com

By  Jamie Arpin-Ricci, at 2:34 AM  

Great, I'm sure you'll find it useful.
PS. I'm not on commission, honest!!

By  alexander, at 10:06 AM  

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200 million simple churches by 2016?
Taken from Jim Montgomery's Great Commission Update

Wolfgang Simson, author of Houses that Change the World, envisions what could be considered the ultimate goal for filling the earth with 'the knowledge of the glory of the Lord' (Hab. 2:14 et al.). He projects 200 million house/simple churches by the year 2016 just based on what is already happening!

In a recent conversation with Simson in my home, he spelled out how he arrives at this figure. From a biblical perspective, he takes his clue from Matthew. 24:40-41 and Luke 17:34-35. In these passages, we see two people in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. Two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. In each case, it is 50 percent of the people involved who will go to be with the Lord.

So is the Lord saying that at His return half the people of the world will be Kingdom members?

Moving from Scripture to current reality, Simson draws from his personal research and connections with the house church movement around the world. Counting only house churches in those nations where he has direct information, he calculates a current number of 120,000. Figures range from about 70,000 in India and 30,000 in Bangladesh all the way down to 2,500 in Egypt, 100 in Israel, and 20 in Turkey.

(He does not include China, he says, because he has no direct contact. Still, he says reports indicate there could be anywhere from hundreds of thousands up to 5 million small gatherings of believers.)

Doubling each year

The astounding thing Simson observes is that evidence shows about a 100percent increase in these figures each year. At this rate, there could be at least 200,000 by the end of A.D. 2006, 3.2 million end of 2010, 50 million end of 2014, 100 million end of 2015, and therefore 200 million by the end of 2016. Assuming an average attendance of 100 in each simple church, he arrives at a total of 50 percent of the world’s population following Jesus by 2016. "

posted by alexander @ 11:53 AM    3 comments

3 Comments:

While Jim Montgomery is my ministry colleague and while I appreciate Wolfgang Simson as a man of vision and faith, I am concerned that the use of such numbers reduces the credibility of the simple church movement. Case in point, to assume 100 people in every simple church seems to be a violation of the very essence of the simple church, namely a manageable size. While the use of numbers satisfies some level of human need, I do not think we help ourselves by projecting such concrete numbers based on a potentially questionable interpretation of Scripture.

By  Rick Cruse, at 11:51 AM  

I too am really nervous about the use of numbers. To suggest that half the people of the world will be Christian by using the verse that says one will be taken and the other remain is stretching it to the point discredibility. I felt very turned off by Jim's approach here. Does Jim belong to a small simple church? How in the world did he get a hundred in each group. Isn't numbers a game we wanted to get away from.... because no one can predict what will happen.... It leads to discouragement.....

By  frank doiron, at 2:09 PM  

Rick & Frank, thanks for your comments here. I have not spoken with Wolfgang about these figures etc but I wonder if the 100 figure refers to the number in a small network of simple churches? for example we are part of a network of 6 household churches and altogether we number about 100? Like you I would not want to get too hung up on the numbers, but am encouraged by the fundamental thought that God is doing something highly significant through this pattern of organic, simple church.

By  alexander, at 2:38 PM  

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more cole
So much excellent stuff in Neil Cole's book. I am still digesting it and suspect it will be one of those few books I will return to on a regular basis. Here's one or two more thoughts:

We are light. Find dark places and go there...Organic churches are the result of planting the seed of the gospel in ‘good’ soil and watching it grow and become a church naturally and organically wherever it is planted...Church should happen wherever life happens... You shouldn’t have to leave life to go to church... The key to starting churches that reproduce spontaneously is to bring Jesus to lost people. Go where they are, and become ‘part of the crowd’...

Organic, simple churches are best placed to saturate a region because:
• They are informal, relational & mobile
• They are cheap to start & run
• They are easily planted in a variety of different settings
• They reproduce faster and spread further
• They are decentralised and
• They are not heavily dependent on trained clergy

posted by alexander @ 12:03 PM    0 comments

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church according to Jesus
From Neil Coles book: Organic Church.

“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell will not overpower it.” Matt 16

• Jesus builds the church, not us
• Jesus owns the church, not us
• The church is meant to be growing
• The church that grows will face opposition
• The church that Jesus builds is unstoppable

posted by alexander @ 8:49 AM    0 comments

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