basel thoughts, finally
So, a couple of thoughts after the Basel consultation (finally);
firstly, it was noticeable that things in Germany and Switzerland seem to be at a very similar stage to the UK. Namely that there are a variety of things happening at various different stages. A few are several years down the road and already have recognisable networks, albeit small, underway. Others are just one or two households struggling to find their way forward.

Most interesting I felt was to see two different emphases represented by those present:
firstly there were those who were very 'organic' in what they were doing, rather than being highly strategic and intentional. Their ethos was much more relational, undriven and laissez-faire. The danger (which was voiced) was that 'organic' becomes synonymous with - 'just kick back and let God sort things out as and when'....

The second group was marked by a strong apostolic, strategic emphasis. Often new churches were pioneered by intentional evangelism rather than relational or incarnational ministry. Not that this side was completely absent.

Two observations on this:
Firstly those planting more strategically/apostolically had planted far more churches, and some of these were beginning to reproduce. Often these comprised totally unchurched people rather than disgruntled church transferees.

Secondly those at both ends of this spectrum voiced a strong desire to move closer to the other in the way they functioned! The organic, just-let-it-happen people were desperate for some strategic input and the strategic guys were longing for a more organic, relational ethos! So maybe we need to work to find a balance between the two?

On this same theme Wolfgang Simson, who was also with us, pointed out that without some clear apostolic/prophetic input at the outset few churches would grow healthily and eventualy reproduce.

'Can you introduce that apostolic/prophetic after a church has started?' was my next question! Yes, was the answer but it can be time consuming and very dificult, but not impossible.

From the conversation which followed around this subject there seemed common agreement that this strategic/apostolic input is critical at the foundational stage; without the right DNA from the outset there will be little hope of growth and multiplication.

Paul Kaak who works with Neil Cole in
Church Multiplication Associates did a great job facilitating our time and shared his perspective of this organic - apostolic continuum; he defined it as the difference between a Household orientation and a Harvest orientation. All are called to the former but not all to retain the latter as a priority. Not wholly sure about that, but found the distinction helpful.

posted by alexander @ 4:03 PM    3 comments

3 Comments:

Thank you for this post. I've been thinking through the need for something strategic and intentional while staying organic and relational.

By  Leighton Tebay, at 1:50 AM  

Thanks for those "final" thoughts. For me one key question came more alive than ever: how is the necessary apostolic prophetic strategic harvesting driven... connecting with the very organic and simple way of impacting the oikos and seeding the Gospel. Where and who are the transitional people and how does that look like? How can the apostolic prophetic frameset support an everyone-can-do-it church? I think we have a lot of work to do that the puzzle fits together.

By  _dave_, at 8:04 PM  

Great point Dave; I suppose the only way to find out is to get on and do it, looking to God to direct us as we go. maybe it will look differnt in each situation? if i learn anything along the way on this I'll keep you posted! and vice-versa.

By  alexander, at 10:33 AM  

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seasoned indian church planter is blogging

72 year old Indian church planter Victor Choudhrie (pictured with Wolfgang Simson) is blogging! And he now has a slightly more sophisticated web site (than his previous one!) containing some of his training material.

His blog.

His training material.

posted by alexander @ 10:57 AM    0 comments

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the pope on home church
So what does the current Pope (Benedict XVI) have to say about home church? Well check this out from his General Audience in the vatican City on Feb 7th this year;

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Taking a step forward in this kind of portrait gallery of the witnesses to Christian faith that we started a few weeks ago, today we consider a married couple. The couple in question are Priscilla and Aquila, who have their place among the circle of numerous collaborators drawn to the apostle Paul, and whom I already briefly mentioned last Wednesday. Based on the information we have, this married couple developed a very active role at the time of the post-paschal origins of the Church.

When the apostle Paul writes his First Letter to the Corinthians from Ephesus, together with his characteristic greetings, he explicitly mentions "Aquila and Prisca, together with the church at their house" (1 Corinthians 16:19).

...In this way we come to know the hugely important role this couple played in the sphere of the primitive Church: that of welcoming in their own home the group of local Christians when they got together to listen to the Word of God and to celebrate the Eucharist.

It is precisely that type of gathering that in Greek is called "ekklesìa" -- the Latin word is "ecclesia" -- the Italian "chiesa" -- that means assembly, gathering. So, in the house of Aquila and Priscilla, the Church gets together, the Church summoned by Christ, which celebrates here the Sacred Mysteries.

In this way we can see the very birth of the reality of the Church in the homes of the believers. Christians, in fact, until around the third century, did not have their own places of worship: At first, they gathered in Jewish synagogues, until the original symbiosis between the Old and New Testament was dissolved and the Church of the people was forced to give itself its own identity, always deeply rooted in the Old Testament.

Then, after this "split," they gather in the homes of Christians, which in this way become "Church." And finally, in the third century, authentic (???!!!) buildings for Christian worship were born.

But here, in the first half of the first century as in the second century, Christian houses become true and proper "church." As I have said, they read Scripture together and celebrated the Eucharist. That was what used to happen, for example, in Corinth, where Paul mentions a certain "Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church" (Romans 16:23), or in Laodicea, where the community would get together in the house of a certain Nympha (Colossians 4:15), or in Colossae, where the gathering would take place in the house of a certain Archippus (cf. Philemon 2).

... One further lesson we cannot neglect to take from their example: Every house can be transformed into a small church. Not only in the sense that, therein, Christian love, typically made of altruism and mutual care, should reign, but even more in the sense that the whole of family life, founded on faith, is called to revolve around the sole lordship of Jesus Christ.

Full sermon here.

posted by alexander @ 3:48 PM    1 comments

1 Comments:

Thank you for this great blog. Our church did a study on Aquila and Priscilla just a few weeks ago. I'm sure the pope would have been at home among us.

Phillip Walters
Yeppoon, Queensland, Australia
backyardbelievers.blogspot.com

By  Blog Keeper, at 12:51 PM  

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stories from basel
First a couple of stories from the Organic church consultation in Basel; Simon (front right in pic) from normal generation finds himself responsible for around 50 'organic groups' in Germany following a large youth event a couple of years ago. There are 5-600 youngsters involved and it was fascinating to see how they are grappling with what in effect was almost a spontaneous and certainly unexpected movement! This could well become a familiar situation for others in days to come.

Also wit us, though not in this picture as he had to leave early, was a Swiss evangelist who works mainly amongst new age types. Coming from a Salvation Army background he took over an old 'church' as pastor where they had seen no converts for 20 years; praying for a people group to reach God showed him the new age people who were not being reached by anyone. He began a series of talks in a central hall during which several were saved and one man healed of Hepititis B; since then he has travelled around the country taking part in new age/alternative fairs where he offers Christocentric healing, appearing on national TV and has a Christocentric healing room in his city where he prays for the sick. He has seen several cases of almost every well know incurable illness healed, all of which have been witnessed and documented by doctors. He was attending the consultation because over the years he found that many new agers who were coming to the Lord found it impossible to settle in an ordinary church, so he has begun forming clusters of new believers into small organic churches.

posted by alexander @ 1:24 PM    0 comments

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promise of things to come
Right, we really are back now!

A new season has begun and over the next few weeks I will be catching up, by phone, email and face 2 face with as many contacts in the UK who I know are involved in planting simple,organic, home churches. As I do this I will attempt to report and reflect on what has been going on around the country over these past 6-12 months. Have things continued to grow and develop? Are some of the first organic churches showing any signs of reproducing? Are the non-churched being reached at all? What have people been learning?

I will also share some of the new stories I hear along the way.

I have a sense of anticipation as I begin this review, and although I'm expecting the developments to have been relatively small and slow, I still have a quiet excitement in my spirit about what lies ahead.

I have a number of things to post on immedately, not least of which was the 2 days I spent with about 15 german speaking organic church planters in Basle, Switzerland last week. So, more on that shortly.

It's good to be back in action.

posted by alexander @ 12:26 PM    0 comments

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