222 Simple Church Multiplication

SimpleChurchMultiplication
AnEmergingMethodologyto Fulfil TheGreatCommission

Discussionpapercirculatedby222Foundation,anorganizationwitha visionfordisciplingnations.
Updatedversion:31Oct06
Contents
ASURVEYOFTHEGLOBALSIMPLECHURCHMOVEMENT................................................ 2 INTRODUCTION DEFININGTHE SIMPLE CHURCHMOVEMENT............................................................ 2 CHURCHPLANTING MOVEMENTS (CPMS)AROUNDTHE WORLD ............................................................ 2 PERCEIVED NEEDFORTHIS MOVEMENT ................................................................................................ 6 PUTTINGBIBLICALPERSPECTIVESINTOPRACTICE............................................................... 7 TRADITIONSUNDERPINNINGTODAYSCHURCH ...................................................................................... 7 JESUSTHE CENTRE ............................................................................................................................... 9 CHURCHASACOMMUNITY ................................................................................................................. 10 CHRISTIANMEETINGS ........................................................................................................................ 12 EVANGELISMANDMISSION ................................................................................................................. 13 LEADERSHIP ....................................................................................................................................... 15 PRAYER.............................................................................................................................................. 16 HOWTO STARTA SIMPLE CHURCH ...................................................................................................... 17 SIMPLECHURCHNETWORKSANDCELLGROUPCHURCHES .................................................................... 17 CHALLENGESFORTHESIMPLECHURCHMOVEMENT......................................................... 19 CRITICISMOFHOUSECHURCHES ......................................................................................................... 19 OTHERCOMMONOBJECTIONS .............................................................................................................. 19 THECHALLENGEOFKEEPINGUNITY .................................................................................................... 20 AVISIONFORTHEFUTURE........................................................................................................... 22 WHATCANTRADITIONAL CHURCHESDOTOUSETHISSTRATEGY?......................................................... 22 200 MILLION SIMPLECHURCHES ......................................................................................................... 23 ANNOTATEDBIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................... 25 BOOKSONORDIRECTLY RELEVANTTO SIMPLECHURCHES / HOUSE CHURCHES / CPMS........................ 25 OTHER BOOKS .................................................................................................................................... 28 WEBSITESANDMAGAZINES ................................................................................................................ 29 ENDNOTES.......................................................................................................................................... 30
Copyright 222Foundation,2006. Allenquiriesto 222vision@gmail.com
ASurveyoftheGlobalSimpleChurchMovement
IntroductionDefiningtheSimpleChurchMovement
1 Simplechurch isonetermthathas beenused forachurch movementthatisrapidly pickingupmomentumaroundtheworld.Manyothertermsarealsoused.Housechurch homechurchorganicchurchandmicrochurchareothercommonones.ChurchPlanting Movement (CPM) is a term used for a rapidly multiplying group of churches, usually simple churches. In this paper, the terms simple church and house church are used pretty much synonymously, with CPM being used to describe rapidly growing movements.
Aguidingprinciple istokeepthechurchsosimple in itsorganizationthatanybeliever could respond by saying I could accomplishthat.The prime value of the movement, accordingtoproponents,isitsbeingcentredexclusivelyaroundthepersonofJesus.For example,Coledefineswhathetermstheorganicchurchmovementasthepresenceof Jesus among His people called out as a spiritual family to pursue His mission on this 2 planet . Othervaluesheldinclude:imitatingtheNewTestamentpatternandavoidingallbutthe simplest structures church being like a family listening to God and being HolySpirit dependentastrongemphasisondiscipleshipandnewchurchesplantingtheirownnew 3 churchesveryquickly .Simplechurchesdonotusuallyhaveprofessionalclergyortheir own building the most common meeting place is a private home but many simple churchesmeetinbusinesspremises,restaurants,coffeebars,parks,lockerrooms,student 4 unions,orwhereverpeoplenaturallygather .Thereisnooneorganizationorindividual whowouldlayaclaimtostartingorbeingtheprimespokespersonforwhatistermedthe GlobalSimpleChurchMovementinthispaper.ButitdoesseemthatGodhasspoken in a similar way to many groups around the world and there is a great deal of commonalityandnetworkingamongstthevariousgroups. Afurtherwordaboutdefinitionsthispaperdoesnotpresentsimplechurchnetworks as the answer to fulfilling the Great Commission only Jesus Himself is the answer.ButJesusdidsaylovetheLordyourGodwithallyourheart,soulandmind. InsofaraswearetoloveGodwithourminds,weshould,Ibelieve,considercarefullythe resultsandeffectivenessofwhatwedotofulfill Hiscommission.Itisinthisspiritthat simplechurchnetworksarepresentedasamethodology.
ChurchPlantingMovements(CPMs)aroundtheWorld
HousechurchesinChina
Thereisnobetterillustrationofwhatcanbedonethroughsimplehousechurchesthanin themassivegrowthoftheundergroundchurchinChina.In1949,whenthecommunists took over the nation, it has been estimated that there were approximately 700,000 5 Christian believers . Then the government expelled all western missionaries, forced ChinesemissionariestorenounceChristianityandmandatedseculareducation.Christian believers had to meet in secret, and some groups met in spite of huge persecution and
risks throughout the painful period of the early communist repression and the Cultural Revolution. Fiftyyearslaterestimateshaveputthenumberofbelieversat70millionor morea100foldincrease. Even during the harsh repression of the Cultural Revolution, groups met together and grew. After the Cultural Revolution finished, growth started to accelerate. House churches multiplied rapidly. Evangelists met in fields, graveyards, orchards, barns and caves.Theseevangelists had noseminarytraining,but justsimply sharedthegospelas they received it. Lu Zhenying (Brother Yun) describes how he evangelized in rural 6 areasinHenanProvinceinTheHeavenlyMan .FilledwithzealfortheLordandhunger for the fullness of God, he read and memorized the Gospel of Matthew. He recited the gospeltovillagers,whothenbecamezealousChristiansthemselves.Hemaintainedthat God guided him by dreams, visions and prophetic revelation. From the early 1980's Fancheng and other emerging networks of house church Christians trained evangelists 7 and send them out in pairs far and wide around China . They made a commitment to evangelise every province in China. Today the Fancheng network alone is estimated to haveover10millionbelieversmeetinginitshousechurches. To this day there are rapidly growing networks of house churches in China. All commentatorsagreethatthework inChina isanawesomesovereignworkoftheHoly Spirit, perhaps the most significant expansion of the church ever. Yet at least two additional keys to growth stand out: the meetings in private homes, thus avoiding the expense and change of focus required in building ownership and the taking of responsibility for the work by nonacademically trained, ordinary believers. The networksjoyfullyfundtravellingchurchplantersgoingtonewareaswiththeGospel.But mostofthehousechurchesthemselvesareledbyworkingmembers,whohavearegular 8 jobaswellasleadingthechurch .Whiletheolder,largernetworksofhousechurchesin China may not seethemselves as partof the new generation simple church movement, they certainly have many of the features of simple churches, and have provided much inspirationtothinkingonsimplechurch.
HousechurchnetworksinIndiaandotherAsiancountries
IndiaHugenumbersofsimplechurchesareproliferatinginIndiatoday.Onenetwork ofchurcheswas startedbyDrVictorChoudhrie in1995. A nationallyknownChristian surgeon, he decided that a radically new approach to Gospel work was needed if India wastobesignificantlyimpactedfortheKingdomofGod.Abandoningmedicalwork,he started a networkof simple churches with no paid clergy, no buildings and no Sunday services. Major values were personal mentoring, authentic relationships, prayer and commitment to reach all the villages of Madhya Pradesh. Most churches have been started by some supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit such as a healing or a deliverance. In 2004 Choudhrie was reported asestimating 3500 churches planted with 9 70,000believers . Aninitiative inUttarPradeshStatestartedin2003has ledtotheconversionoftensof thousands of new believers and some 2700 new house churches. Around 1,800 church plantersarereportedly involved inthisproject,whichaimsatplantingone million new
churchesby2010.Pairsofchurchplantersgotoprayinvillages,introducethemselvesto the mayorofthe villageand ask ifthere areprayerneeds.Theythen fastandprayand preachthegospeluntiltheyfindahouseofpeacewheretheowneropenshishousefor prayer.Thistypicallyhappensasaresultofahealingorobviousanswertoprayer.When thefirstpeoplecometofaithinJesustheyareimmediatelyinstructedonhowtofollow 10 him.Itisestimatedthattherearealready24,000housesofprayerinthestate . AnothermovementincentralIndiaamongstatribalpeoplegrouphasbeendocumented 11 by a Southern Baptist assessment team, and reported on in November 2005 . This movementhasgrowninfouryearstoover3100housegroupsandover70,000believers. SouthernBaptistmissionarieshavebeenattheforefrontofadvocatingCPMstrategiesin many parts of the world, as their International Mission Board has made a strategic decision to recognize CPMs as something God is doing at this juncture of salvation 12 history .Theyhavemuchtocontributetotheunderstandingofthesubject,astheyhave beencarefultodocumentthegrowthofCPMsaccurately.Assessmentteamsaresentout torandomlyauditclaimsofhousechurchesmeetings,numbersofbaptisms,effectiveness ofevangelism, mentoring,trainingandother factors.Fortunatelytheyarealsohappyto sharetheirexperienceandcooperatewithotherdenominationsandgroups. AlsoinIndiatherehavebeenreportsoftraditionallystructuredchurchesplantinghouse 13 churches as a new mission strategy. The Living Waters Full Gospel Assembly held a celebration forhousechurch leadersattheendofOctober2004.FromNovember2001 they had adopted a strategy of house church planting to more rapidly penetrate the surrounding area with the Gospel. In a threeyear period they were able to plant 1400 housechurches,attendedby10,000believers.Thehousechurchleaderswerechallenged to grow to 5000 house churches and 50,000 believers by 2007. One hundred and fifty pastorsfromover25denominationswereinvitedtothecelebration.Allwerereportedly amazedattherapidgrowth.Mosthadearlierrejectedthehousechurch model butwere then requesting training for house church planting. The organizers were confident that housechurchplantingwouldbecomeamissiologicalmodelfordisciplingnations.
st At the 1 Asian House Church Conference in August/September 2006, Daniel Samuel, whoisresearchingadoctoralthesisonhousechurchandmission,madeapresentationon thecurrentpositionofthehousechurchmovementinIndia.Hebelievesthatsince1995, 14 some190,000housechurcheshavebeenplantedinIndia .
Other areas in Asia and the developing world There are many other reports of rapidlygrowingchurchplantingmovementsinvariouspartsoftheworld.Herearesome briefreferences: Bangladesh Tens of thousands of Muslims have come to faith in Christ through a rapidlymultiplyingCPM.ThemembersoftheJamatssimplechurcheswithMuslim background believers call themselves Isahi Muslims Muslim followers of Jesus. Distinctiveaspectsofthemovementareitshousechurchstructure,withanaverageof15 25memberspergroup,andits flat leadershipstructure,withemphasisonevangelism andchurchleadershipbeinginthehandsofordinarybelievers.Themomentumforthis movement,whichhasbeenverywellandmeticulouslydocumentedbySouthernBaptist
assessmentteams,haspredominantlycomefromMuslimconvertswithaburdenfortheir 15 ownpeople . BurmaTonyCollis, fromFollowers'NetworkinNew Zealand,visitedBurma inDec 2004/Jan2005.Alocalpastorwhohadalreadyplanted12churchesovertheprevious20 yearswasenthusiastic abouttheprinciplesofCPMs,seeing inthisstrategy a meansof multiplying the effectiveness of Gospel work. A large group was gathered to hear an introduction to the principles. Within 18 months, over 100 new house churches started 16 and a large number of salvations were recorded . The latest report in September 2006 putthenumberofchurchesatover1000. CambodiaThis has beenthe sceneofawelldocumentedchurchplanting movement initiallyfacilitatedby SouthernBaptistmissionariesR.BruceandGloriaCarlton,priorto their involvement with the third Indian example given above. Rather than planting a churchhimself,CarltonspenthisfirstyearmentoringindepthsixCambodianbelievers, whoeachthenplantedachurch.Numbersofchurchesapproximatelydoubledeveryyear, and in2000therewere220churches.Carlton leftCambodia forseven months in1995, andduringhisabsencethenumberofchurchesgrewfrom47to66.Thisconvincedhim hecouldleavethenationalleaderstotheirowndevices,andsoheleftCambodiaatthat 17 point, while remaining in contact with the leaders to act as a mentor and helper . Vietnamalsohasrapidlygrowinghousechurchnetworks. Africa Church planters Roland and Heidi Baker, have used many simple church principles in developing the huge growth of the church planting movement they have facilitated, initially in Mozambique, and now spreading to 12 countries in southern Africa. Relatively new converts eagerly receive a minimal amount of training and are 18 sent out to plant churches and 6000 churches have been planted in four years . Encouraging signs in Africa are also being seen amongst the Maasai of Tanzania and 19 Kenya, where Maasai church planters and leaders are being raised up . Other church planting movements or house church networks have been documented on every continent.
Housechurchnetworksanddevelopedwesterncountries
While the most spectacular growth of simple church networks has been seen to be occurringintheunevangeliseddevelopingworld,peopleareformingsimplechurchesin UK, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and other developed, Christian or post Christian nations. It seems that in the USA simple churches are emerging as a major forceonthereligious landscape.Time magazine hascoveredthephenomenonofhouse churches,andmanyinternational conferencesarespringingup. In his book, Revolution, George Barna (who has been described as the most widely quoted Christian leader in America because of the credibility and sound methodology behind his polling) outlines survey results showing that the number of American Christianswhoseeatraditionallystructuredchurchastheprimarymeansforexpressing their faith is declining rapidly. There is a corresponding huge increase in the numbers who see their faith as being primarily expressed through what Barna describes as
alternative forms of faithbased community, in which he includes house or simple churches,homeschoolingassociations,marketplaceministriesandformsofinvolvement with media and the arts. This trend is so powerful that he estimates that by 2025, participation in traditional local churches, simple churches and media/arts/culture based ministries will be about equal, with approximately 3035% of American Christians 20 expressingtheirfaithprimarilythrougheachofthesealternatives .
21 A new Barna study has found that 9% (approximately 20 million) American adults attendahousechurchinanygivenweek(thishasgrownfrom1%inthelastdecade).The study estimates that morethan 70 million adults have at least experimented with house church,and20%attendatleastoncepermonth.Amongthosewhoattendchurchofsome type,5%attendahousechurchonly,and19%attendbothaconventionalchurchanda housechurch.
Barnascommentsareasfollows: The house church now appears to have reached critical mass in the United States. Analysts typically find that once a new tool or institution reaches 15% market penetration,andhasevidenceda consistentorgrowinglevelofaffirmationforatleast sixyears,thatentityshiftsfromfadtotrendstatus.Atthatpoint,itbecomesapermanent fixtureinoursociety.Today,housechurchesaremovingfromtheappraisalphaseinto theacceptancephase.Weanticipatehousechurchattendanceduringanygivenweekto double in the coming decade, and a growing proportion of house church attendees to adopt the house church as their primary faith community. That continued growth and public awareness will firmly establish the house church as a significant means of faith experienceandexpressionamongAmericans. However,thiskindofgrowthisnotbeingseeneverywhere.InmanycountriestheCPM /simplechurchconceptisverynewandlittleknown.Somehousechurchplantersreport littleinterestinthepotentialofthiskindofchurchstrategy. UniversityCampusesSimplechurchnetworkshavebeenfoundtobeaveryeffective way to reach young people. Jaeson Ma, a young man with a deeply held desire to effectivelyreachyoungpeople,starteddynamicevangelismonuniversitycampuses.He found that many students responded to Gospel outreaches, but were resistant to then joininglocalchurches,whichseemedtothemtobeveryculturallyalientotheirwayof life and thought. Jaeson found that when he organised the students who wanted to be Christiansintosimple,Biblicallybasedchurchesoftheirownoncampus,theworkwas 22 much more effective . Other ministries have also adopted this approach with considerablesuccess.
PerceivedNeedforthisMovement
We see simple churches, house churches and church planting movements grow, in pioneer mission fields, and in developed nations. But what is the background of this growth?Whyissomethingnewnowneeded? AtthestartofhisdevotionalclassicTheNormal ChristianLife,WatchmanNeewrites, the normal Christian life . is something very different from the life of the average
23 Christian . He was of course referring to the Christian life held to be normal by the New Testament writers, not about the Christian life regarded as normal in the 1930s, whenthebookwaswritten.Thisperceptionhasnotchanged.Manycommentatorsonthe th st Churchinthe20 and21 centurieshaveexpressedgreatdissatisfactionwiththelevelof spirituallifeamongstChristiansingeneral.Isthisjustasituationthatwehavetoaccept as inevitable? When we read the Bible, there is no sense that the average Christian believer was just content to live in maintenance mode, paying his or her dues and leadingalifereasonablyindistinguishablefromtherestofsociety.IntheBookofActs, thebelievers arerecordedas livingaChristian life fullofpoweranddynamism. When standardsslipped,believerswerefirmlywarnedbytheirleaders.Today,itiscommonto blame the believers themselves for a lukewarm attitude, citing lack of prayer and diligence.Butisthereawaywecanconductchurchwhichismoreconducivetodynamic Christianlives,andwhichwillhaveagreaterimpactonunevangelisedpeoples?
In Revolution, Barna takes the perspective that we should be able to measure the effectivenessofachurchmethodbythequalityofdisciplesitisproducing.Inachapter 24 entitled How Is the Local Church Doing? , based on interviews with bornagain, 25 churchgoingChristians intheUS,hefoundthefollowing: 80%ofallbelieverssaytheyhavenotexperiencedaconnectionwithGodduringthe service Half of all believers say they have not experienced a genuine connection with God duringthepastyear The typical churched believer will die without leading a single person to faith in Christ Only9%ofchurchedbelievershaveaBiblicalworldview,andmostspendlesstime readingtheBiblethanwatchingtelevisionandreadingothermaterial The typical American Christian will give less than 3% of his/her income, will not allocatetimetoservingothers,willnotpraywithhis/herfamilyathomeortrainthe familytobespirituallymature. th st Many feel that the conventional church in the 20 and 21 centuries tends to produce congregantswhoarespectatorsratherthandisciples,andthatthetypicalchurchisunable to significantly reach out to nonbelievers. In the developed, Christian or post Christianworld,thismeansasteadilywaninginfluenceofChristianthoughtinsociety andeverdecreasingattendanceatchurch.Inunevangelisedsocieties,missionariesfound that conventional mission methods were unable to keep up with population growth. By contrast, simple churches can multiply like rabbits, as some CPM trainers have commented.Thesizeofsimplechurchesmaybeverysmall,buttheyhavetheabilityto 26 quicklyreplicatethemselves.
PuttingBiblicalPerspectivesintoPractice
Traditionsunderpinningtodayschurch
Manyscholarshavecommentedthatafirstcenturybelieverwalkingintoachurchinthe st 21 centurywouldbeentirelybewilderedbywhathewouldfind.WilliamBarclaywrote: TheCelebrationoftheLordsSupperinaChristianshomeinthefirstcenturyandina cathedralinthetwentiethcenturycannotbemoredifferent.Theybearnorelationshipto
27 each other. For example, if we start with the word translated as church in our st English Bibles, ekklesia, we find that 21 century usage has departed a long way from thisBiblicalconcept.ThewordintheGreekmeansacalledoutassemblyofpeopleand isusedinonlythreecontextsintheNewTestament:thechurchthatmeetsinsomeones 28 29 30 house the church that meets in a locality or city and the universal church . The modernusagemeaningadenominationsuchastheBaptistChurch,theAssemblies ofGodChurch,ortheCatholicChurchwouldhavebeenunknowntoNewTestament 31 Christians,andinfactwouldhavebeen alien toPaulsthinking .
Evenmorestrikingisthemodernusageofthewordchurchforabuilding,ausagenot envisaged by first century Christians. In Acts, Stephen specifically declares The Most 32 Highdoesnotliveinhouses(purposebuilttemples)builtbymen. Thetempleofthe 33 New Testament was made of living stones ie people . Purposebuilt Church buildingsthemselveswereunknowntofirstcenturybelievers,andonlystartedtobeused inthefourthcenturyunderConstantine.Duringhistime,thewholeethosofChristianity changedafteritbecamethestatereligionofRome,theworldsmostpowerfulempireof 34 the time, instead of a persecuted minority . After an exhaustive study, comprising extensive exegesis of New Testament texts, and consideration of first century archaeology, Gehring concludes that early Christian ministry and worship took place either predominantly or exclusively in private houses, using a room which would be madeavailableatspecifictimes forChristianworship,butwhichwasanormalpartof 35 thelivingareaofthehouse . Anumberofwritershavetracedthesourcesofsomeof ourotherchurchtraditions.More work needs to be done in this area but it would certainly appear that many of our unquestioned practices have no Biblical basis. Even churches that pride themselves on beingfreeandmodernhavemanyhardlyvisible traditionsthatareeverybitasfixedas the traditions in the older denominational churches. The modern order of worship (greeting/ prayer / singing / announcements / offering / sermon / some postsermon activities such as altar call, communion, or singing / closing announcements / benediction)hasbeenshowntohavederivedfromPopeGregorytheGreatsMassofthe sixthcentury,withrevisionsmadebyLuther,Calvinandlaterreformers,ratherthanona 36 Biblicalbasis .Thepractiseofacongregationstandingandsingingwhentheclergyor Pastor enters seems to have been borrowed from the ceremonial courts of the Roman th 37 emperorsofthe4 century .Themodernconceptofaneducated,salariedandseparate clergyisverydifferentfromthetypeofleadershipportrayedintheNewTestamentand manyfeaturesofthemodernsystemoriginatefromthetimeof theEmperorConstantine. Constantine,usingChristianitytounifyhisempire,appointedstatesalariedprieststodo theworkofministryinstatefundedbuildings,andanalysishasshownthatmanyofthe vestiges of what he established still remain in even the most modern as well as in the 38 traditionalchurches . Manythinkers haveadvocated justgoing backtothepattern intheBibletosolveall our church woes. This paper does not take the view that that can occur in a simplistic way.TheNewTestamentwaswritteninthecontextofasocietyofitstime.Forinstance, one reason the New Testament strategy of evangelising a whole household was so
successfulwastheimmenseinfluenceandpowerheldbytheheadofthehouseholdover familymembers,clients,familyassociatesandslaves,whichisnolongerthesametoday. Norwouldwewishtoreturntoasocietywithslaves,togivemaximumeffectivenessto 39 exactly reproduced New Testament strategy . Nevertheless, we can prayerfully and thoughtfully examine our current strategies alongside Bible strategies and see what wisdom and guidance from the scriptures we can apply. Many simple church practitioners have attempted to do this. Zdero has shown that the Biblical apostles 40 expected their churches to follow the ways of doing things that they laid down . A common theme running through simple church literature is the attempt to emulate Biblical practiceaswellasBiblical doctrine.
JesustheCentre
ItisobviousinthefirstcenturychurchoftheNewTestamentthatJesuswasthecentreof thechurch.IamtheWay,theTruthandtheLifeareHisfamouswordsinJohn14:6. The Old Testament had prepared the way for Him. He said tothe Pharisees, who were greatBiblescholars,Youdiligentlystudythescripturesbecauseyouthinkthatbythem youpossesseternallife.ThesearethescripturesthattestifyaboutMe,yetyourefuseto 41 cometoMetohavelife. Howmanyofustoday,asindividualsoraschurches,study the scriptures, thinking we have life, but yet do not come to Jesus in an authentic and meaningful way so that we have life? In the Bible the meetings were filled with the 42 43 manifest presence of Jesus . Jesus Himself spoke personal messages tothe churches . 44 Jesus,throughtheHolySpirit,waspresentinamanifestwayinthechurchcommunity . 45 Jesus personally directed evangelism . He directed missions and appointed 46 47 missionaries . He appointed church leaders . The whole church was obviously intimatelyrelatedtoHimineveryfacetofitsexistence.Anyotherwaywouldhavebeen unthinkable. Todayhowever,thisisoftennotthecaseinthechurch.Theinstitutionhastakenonalife of its own to the extent that one writer said that if the Holy Spirit left, noone would notice!Whereisthecentreofattentiontoday?Isitonabuilding,oraseniorpastor,ora programme,oracommittee,oratypeofmusic?Ifitisonanyofthese,wearemissing themark.Simplechurchliteratureaboundswiththedesiretogetbacktotheplacewhere JesustrulyisthecentreandtheHeadofthechurch.FelicityDale,whowithherhusband TonyisoneofthemostvisibleproponentsofsimplechurchintheUSAtoday,tracksthe remarkable progress of a simple church planter who took some quite unanticipated directionsashelistenedtoJesusinprayer,andexperiencedGodusinghimtoestablisha networkofvitalChristianrelationshipsacrossaregion.ShecommentsJesusneedstobe our primary focus, pleasing Him our highest calling, communicating with Him the 48 heartbeatofourexistence . Ifwecandothis notonlyas individuals,butaschurches,wewill beabletorisetothe placewhereGodwantsHischurch.Neil Cole hasadelightful accountofatimewhere some church leaders paid for him to fly to Japan to assist them develop some simple churchstrategiesfortheirnation.HefeltJesustellinghimthathewasnttolaydownan agendaforthemeeting,whichwastofocusonlyonJesusandtowaitforHiscounsel.He tellsofhistrepidationinexplainingthistohishosts,whohadinvestedseveralthousands
ofdollarsinpayingforNeilstrip!Buttheoutcomewasfarinexcessofanythinghehad expected:whenJesuswasaskedtotakechargeoftheproject,Hebroughtarealsenseof His presence and power and a result far beyond anything that could have been 49 accomplishedbyahumanmanagementprogramme .Violamajorsonthedifferencethis approachmakesinameeting:Suchmeetingsaremarkedbyincrediblevariety.Theyare not bound to a oneman, pulpitdominated pattern of worship. The overarching 50 hallmarkofthesemeetingsisthevisibleHeadshipofChrist.
Churchasacommunity
As touched on above, the New Testament church was a community of people whose overwhelmingpreoccupationinlifebecamerelationshipwithGodandrelationshipwith eachother.CommunitywasGods idea fromthestart,asHe,JesusandtheHolySpirit existed as the first, eternal community, and, incredibly, one of Jesus final prayers was thatthebelieversshouldhavethesamequalityofcommunityandonenessastheFather, 51 Son and Holy Spirit . Jesus said thatthe way the world would recognise His disciples 52 would be by their love for one another . Christian community is the place where we keep the flame alive among us and take it seriously, so that it can grow and become 53 strongerinus .
Authenticrelationships,transparency,informality
The first disciples fleshed this out by devoting themselves to the apostles teaching praying, worshipping and prophesying together eating together and sharing their lives 54 together .Thecommunityaspectofchurchisverysolidlywoventhroughthelanguage oftheNewTestament:weareseenasthehousehold(Gk=oikos)ofGodChristians arecalledbrothersandsisterswearechildrenofGodandbornintoHisfamily, 55 andshouldthereforerelatetooneanotherasafamily .TheNewTestamentthinkingon communityfindsitsfullestdevelopmentinPaulsletters,andisveryfullydiscussedby Robert Banks. Banks concludes by observing that, while Paul recognised that the New TestamentChristiansfailedtoliveuptothefullmeasureofhisdirectives,hemeanthis prescriptions to be practical instructions, able tobe lived out fully with the help of the 56 HolySpirit,and notjustabstractidealism .Banksexplores howtofleshthisout,with 57 somedescriptionofcontemporaryhousechurchesinAustraliainafurtherbook . Most simple churches are attempting to embody these values of authentic Christian community.Authenticrelationships,transparency,informalityandminimalstructureare reflected in meetingsandorganisation,and,at leastintheory,relationshipsareputasa higher priority. As one simple church network founder said, In dealing with church issues, I always try to think of how I would deal with this issue if it occurred in my (natural) family, rather than in a corporation. Most Christians are familiar with the scripturesportrayingthechurchasafamily,buttheactualrealityinthemodernchurchis that this aspect of our Christian faith often only goes skin deep. However, the one anotherscripturesintheNewTestament,ofwhichthereareatleast40plus,tellushow 58 GodwantsHispeopletoliveincommunity . A further aspect of informality and community is that simple churches can fit into indigenousculturesandbecontextual.StevePeacewrites:Whilebeingverycarefulto
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remain biblically pure, it is critical that we minimise the obstacles to salvation and discipleship. Eg If a traditional cultural practice has no negative effect, though it be unusualtowesterneyes,itsok.Asimpleexampleofthiswouldbesittingontheflooras 59 opposedtousingchairsorpewswhengatheredforworship.
Useofhousesasmeetingplaces
The early church was greatly helped to embody its life as the family of God by its practice of meeting in private homes. Archaeological evidence shoes that the typical entertainingroomofamoderatelywelltodofamily,wherethemeetingswouldbeheld, wasbigenoughforabout30people.Thiscouldbeextendedtoabout40or45ifextras weresqueezedinforawholechurchmeeting,oratmostupto60ifthemeetingspilled 60 outintotheatrium .Banksuses hisextensivescholarshiptoreconstructthesceneofa typical church meeting of those times. A visitor is impressed by the lack of formal religiosityaboutthemeeting,thenaturalnessofthepeople,andthefact,revolutionaryfor 61 thosetimes,thatslavesaretreatedwithrespectaspeoplewithfeelingsandimportance . Modernhousechurchesorsimplechurchesoftenmeetinhomes,butthisdoesnothaveto bethecase.Asmentionedpreviouslytheycanmeetinanytypeofvenue.Theacceptance of any venue for a meeting does have a number of implications. Venues are usually private,therebyavoidingcostandadministration.Ratherthanhavingagoalofbecoming large, the goal of the simple church is to multiply, and form new groups, that will themselves form other groups. As the group remains small it can retain the personal intimacy of New Testament Christianity. Once the mindset of Christians is changed, multiplicationofhousechurches becomesquiteeasy:thecommunityaspectis intimate, natural and rewarding, and the huge barriers to multiplication presented by the costs associatedwithasalariedministerandpaymentforabuildingaregone.Thisishowthe Christian movement grew in the first three centuries it was essentially a living room movement. Ordinary people gossiped the Gospel and their neighbours and associates were impressed by their style of life. One saying is common in the microchurch movement as it has come to be called in New Zealand: The main thing is to keepthe mainthingthemainthing.
Finances
Simple churches have found that because of the lack of fixed expenditure on buildings and salaries,theyare freetogivedirectlytomissions andcharitableactivity.Monetary giftscanbeandaregiveninmanysimplechurchestomembersofthechurchwhohave some pressing need or problem. In simple churches, all sorts of needs of members are metbythegenerosityofothermembers.InNewZealandthemalemembersofasimple churchpaintedthehouseofasolomotherwhocouldnotaffordtodoanythingabouther increasinglydilapidatedhouseherself,andhadagrowinganxietyabouttheproblem.Ina simplechurchinHongKong,thechurchwasabletomeettheneedofaFilipinadomestic helperwhohadgotherselfintodeepfinancialtroublethroughborrowingfromamoney lender.Becausethechurchcommunityissmallandintimate,thememberscanknowifa needisgenuine,andunderlyingcausesofproblemscanbeministeredtopersonallyand sensitively.
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Researchhasshownthatintheaveragetraditionalchurch,atleast80%ofgivinggoesto theorganisationbecauseofitshighfixedoverheads,butsimplechurches,withoutthese overheads, are also better able to support evangelistic and charitable work. One small networkofsixhousechurchesinTexashasbeenabletocontributeoverUS$1millionto 62 missionsandneedycausesin13years anotherhousechurchinAustraliahasbeenable tosupportanorphanageandBibleschoolforBurmeserefugeesinThailand.
ChristianMeetings
TheNewTestamentdoeshavemodelsformeeting,especiallyin1Corchapters1214, butalso,forexample,inEph5:1920,Col3:16andHeb10:25.Itisobviousfromthese scriptures that the New Testament meeting was not directed by a programme, or dominatedbyoneleaderorpreacher,orachoirormusicteam.Ineveryexampleallthe believers participated actively, and were enjoined to collectively take responsibility for themeeting.In1Cor14:26,itsaysWhenyoucometogether,everyoneofyouhasa psalm,hasadoctrine,hasatongue,hasarevelation,hasaninterpretation.Letallthings bedoneuntoedifying.InstudyingtheBiblicaltextsonChristianmeetingsthefollowing featurescanbefound:spontaneityeverymemberparticipationintimacy,withGodand amongthebelievers.
Contemporarysimplechurchmeetings
The most common type of meeting in some simple church movements is the open meeting, where everyone is encouraged to contribute. These meetings are unstructured andhavealotofvariety,withchurcheslookingtothedirectionoftheHolySpiritinthe running of the meeting. Participatory Bible study is often a feature of these meetings. Meetings are also held for training, and some, though not all, networks have a larger, celebrationtypemeetingwhereseveralsimplechurchesornetworksjointogether. Informality and eating together are often emphasised in house church literature and teaching. One conference speaker summarised Acts 2: 4147: the first believers had teaching together prayed and prophesied together shared their lives together and ate together.Headvocatedthisassimplechurchlifenothingshouldbeaddedorsubtracted 63 fromthis . Meetings are of three types in one Australian network organisation founded by Stuart 64 Gramenz . The first type is meeting for edification and exhortation. Believers gather with an agreement: we are are here to help each other come intothe image of Jesus. The meeting isunstructuredandovera meal.Maturebelieversareencouragedtoshare what Jesus has told them during the week and how they have heard from him newer believers share on what Jesus has done for them during the week. The second type of meeting is a training meeting. Network leaders know that nothing will happen in meetingsunlesstheindividualbelieversaretrainedtoexpecttohearfromGod.Thethird type is a celebration when all the network gathers together to celebrate what God has done.Thiscelebrationhappensoncepermonth.Gramenzandothersalsoarguethatthe meetinginitselfisnotthegoalinitself.Thepurposeofthemeetingisthatbelieversedify each other and encourage each other to live a life of being moulded into the image of 65 Christ. According to these simple church thinkers, the modern tendency of many to
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viewchurchasaSundayserviceinadedicatedfacilitywithasetformofprogrammeis quiteatvariancewiththeBiblicalpicture. Notallnetworkshavelargegatheringsorcelebrations.Forinstancesomeofthenetworks inIndiafindthattheresultantpersecutionfromtheHindumajoritymakestheholdingof large meetings impracticable. Nor were large celebrations or citywide assemblies necessarily part of the early church. Gehring, after discussion of the Biblical and archeological evidence, concludes that it is not likely that the Roman New Testament church mettogetherasalargegroup,butratherexistedasatleast sevenoreighthouse churchesinwidelyscatteredareasofthecity.
Communionasafullmeal
From the New Testament accounts of the last supper, and the 1 Cor 11 account of the communion,itisobviousthatcommunion,ortheLordstable,wereafullmeal.Itisheld as such in most simple churches. Simson describes the loss of rich significance of the Lord'ssupperwhen itceasedtobe heldasa full meal, butbecame asymbolicritual in th Constantine'sbasilicasofthe4 century.ThismeantthattheLord'ssupperwasasupper no more, and lost its powerful meaning, the unprecedented, revolutionary reality, of a redeemed people, irrespective of classes or caste, sharing real food with a prophetic meaning,havingdinnerwithGod,expectingHisphysicalpresenceatanytimejustlike 66 aftertheresurrection.
EvangelismandMission
ExaminationofPaul'sministryinActs1314showsthatPaultookamaximumof35 67 monthstoplantchurchesineachofPisidianAntioch,Iconium,LystraandDerbe .He hadnomusicians,noguitar,noNewTestament,nophotocopierandnobooks.Somein the communities may have had some access to some parts of the Old Testament. He initiallymadesomeconverts,andwentbackafterafewdaysorweekstoappointelders fromamongthemselvestotakealeadershiprole.Hethenleftthesenewchurchestotheir own devices for two to three years, after which time he returned during his second missionaryjourney.OnthistriphefoundthatTimothyhadgrowninthefaithsufficiently tobetakenonasafellowtravellingmissionary.HehadenoughfaithinGodtonurture the faithof newish believers sufficiently,so thattheycould beentrustedwith ministry andresponsibilityveryquickly. Indiscussingthispassage,aseniormissionaryinchargeofchurchplantinginarestricted country where tens of thousands of people are giving their lives to Christ every month saidhewouldlovetoknowthecontentofthetrainingthatPaulgaveinestablishingthese churches.Inhisopinion,thesinglemostimportantfactorinthecurrentgrowthwastoask each convert to immediately share their experience of Jesus with their closest family membersandfriends.Astheyaregivenmoreteaching,theyareagainaskedtoshareeach teaching as they learn it with the people they are close to. In this way, there are no spectators.Eachconvertisimmediatelyinvolvedinpassingontootherswhatheorshe has learned. In China, situations are known where believers of just some months' experience of the faith are leading house churches and indeed networks of house
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churches.Plantingchurcheswhichthemselvestakeresponsibilityforevangelisingothers andplantingnewchurchesisthewayofmissionforsimplechurchmovementstoday.
Evangelismbychurchplanting
Thisthinkingisnotalientoleadingthinkersonevangelisminourtime.Churchplanting has been demonstrated to be the most effective way to evangelise and make disciples. 68 Silvoso,WagnerandMontgomeryarethreewriterswhohaveadvocatedthisapproach Peter Wagner writes in the foreword of Silvoso's book That None Should Perish: I frequentlysaythatthemosteffectiveevangelisticmethodologyunderheavenisplanting newchurches.Thisisnotjustapersonalopinionoranapplicationofwhatweseeinthe Book of Acts, but it is also a scientific fact. Extensive research in evangelism and 69 missiology has confirmed its validity beyond any doubt. Silvoso and Montgomery have both advocated saturation church planting as the way to fulfil the Great Commission.BillBright,beforehediedin2004,launchedtheBillionSoulInitiative, inwhichheurgedallChristianstocooperatetocallonebillionpeopletofollowChrist 70 byplantingfivemillionhousechurches . Simple mathematics shows that simple church / CPM methodology is the only way to achieve this quickly. If one church planter plants 10 churches in a year, after 10 years he/she will have planted 100 churches. But if he/she plants two churches, but disciples themsothattheyeachplanttwochurchesthefollowingyear,andthistrendcontinues,at theendofthe10 years morethan1000churcheswill have beenplanted.Attheendof twenty years enough churches would have been planted to reach the whole worlds population. It is the recognition of this key factor of planting churches which will themselvesplant morechurcheswhich,perhaps morethananythingelse, marksoutthe 71 CPM/simplechurchstrategy .OneCPMtrainer,StevePeace,putitthisway:Never just plant a church! Always plant a church, that will plant a church, that will plant a 72 church,thatwill..
Strategy
Consciously maintaining Jesus as the Head of the Church and seeking His face as to direction does not mean that prayerful strategic planning is not used in simple church networks and church planting movements. Quite the opposite is the case. Jesus himself obviouslyhadastrategicplaninmindwhenhesentoutthe70disciplestoallthetowns intheareainLuke10.Today,strategicplanninghasbeenusedextensivelyinCPMsin 73 pioneer mission fields. CPM missionary training courses major on this aspect and examplesofthesuccessofthisapproacharereadilyavailable.Forexample,asmentioned earlier,theFanchengandotherNetworksinChinasawhugeresultsfromsystematically planningtosendmissionariestoalltheregionsinChina,andVictorChoudhrieandco workershaveseengreatresultsfromsystematicallyplanningtoplanthousechurchesin all the villages in Madhia Pradesh, India all 17,000 of them! The aspect of strategic 74 planningisnowstartingtobeemphasizedinWesternsimplechurchnetworks ,andwas promotedandtaughtatthe2005nationalhousechurchconferenceinDenver,USA.
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Leadership
ItwastheHolySpiritthatwasincontrolintheBookofActs.Wehavemisnamedthe 75 book by calling it the Acts of the Apostles, writes Neil Cole . Peter had no desire or plantobringtheGospeltotheGentilesbuttheHolySpiritdid.TheHolySpiritwasin charge.HumanauthorityintheNewTestamentforthechurchwasHolySpiritappointed, servant leadership. Leadership should be by example rather than hierarchical. Viola writesThevocabularyofNTleadershipallowsnopyramidalstructures.Itisalanguage 76 of horizontal relationships that includes exemplary action. David Newby, who has spokenatsimplechurchgatheringsinNewZealand,putsitthisway:Theearlychurch initially focussed on the function of ministry and the equality of all. The focus quickly 77 changed to an office for ministry and separated the office holder. This equality is referredtoinseveralscriptures,suchasMat23:8:Donotbecalled'mymaster'forone 78 isyourmasterorinstructor,andyouareallbrothers .Itisfurtherexemplifiedbythe factthatallthechurchepistlesintheNewTestamentwerewrittentoallbelievers.There isnolettertoTheSeniorPastoratCorinthorTheSeniorPastoratEphesus.
LeadershipinthemodernCPM
BalancedagainstthisistherealitythatGoddoesuseleaders.Pauldidcontinuetohave authority with the believers at Corinth, for example. But it was a relational authority, relying on persuasion and relationship, not authority to sign cheques or daytoday management authority. All modern CPMs are traceable to one Christian servant leader who provided the impetus at the beginning. Paul aimed to father other believers in the 79 faith , and leadership based on spiritual parenting and modelling is advocated and 80 provided by many leaders in the simple church movement today . The concept of spiritualDNAiswidelyused.JustasanaturalfatherormotherpassesontheirDNAto theirnaturalchildren,aspiritual fatherormentorpassesontheirDNAtotheirspiritual children.Inthisway anorganic movement is builtup whereallthe members sharethe vision,andeverybelieverisactiveandeffective.
Theweaknessofinstitutions
Thiscontrastswithaninstitution,wheretheorganisationisfiredonlybyvisionfromthe top,or,stillworse,fromthepast.Oneinfluentialauthorinthesimplechurchmovement hasbeenRoland Allen.AllenwasamissionaryinChinafrom1895to1903,andwrote hisbooksinthe1920s.However,hisideaswerenotacceptedinhisowntime,andhetold hissonthathiswritingswouldonlycomeintotheirowninthe1960s.Allenlistedsome oftheweaknessesofthemissionaryorganisationsofhisdayas: Men puttheirrelianceonmaterialsratherthanonGod Thereisstrifeovercontrolofmoney Wetrytoorganisespiritualthings,andareleaderswhereweshouldbefollowers ThecapacitytocontinuetheworkisascribedtotheorganisationratherthantoGod Big organisations immobilise workers and load them with responsibilities and worries Gods work is led by a paid professional class, a fact which saps the spontaneous missionaryzealofordinarybelievers. Hereisaquotefromamodernpastor:
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For years Ive tried to put my finger on it the reasons why I left the professional pastorate. And you know, more than anything, I think its this: I left my first love. Therealityisthatmuchofwhatwecallministrytodayisreallyadministration.Itsabout adding things programmes, strategies, and rules. In my 22 years as a pastor, I often administeredmorethanIministered,ifthatmakessense.IvecometoseethatIwasan 81 addministermorethanaminister Surely, many large Christian and church organisations exhibit what are in essence the sameproblemsashediagnosedintheinstitutionsofhisday. Institutions, including institutional churches, are always vulnerable to political manoeuvring,ortakeoverbysomegroupwithitsownagenda.Oneexampleistheway theNazis infiltratedtheLutheranChurch inGermany inthe1930s, makingsurepeople with German Christian views occupied all the positions of power in the church. This meantthatthechurchpassedregulationsrequiringallapplicantstopositionsofauthority were of pure Aryan descent. Persons with any fraction of Jewish descent didn't have anyopportunityofevenapplyingforaposition. 82 Anotherexampleisthemachinations of Jerry Falwell and his supporters to take over Jim Bakker's Praise the Lord 83 organisationdetailedinBakker'sbook .Theearlychurchinabsolutelynowayadvanced bythissortofpoliticking.Itadvancedbyfollowingthepatternsrevealedtotheapostles by God in the power of the Holy Spirit. The thinking of CPM and simple church visionariescouldguidethechurchintowhatAllentermedspontaneousexpansion.He defineditthus: ByspontaneousexpansionImeansomethingwhichwecannotcontrol.Andifwecannot control it, we ought, as I think, to rejoice that we cannot control it. For if we cannot controlit,itisbecauseitistoogreat,notbecauseitistoosmallforus.Thegreatthings of God are beyond our control.Therein lies a vast hope. Spontaneous expansion could 84 fillcontinentswiththeknowledgeofChrist:ourcontrolcannotreachasfarasthat. Ofcourseaworkwecannotcontroldoesn'tmeanthatthereisnocontrol.Paul'scontrol of the church at Corinth was based on relationship and spiritual authority. This is a different type of authority from the type of political control we have seen in the other examples.
Prayer
One thing that figures more than anything else in the New Testament churches is the sheeramountofprayingthey did. Zderopointsoutthatin ActstoRevelationthereare about 90 references to the believers praying, with even the actual words of the prayer recordedinseveralinstances.Bycomparison,muchlessissaidabouteitherpraise(about 85 fortyreferences)orsinging(about12references) .SouthernBaptistresearchhasfound, unsurprisingly, that extensive prayer is a sine non qua for church planting movements 86 thataretogrowrapidly . Manytypesofprayerarefoundinrapidlygrowingchurchplantingmovements.Spiritual warfare, prayer chains, committed personal prayer and prayer walking are four types. Testimonies of the effectiveness of prayer walking are plentiful. One collection of testimonies from India includes bars, gambling dens and video parlours being closed down one prayer walker reported a crack appearing in an idol in a Hindu temple after
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prayerwalking,ultimatelyresultinginthehealingandconversionofthepriestssonand 87 20 families . Felicity Dale describes a testimony of a church being planted in a rough 88 areaintheUSAasaresultofprayerwalking .
HowtoStartaSimpleChurch
There is a huge amount of material available now on how to start a simple church. Of coursethereisnoonewaytostart.Mostwritersagreethattheimportantthingistowait until the church starter feels the release by the Holy Spirit to go and do it. Lindsay Cofield, a simple church planter for 10 years outlines some simple steps on his Everywhere Church website, a great website for giving a flavour of just how simple 89 church can be . He majors on asking God to show the church starter which people he wantstoincludeinthechurch,andthenexercisingfaithtobelievethattheonethathave been invited are the people God wants toreach, emphasising that He (God) must have made them spiritually hungry. He outlines five basic things to include in the weekly gathering:friendshipandprayersupport(usuallywithameal)helpingpeopleinChrists name worship of God Bible truth for living everyone telling abouttheir journey with Christthisweek.Herecommendsthatgivingbepartofthemeetingeachweekandthat the group discuss what is done with the money, suggesting that, as a general principle halfshouldgotoachurchplanterordisciplertoenablethatpersontodevotemoretime tomakingdisciples,andhalftoaneedthatGodbringsthegroupsway.Anumberofthe websites listed in the bibliography have helpful and practical resources to help start a simple church. One great 24 page booklet showing how simple it can be, but giving a 90 memorableflavourofrelationalchurchisYourChurchatHomebyMolongNacua . Many writers warn, however, that starting simple churches may not be as easy as it sounds.WolfgangSimpsoncautionsthateveryonegoesthroughatransformationprocess 91 whentheyswitchfromtraditionalchurchmodelstothesimplechurchparadigm .
Simplechurchnetworksandcellgroupchurches
Somemightsaythatthesimplechurchmovementislikethecellchurchmovement.Itis truethat some of the values of community and small group dynamics expressed in the simplechurchmovementarealsofeaturesofthecellchurchmovement,widelyregarded ashavingbeeninitiatedinitsmodernexpressionbyDavidYonggiCho,foundingpastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church, Seoul, Korea. Key features of cell churches are small groups, meeting weekly with a goal of multiplication, expressing New Testament koinoniafellowshipbetweenmembers,andbeingseenasthebackboneofachurchthat 92 meetsweeklyforlargerscalecelebration .
93 Theclassicbookoncellchurch,WhereDoWeGoFromHere ,includesananalysisof the benefits of cell groups in penetrating a pagan culture which would be equally applicable to simple churches. Ralph Neighbour lists factors as: the presence of multiplying points of light within neighbourhoods sharing of the gospel by non professionals and meeting less resistance than would be the case with professionals people being set free from demonic strongholds in cell groups and the ability of cell groups to powerfully meet the needs of nonChristians. Helpful theology is also propounded by renowned cell church thinker, Bill Beckham, who emphasizes the
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94 importanceoftheimmanence,aswellasthetranscendence,ofGod .Hewritesthatwe needtoexperienceGodinthemidst,theintimaterealityofthepersonalGodamongst an intimate community of believers, which can only occur in the small group when believershavetheopportunitytoreallycometoknowoneanotherandbeaccountableto oneanother.
A development within the cell church movement is the G12 strategy which some fast growinglargechurcheshaveadopted.G12referstoprinciplesofcellgroupmanagement initiated by Pastor Caesar Castellanos of International Charismatic Mission (ICM), and focuses on each believer being encouraged to disciple 12 believers. Some missionaries following a CPM strategy have applied some of the G12 principles in their work. However,themajorityofsimplechurchpractitionersseemtothinkthatG12principles, especially as promoted by ICM, involve too much top down control. The G12 phenomenon has caused some controversy withinthe cell church movement, and many 95 cellchurchpractitionershavedisagreedwiththepositionstakenbyICM .Thisissueis 96 dealtwithatlengthbyComiskey. However,therearemajordifferencesbetweentheconceptsofcellchurchasithasbeen articulated by Neighbour, Castellanos and other likeminded exponents, and the simple 97 church concept. For example, one church planter, Paul Gustitus, transitioned a traditionalprogrammebasedchurchintoacellchurch,butseesanotherchangecoming, seeingthehousechurchnetworkasaGodgivenvisionforanewwineskin.Wolfgang 98 Simsonarticulatesthedifferencesbetweenthetwoconcepts .Someofthedifferenceshe seesare: Leadership is still centralized and ultimately topdown in the cell church concept, whereasinthesimplechurchmodelitisdecentralizedandabletomakewayforthe Biblicalideaofapostlesandelders The cell is an important part of a larger entity, whereas the house church does not organizationally belong to a larger unit but it should be partof an interdependent networkofsimilarchurches. Incellchurchesthereisusuallyafairlysetagendaforeachcellmeetingwhichmeans thatthecellchurchisstilllargelyprogrammebased,whereasthehousechurchideally is more able to respond spontaneously to the leading of the Holy Spirit. The house church should be part of an apostolic network where the fivefold ministry of Ephesians 4 is operating, resulting ideally in input from all the ministry gifts. The networkconceptallowstheseministriestoemerge. Simplechurches mayappealtoGenerationXersandsimilar,whowill bealienated bycorporateinstitutions The house church network, or loose movement of many networks, escapes the bureaucracyandcareerisminevitablewithalargeorganization,andisnoncontrolling ofthemoveofGod. Simsonseesthecellchurchasahalfwayhouseonthejourneyofthedevelopment fromconventionalchurchstructuresintonetworksofsimplechurches.
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Challengesforthesimplechurchmovement
CriticismofHouseChurches
Ofcourse,notallcommentatorshavebeenpositiveaboutthehousechurchmovement. Acomment made bya numberof missionariesreturning frompioneer mission fields wheresimplechurchesarethenorm,has beenthatChristians inthedevelopedworld are often positive about the house churches they hear about in developing countries, but not open to similar churches operating in developed countries. One US article accused housechurchparticipants intheUSAoflackingdiscipline intheir meetings, and of refusing to follow church leadership. It went on to say that house church participants have isolated themselves from input from the wider body of Christ, and that many have joined the house church movement from motives of rebellion and 99 refusal to accept Godly order as laid down in the Bible . One experienced house church planter responded to these objections by pointing out that spontaneous, free flowing meetings are what is taught in 1 Cor 1214 that by and large house church participants of his acquaintance were spiritual people, who have learned to hear the voiceofJesusandbeledbyHimthatmostknowwhotheireldersareandthatmost haveinputintotheirhousechurchbyoutsideapostolicorpropheticministries,andso 100 cannotbesaidtobeisolatedandinsular .
Othercommonobjections
Dealingwithheresy
Perhapsthemostcommonobjectiontosimplechurchmovementscouldbeexpressedlike this:Howcanyouassurethatyourbelieverswillbefreefromheresyiftheyaretaught bynonseminarytrainedleaders?.NeilColeanswersthisbysayingthatthebestdefence against heresy is not to have better trained leaders in the pulpits but better trained 101 peopleinthepews .CPMandsimplechurchpractitionersacknowledgethedangerof heresy.JesussaidthereshallarisefalseChristsandfalseprophets...(Mat24:24).But mostdonotbelievethatseminarytrainingisadefenceagainstit.Colecontinuesaslong asourleadersareconsideredgatekeepersoftruthweleavethemajorityofGod'speople inthedarkandtheyaresusceptibletoleaderswhodothethinkingforthem...Elsewhere he complains that it is very common that believers in the conventional church, having beennurturedundersystematicteaching,believetheycannotunderstandGod'swordfor themselves. Seminary..is a relatively new phenomenon in church history and I would venturetoguessthatwehavenothadlessheresysinceitsinvention.Insimplechurch thereismuchmoreemphasisonbothindividualandparticipatoryreadinganddiscussion ofGod'sWord.OneexperiencedCPMmissionaryinarestrictedcountrysaidthat,inhis experience, as long as the believers are focussed outward and praying and working towardsevangelisingtheirownpeopleandsharingtheGoodNews,heresydoesn'tarise. When they become inwardly focussed, and neglectful of the lost, then heresies start to develop.
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Traditionalexpectations
Othercommonobjectionscentrearoundtraditionalexpectationsofachurch.Inpioneer mission fields, it can happen that young believers are happily engaged in planting churchesfromhousetohouseastheyhavebeentaught.Thentheycomeacrossavillage where a conventional church has been planted, with a building and perhaps a salaried pastor.TheymaybetoldYourchurchisnotaproperchurchithasnobuilding.Your pastor is not properly trained at a seminary. Even trained missions workers or pastors cancomeupwiththeseobjectionsfornootherreasonthantradition Ithasalwaysbeen done this way. Yet when challenged to produce a Biblical reason for these kinds of objections,theyareunabletodoso. These objections of course also surface in developed countries. Many feel they are not going to a proper church if it meets in a home. When faced with the demands of transparencyanddiscipleshippresentedbyparticipation in housechurch, manyprefera polishedprogrammeofferedbyavisiblecorporateorganisation,wheretheycanbemore anonymous and perhaps entertained without feeling demands placed on them. Increasinglythough,intheUSA,peopleareattendingbothtypesofchurch. Alltheseobjectionsofcourseplaceobstaclestogrowthtothesimplechurchmovement. But, as we saw in the first section of this study, the concept is gaining momentum in manyplacesaroundtheworldandhasprobablyreachedthetippingpointwhereitcan only grow. As commented earlier, this growth is not being seen everywhere. In many countriestheconceptisstillverylittleknown. Sometimes challenges are posed for simple churches by the demands of societies for marriage documents, baptism certificates required for attendance at Christian school or foraChristianfuneral,orforotherpurposes.Growthdoessolvemanyofthesetypesof problem also,asthenetworksgrowinresources.
Thechallengeofkeepingunity
PerhapsthechallengeofkeepingunityisthebiggestchallengefacingtheHousechurch movement.TherealityisthatGodseemstohavespokentomanydifferentgroupsabout churchstructureandmethod,andtheyhavestartedindividualhousechurchesorsimple churches, or networks or movements of simple churches along very similar lines. However, all these groups come from totally different backgrounds, and have differing ideasonmanyissues.Allthedifferentdoctrinesanddifferentemphasesthathavedivided denominations over the centuries probably have their adherents in the simple church movement.Someexamplesfollow:
TheHolySpiritandspiritualgifts
Thecharismatic/noncharismaticdivideisthebiggestdoctrinaldifferenceinthesimple church movement today. At the 2005 National House Church Conference in Denver,
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USA,RollandBakerwasoneofthemainplatformspeakers.Heisperceivedasbeingat theextremeendoftheprocharismaticspectrum,withTorontotypemanifestationsof thegiftsoftheSpiritbeingmanifestedduringhisministrytime.Thiswasagreatjoyto somewhofoundrealspirituallibertyandexuberanceinhissessions.However,toothers withanevangelicalbackground,thesessionswerearealstumblingblock.Theissuewas dealtwithverydiplomaticallybytheorganisers.OnemeetingwithBakerwasdescribed asaspecialinterestmeeting,notpartoftheprogrammebutopentothosewhowished toattend,andonethoughtfulplatformdiscussionwasheldonhowtodealwithdoctrinal differences. The speakers were Neil Cole, from an evangelical background, and Tony Dale, from a charismatic background. Nevertheless, it was obvious that there was a seriousdoctrinaldivision,andmanydelegatesdidnotattendsomeofBakersmeetings. Duringtheplatformdiscussion,NeilColesaidItwouldbeatragedyifnextyearthere aretwonationalhousechurchconferences,acharismaticoneandanoncharismaticone. As events have turned out,there are nottwo separate conferences attime of writing in 2006.Butclearlythepossibilitywasthere. The issue about charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit is a live one all over the world. In China, in the 1980s, Denis Balcomb, an American born Hong Kong pastor, taught the doctrines of the baptism and gifts of the Holy Spirit to the Chinese house church networks.Mostofthemajornetworks(egFancheng,Tanghe)acceptedtheteachingbut 102 some (eg the Born Again network of Xu Yong Ze) did not accept it . Within the SouthernBaptistdenomination,involvementinchurchplantingmovementshasresulted in struggles to stay united over doctrines on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. One Southern Baptistchurchplanterconfidedthathehadtobecarefulabouttalkingtoomuchaboutthe roleoftheHolySpiritinCPMsbackintheUSA,orriskbeingthoughtacharismatic andlosinginfluence.YettheCPMsstartedbySouthernBaptistmissionariesaretypically led in a majorway bytheHolySpirit,exercisespiritualwarfare intheHolySpirit,and experience miracles of healing and deliverance. They may differ with Pentecostals and Charismaticsovertheplaceofspeakingintongues,butthetwogroupsseemtobeableto forgeawayofworkingtogether.
Women
Another issue with potential to divide is the issue of womens participation in ministry and meetings. Probably the vast majority of house churches and simple churches have never considered the idea, held by some, that women should not be able to participate fully inmeetings,worshipandleadership.Ofthosewhohaveconsideredtheidea,most would appear to encourage active participation by women in leadership and ministry. Simson, for example, enthuses that women need to be right at the centre of the 103 church . Viola points out that the practice of Jesus was overwhelmingly to include womeninHisparables,conversationsandministry(apracticecontrarytotheprevailing normincontemporaryJewishsociety),andwritestoencouragewomentotakethehigh 104 place accordedtothem byGod .Ontheotherhand, Atkerson,anotherwellrespected writeronhousechurch,appearstoadvocate,onthebasisof1Cor14:3335,thatwomen 105 haveatleastsomerestrictionsplacedontheirspeakinginhousechurchmeetings .
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Differentemphasesinapproach
Some have noticed a tension between those who advocate simple church as a more effectivewaytoreachthelost,andthosewhoadvocatesimplechurchasamoreBiblical 106 way to order churches and experience participation of every member . Not only in networks but in individual house churches, there are seemingly intractable differences. Violawrites:Ihavewatchedmanyhousechurchesandsimplechurchesstruggletokeep theunityofthefaith.IveseenmanyofthemsplitduetounresolvedconflictsoverGods will. On top of that, Ive watched house church leaders have bitter fallingouts over 107 theologicalandpracticaldifferences. Hegoesontogivehissolution,which, briefly expressed,istomeetaroundthepersonofJesusChristratherthanaroundadoctrine,and tobeopentothedifferentwaysGodspeaks. WatchmanNee,acknowledgedasahistoricalpillarintheChineseChristianmovements, had wisdom to share on this and other issues in his writings on church life. Topics he covered in great depth relating to unity of the church included the role of apostles the church of a city how to handle doctrines and his thoughts on the place of 108 denominations . Many other simple church writers and speakers have addressed the topic of unity. If unity is attained or maintained among all the disparate elements that makeupthesimplechurchmovement,itwillbeasuredemonstrationindeedthatitis trulytheworkofGodthatagrowingnumberofthinkersbelieveittobe.
AVisionfortheFuture
Whatcantraditionalchurchesdotousethisstrategy?
Differentattitudes have beenexpressed bydifferentcommentatorsonthe house church movement as to whether house churches can work effectively alongside traditionally structuredchurches.SomesimplechurchpractitionerssimplyadvocatethatallChristians 109 shouldmerelyleavebehindtheinstitutionalchurchandjoinorstartasimplechurch . However, this is not true of the majority. At the other end of the spectrum, Larry 110 Kreider compares megachurches with supermarkets, community churches with general stores, and house church networks as shopping malls, where each shop is independent,butwherethemallactingtogetherisaneffectivemarketingentity.Hesees aplaceforeachtypeofchurchandrecommendsallbelieverstoparticipateinthechurch God has called them to. Fitts argues that no Christian should have an us and them mentalitywhenconsideringotherChristians.ThisappliestosimplechurchChristiansas well as anybody else, and they should avoid an us and them attitude when 111 considering Christians in the institutional church . Other commentators extol the ecclesiology of house church networks, and call for reform across the Body of Christ, whiledesiringtomaintain dialoguebetweenthedifferenttypesofchurch,andtocontinue toworkwithtraditionally structuredchurches. There are now many instances of traditional churches fruitfully working along with simple church networks.TheSouthernBaptistDenomination has been mentionedasan example of fruitful CPMs being resourced initially and facilitated on a denominational scale. Some individual large churches are becoming involved in fruitful work planting simple churches / CPMs. Saddleback community Church, founded by Rick Warren, is
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usingtraining materialsdeveloped by House2houseMinistriestoreachoutinthe flood 112 hit New Orleans area . The Living Waters Full Gospel Assembly in India has been mentioned earlier. Another example with documentation on the web of a somewhat traditional church intentionally applying CPM principles is Xenos Christian Fellowship 113 in the USA . Some more traditionally structured churches in the Philippines are 114 applyingCPM/simplechurchprinciplesandplantinghousechurches .Moreexamples arebecomingknownallthetimeaschurchesandbelieversrealisethepotentialofthese concepts. ThereappeartobethreelevelsonwhichtraditionalorcellchurchescouldadoptCPM/ simplechurchstrategies: 1.Carry on unchanged, but release individuals in the congregation to plant simple churcheswiththecongregation'sblessingandinitialgettingstartedsupport 2.Plant simple churches / facilitate a CPM in another area or unevangelised mission 115 field 3.ConsiderthestructureofthechurchandhowCPM/simplechurchprinciplescouldbe 116 applied .
200MillionSimpleChurches
Somebody said the worst thing in life would be to spend all ones life climbing up a ladder,andthen,attheend,findthattheladderwasleaningagainstthewrongwall.The ideasofthe simplechurch movement may appearrevolutionarytosome, butsurelywe shouldbepreparedtoexamineourwaysofdoingchurchnexttoscriptureandcurrent fruitful practice and be prepared to put some of our cherished ideas on the altar before God.Onethemeofchurchplantingmovementtrainingistoseetheendvisionbeforeit 117 hascometopass .Goddoesthis(Rom4:17).OnevisionarywhodoesthisisWolfgang 118 Simson . He has worked out that to reach the world's population in a personal, relational way, 200 million simple churches would be needed. The only way anything likethiscouldbeachievedisbyselfmultiplyingchurchplantingmovements.According to Southern Baptist research, these movements could consist of Christian groups which 119 arepuresimplechurches,andothergroupssuchascellgroupsusingsimilarprinciples OncethedynamicofCPMsisunderstood,thegoalbecomesbelievable.SouthernBaptist assessment teams have researched in great detail the universal features of these movements. Without exception, every rapidly multiplying movement they have 120 discoveredhasthefollowing10features : 1. Prayer:prayermustbeplentiful,foundationalandfervent. 2. Abundant sowing: every church planting movement which is rapidly multiplying includesabundantsowingoftheGospel.Ifyousowabundantlyyouwillalsoreap abundantly. This sowing often relies heavily on mass media evangelism but it always includes personal evangelism with vivid testimonies of the life changing poweroftheGospel. 3. Intentional church planting: in every CPM someone has initiated a deliberate policy of planting churches. The effectiveness of dynamic evangelism can be multipliedbyaddingadeliberatechurchplantingstrategy. 4. Scriptural authority: in every rapidly growing movement, the Bible has unquestionedauthorityoverpolicyandoverlifeitself.
23
5. Local leadership: missionariesorleaders involved inachurchplanting movement must coach church planters rather than just plant their own church. This coaching andforexamplemodellingofparticipatory,evangelisticBiblestudyisveryvaluable inlayingthefoundationofthemovement. 6. Layleadership:CPMsaredrivenbybivocationallayleaders.Oftensomepaid leadersemerge,butthemajorityarenonpaidleadersotherwisealeadershipdeficit quicklyemerges. 7. Housechurchesorcellchurches:accordingtotheSouthernBaptistresearchboth these types of churches feature in rapidly growing movements. Sometimes both typesworksidebysideinthesamemovement.Overall,housechurchesaretypically moredynamic,andbetterabletoresistpersecution.Cellchurchesareeasiertoshape andguidetowardsdoctrinalconformity. 8. Churches planting churches: ordinary church members must believe that reproductionisnatural,thattheycandoitthemselves,andthatnoexternalaidsare neededtostartanewchurch. 9. Rapidreproduction:onlyrapidreproductionofchurchesreallycommunicatesthe urgency of coming to faith in Christ. Once rapid reproduction is attained it feeds itselfwithitsowndynamicmomentum. 10. Healthychurches:onlyhealthychurchescansupportarapidlygrowingmovement. Churchhealthismarkedbyahighqualityof: worship evangelisticandmissionaryoutreach educationanddiscipleship ministry fellowship. AgrowingnumberofcommentatorsareseeingCPM/simplechurchprinciplesasaway intotheabundantharvestmanyhavebelievedforinthelastdaysbeforethereturnofour Lord Jesus Christ. This paper urges study and application of these principles, to maximizetheharvest,andtohelpmovetheBrideofChristclosertobeingtheBridefit fortheKing.
24
AnnotatedBibliography
Books on or directly relevant to Simple Churches / House Churches/CPMs
Aikman,DavidJesusinBeijingRegneryPublishing2003Averythoroughandwide rangingaccountofthechurchinChinabytheformerTimeMagazinenewsbureauchief in China. Includes coverage of the house church networks, the Government registered Three Self Church, the Catholic Church, both registered and underground. Aikman undertook hundreds of interviews to assemble this account, which is put together followingacceptedjournalisticpracticeforveracityanddocumentation. Allen, Roland The Spontaneous Expansion of the Church 1962 World Dominion Press. Many missionaries and missions agencies are discovering Allen today. A missionary in China in 18951903, he himself predicted that his thoughts would not be heededuntilthe1960sbutwhathewroteaboutthechurchofhisdayspeakstodaywith extraordinaryrelevance. Atkerson,Steve(ed.)Ekklesia2005NTRF(www.ntrf.org).Athoughtoutscriptural analysisofmanychurchandhousechurchissues. Atkerson,Steve(ed.)TowardsaHouseChurchTheology1996NTRF.Athoughtout Biblicalcaseforhousechurch. Baker, Rolland and Heidi There is always enough 2003 Sovereign World. The inspiringstoryoftheBakersministryamongstthepoorestofthepoorinMozambique. Banks,RobertGoingtoChurchintheFirstCentury1980SeedSowers.Afascinating st fictional reconstruction of a 1 century church meeting, based on Banks thorough scholarship. Banks, Robert Pauls Idea of community 1994 Hendrickson Publishers, LLC. Very thoroughandscholarly,buteasytoread ananalysisofPaulsthinkingoncommunity. Banks, Robert and Julia The Church Comes Home 1986 Albatross books Pty Ltd. Contains some great practical advice on running a house church, plus interesting descriptionsofcontemporaryAustralianhousechurches. Barna,GeorgeRevolution2005TyndaleHousePublishers.Barnahasbeencalledthe mostquotedChristianauthorintheUSandthemethodologicalbasisofhisorganisations surveysisextremelysound.TheinformationaboutreligioustrendsintheUSinthisbook isdynamite,nomatterwhatyourpointofview,andmarkssomethinglikeanearthquake intheChristianlandscape.Thisbookisamustread,evenifyoudoreachsomedifferent conclusions from Barna. See also the Barna Organisation website for updates, www.barna.org . Carlton, R Bruce Acts 29 Practical Training in Facilitating Church Planting MovementsAmongtheNeglectedHarvest Fields2003RadicalObediencePublishing. A great course by a man whose ministry has been used by God to initiate CPMs with literally thousandsofbelievers.Acts29Trainer'sGuidealsoavailable. Carlton, R Bruce Amazing grace Lessons on Church Planting Movements from Cambodia2000MissionEducationalBooks,Chennai.ApersonalaccountofCarltons workinestablishingaCPMinCambodia. Carlton,RBruceProjectThesalonica2003RadicalObediencePublishing.Aslightly amendedversionofActs29 whichisdesignedforachurchwantingtosponsororinitiate
25
amissionsprojectinanothermissionfield.MoreinformationonProjectThessalonicaon www.neglectedfields.net. Cole, Neil Cultivating a Life for God 1999 ChurchSmart Resources. A detailed description of Coles rationale and methodology behind Life Transformation Groups. NeilColeisoneofthemostsoughtafterspeakersonSimpleChurchandanexperienced churchcoach.BasedintheUSA,hisorganizationhasfacilitatedthestartingofabout800 newsimplechurchesinaround6years. Cole, Neil Organic Church, Growing Faith Where Life Happens 2005 JosseyBass. OrganicChurch maywell becomeastandardworkonstartingsimplechurches.Packed with scriptural principles and practical methods, the book also offers a fascinating glimpseintoColesjourney. Collis,TonyMicroLeadershipUnlockingSmallGroupDynamicsforSeriousChurch Growth 2003 Jubilee Resources. A very concise practical guide to running Micro churches Tony Collis has played an important role in developing and promoting the conceptofsimplechurchinNewZealand. Dale, Felicity An Army of Ordinary People 2005 Karis Publishing An outstanding record of the testimonies of about 20 participants in the simple church movement, and commentaryonscripturalprinciplesbehindtheirsuccesses. Dale, Felicity Getting Started: A Practical Guide to Planting Simple Churches 2005 KarisPublishing.Referredtointhetextisthecoursemanual.TheGettingStartedcourse kit consists of a set of DVDs for 6 group training sessions, homework audio CDs, the manual, and recommended reading for each participant, Felicitys book An Army of OrdinaryPeople.Itisanexcellentcourseforpeoplewantingtostartasimplechurch, andisbeingusedinmanycountriesincludingUSA,Pakistan,Burma,andmanyothers. Dale,TonyandFelicitySimplyChurch2002KarisPublishing.ThefirstoftheDales' persuasive and highly readable prescriptions for simple church. Short (109 pages) and simple. Edwards, Gene How to Meet in Homes A revolution in spiritual depth and in the practiceofchurchlife1999SeedSowersPublishing.Edwardsisalongtimepractitioner st of1 centurystylechurchplantingwhereanitinerantchurchplanterreplacestheroleof themodernpastor.Heplantsachurchthenmoveson,leavingthechurchunderitsown leadership. Fitts,RobertTheChurchintheHouse2001PreparingtheWayPublishers.Available asafreepdfdownloadfrom www.robertfitts.com .RobertFittshasavisionforthefour H'sHousechurchHousesofhealingHousesofprayerandHomeBibleschool. Garrison,DavidChurchPlantingMovements2000InternationalMissionBoardofthe SouthernBaptistConvention.Nowalsoavailable ina muchexpanded newedition,this book is full of examples of CPMs around the world, and explanations of the principles thatmakethemwork.Garrisonisinagreatpositiontobeabletogathertheinformation asSouthernBaptistmissionariesinallregionsfollowtheseprecepts,andwillinglyshare theirexperiencewithotherdenominations,agenciesandindividuals. Gehring,RogerW.HouseChurchandMission2004HendricksonPublishers.Avery thorough scholarly investigation of the Biblical and archeological evidence for house churchesinChristianityinthefirstcentury,andthecentralityofthesehousechurchesto themissionoftheearlychurch.
26
Gramenz, Stuart Beyond Tradition 2005 ebook published on Spiritled Network website.Stuarthasaneasytoreadstyleofwritingandsomegreatthoughtsonthespirit led life and microchurch networks, based on his own considerable ministry experience. ICEL (International Centre for Excellence in Leadership) International Mission board, Southern Baptist Convention Stimulating and Nurturing Church Planting Movements2001.CourseavailablefromInternationalMissionBoardwww.imb.org Kreider, Larry House Church Networks House to House Publications 2001. Larry Kreider founded a large cell group church in the 1970s, yet his thinking on church continues to evolve, and in this book he gives his reasons why house church networks willmeetauniqueneedintheyearstocome. Kreider, Larry The Cry for Spiritual Fathers and Mothers 2000 House to House Publications.Goodpracticalteachingandinspirationonhowtobeaneffectivespiritual mentor. Liu Zhenying (Brother Yun) with Paul Hattaway The Heavenly Man 2002 MonarchBooks.ThetestimonyofBrotherYun,anitinerantworkerintheChineseHouse churches.Fullofremarkablemiraclesandstoriesofthegrowthofthechurches,thebook is endorsed for veracity by credible Chinese leaders Xu Yongze and Zheng Rongliang, andanumberofverycrediblemissionarysourcesincludingPaulHattaway. Montgomery,JimThentheEndWillCome1997WilliamCareyLibrary.Thefounder ofDawnMinistriesgiveshisthoughtsonchurch planting,the imminentreturnofJesus andworldevangelism. Nacua,Molong:YourChurchatHome.Agreatlittle24pagebookletshowingjusthow simpleitcanbe,privatelyprintedbyMolong,thefoundingfacilitatorofsomeexciting, fast growing networks of hosue churches in Cebu, Philippines. Contact molong.nacua@gmail.com Nee,WatchmanTheNormalChristianChurchLifefirstpublished1939Republished 19972006 by Living Stream Ministry www.ministrybooks.org/collectedworks.html Morewidelyknownforhisindividualdevotionalclassics,Neespenetratingthoughton church life is as relevant today as it was when first published. His conversion was in 1920,whenhestartedwritingandministry.HewasjailedbytheChinesecommunistsin 1952untilhisdeathin1972. Nee,WatchmanFurtherTalksonthe ChurchLifeFirstpublished1951Republished 1997byLivingSteamMinistry.Additionalthoughtsonchurchlifeafterafurther12years ofministryfollowingpublicationof TheNormalChristianChurchLife. Newby, David M The Bubble Will Burst 2004 Team Ministry International. David Newby looks at hierarchical leadership in the modern church and contrasts the New Testamentleadershipmodel.Contactemail:teamministryint@yahoo.com Rutz, James H The Open Church 1992 The SeedSowers. A very readable and thoroughlyresearchedpleaforrestorationoffull participationoflaychurchmembers inworship,teaching,edificationofthechurchandindecisionmaking. Simson, Wolfgang Houses that Change the World 1999 Paternoster Publishing. Perhaps the best known classic articulation of the newly emerging house church movement.WolfgangSimsonisknownaroundtheworldasavisionaryandmotivatorfor housechurchmovements.
27
Viola,FrankPaganChristianity:TheOriginsofOurModernChurchPractices2002 PresentTestimonyMinistry.Violaisaprolificwriterandthinkeronhousechurchissues, withakeenmindtothinkchurchthroughscripturally,andawidereadingknowledgeof church history. He has over 15 years of experience in guiding groups through the practicalissuesofparticipatinginhousechurches. Viola, Frank Rethinking the Wineskin the Practice of the New Testament Church 2000(?) Present Testimony Ministry. A very cogently argued, no punches pulled, expositionoftheNewTestamentChurch. Viola, Frank The Untold Story of the New Testament Church 2004 Destiny Image Publishers. A chronological handbook covering the New Testament and background information. Viola, Frank Who Is Your Covering A fresh Look at Leadership, Authority and Accountability 2001 Present Testimony Ministry. A powerfully argued corrective to controllingleadershipinthemodernchurchandtheclergylaitydivide. Yuan Zhiming The Cross Jesus in China 2003 China Soul for Christ Foundation www.chinasoul.com DVD documentary. An enthralling 4 hour documentary on the Chinesechurches,playableinEnglishorMandarin Zdero, Rad The Global House Church Movement 2004 William Carey Library An excellent and balanced scholarly and pastoral introduction to the house church movement, with ringing endorsements from a wide range of accepted leaders in the current house church movement including Wolfgang Simson and Victor Choudhrie an astonishingdepthand breadthofcommentandtheologyinonly140pageswitha huge numberofscripturalandotherreferences.Thebookcanbeusedasatrainingmanualfor housechurchleadersandhasdiscussionquestionsaftereachchapter.
OtherBooks
Cellchurch
Beckham,WilliamATheSecondReformation1995TouchPublications.Wellknown expositionofthetheologyofchurchcommunity,alotofitrelevanttosimplechurchas wellascellchurch. Comiskey,JoelFrom12To3HowtoApply G12Principlesin YourChurch2002 TouchPublications. JoelComiskey isoneofthebestknownand innovativewritersof books on cell church, with a strong research emphasis, and independent of the various streamsthatmakeupthecellchurchmovement. Comiskey,JoelHomeCellGroupExplosion1998TouchPublications.Anenthusiastic andwellresearcheddiagnosisonwhatmakescellgroupsmultiply. Neighbour, Ralph W Where Do We Go From Here? 1990 Touch Publications. The classic modern manual on cell church by a man seen by many as the father of the cell church movement in the West. Outdated in some respects but still has some great material.
General
Nee,Watchman TheNormalChristianLife1957TyndaleHousePublishersInc. Gorman,JulieACommunitythatisChristian AHandbookonSmallGroups1993 BakerBooks
28
Bakker,JimIwaswrong:TheUntoldStoryoftheShockingJourneyfromPTLPowerto PrisonandBeyond KieslingAngelaJJaded2004BakerBooks,U.S.A Miller,SusanMartinsDietrichBonhoefferBethanyHousePublishers2002 Silvoso,Ed That noneshouldperish1994Regalbooks
Websitesandmagazines
BacktoJerusalemmovement www.backtojerusalem.com Amustvisitsite,with mustorderbooksintheshop.IntroducesthevisionoftheChinesehousechurchesto completetheGreatCommission. DawnMinistriesNorthAmerica/simplechurch www.dawnministries.org/regions/nam/simplechurch Goodresourcesandarticlesonthis site.DawnNorthAmericaareworkingcloselywithHouse2houseMinistries.Muchother goodmaterialonotherDawnregionsalso. Everywherechurchwww.everywherechurch.com .LindsayCofield,thecreatorofthis sight,writesafter20yearsofformalpasturing,and10yearsofparkinglot/home/truck stop/apartment/coffeeshopchurches,Isharethissimplesummaryoflifeexperienceson howanysoldoutbelievercanplantthetrueBodyofChristinagroupof overlooked friends.Greatideasanddownloadstohelpyoustartyourownsimplechurch. EmpowerMissionwww.empowermission.org SteveandRosePeacessite.Empower GramistheirregularnewsletterwithinterestingstrategyandnewsofCPMsamong indigenouspeoples,availableonrequest. Every Home a Church www.everyhomeachurch.blog.co.uk . Philip Edwards site. Much thoughtful comment from Philip and responses from others. Philip has been a major thinker on simple church in New Zealand, and has mentored hundreds in their journeytodiscoveranewtypeofChristianexperience. House2housewww.house2house.com House2houseevolvedfromthecollaborationof threehousechurchnetworksinTexas,andwiththeencouragementofleadersaroundthe world, the House2house magazine was launched. House2house also organize simple churchconferencesintheUSA.Agreatnumberofhighlyinterestingandtopicalarticles onthesite,withcomments. House2house UK www.simplechurch.uk . Peter Worthington, an enthusiastic house church pioneer, has established a great site here, with many useful tips and great resources. Iris Ministries www.irismin.org Website of Roland and Heidi Baker, who have a thrillingministryinsouthernAfrica.Veryinspiringplentyofgreatphotographs. NeglectedFieldswww.neglectedfields.net AsiteonCPMs inSouthAsia.Download theProjectThessalonikavideohere. PresentTestimonyMinistrywww.ptmin.org WebsiteofFrankViola.Manyinteresting articlesandbookshop.Greatlistofscoresoflinkstoothersimplechurchsitesandother sitesofinterest. SitesUnseenhttp://zoecarnate.com.ScrolldownthroughanumberofChristiantopics (all interesting in themselves) until you get to Relational home church life, and subsequentlyArticlesonhomechurchand related.A breathtaking listofresourcesand articlescouldbealifetimesstudyinitself!
29
Spiritled Network www.spiritled.com.au Website of Stuart Gramenz, founder of a network of microchurches in Australia. Free downloads of some of Stuarts books available. Xenos Christian Fellowship www.xenos.org A largeish US church applying CPM principles.
Endnotes
1 2
ForexampleinthetitleofDaleFGettingStarted Cole,OrganicChurch,p53 3 www.house2house.com 4 Cole,OrganicChurch,p23Zdero,p2 5 YuanZhimingTheCross JesusinChina 6 LiuZhenyingpp3341 7 Aikman,p77 8 Kreider,p41 9 Zdero,p 71 10 www.house2house.comReportfromIndia:2700NewHouseChurchesposted15/6/2005 11 TheEdgeofLight,vol7,no7,26Nov2005.NewsletterofchurchplanterRBruceCarlton,obtainable fromauthor. 12 ICEL,p4 13 www.house2house.com HousechurchcelebrationJoshuaP nameschangedbutveracityattestedto byTonyDale.Articleposted2004.
14 st Presentationat1 AsianHouseChurchconference,Manila,31Aug 2Sept,2006.Minutesavailableon requestfromauthor. 15 house2housemagazine,issue9,p8privateconversationswithmissionaries 16 DetailsofthismovementareinreportsissuedbyCollisavailablefromauthor. 17 Carlton,AmazingGrace,210 18 Baker, Thereisalwaysenoughalso www.irismin.org privateconversationswithmissionaries 19 Garrison,p32 20 Barna,Revolution,ch5 21 Publishedonwww.barna.org ,released19June06.Basedonaweightedsampleof5013adultsacross theUS.Marginoferror+/ 1.8%at95%confidencelevel. 22 House2housemagazine,issue9,p25 23 Nee,TheNormalChristianLife,p11 24 Barna,Revolution,ch4 25 BarnasdefinitionofabornagainChristianchurchgoerisanindividualwhohasconfessedhis/her sins,askedGodforforgiveness,acceptedJesusChristassaviour,isconfidentofsalvationsolelybecauseof thesalvationextendedtohim/herbyGod,andparticipatesinthelifeofaChristiancongregationregularly. 26 EmpowerMissionwww.empowermission.org EmpowerGramNo25,March/April06,availonrequest. 27 QuotedinCollis,p24 28 EgRom16:51Cor16:19Col4:15Philemon2 29 EgActs11:221Cor1:22Cor1:1Col4:16Rev2:12:82:122:18etc 30 EgMat16:18Acts8:31Cor15:9Col1:18Heb12:23 31 Eg1Cor1:1013 32 Acts7:48 33 1Pet2:5 34 Rutz,p46Viola,PaganChristianity,pp97137 35 Gehring,p288 36 Viola,PaganChristianity,pp3571
30
37 38
Viola,PaganChristianity,p299 Viola,PaganChristianity,pp141187Rutz,TheOpenChurch,pp4457Gramenz,BeyondTradition, ch2 sourcedfromRutzbutwithadditionalusefulcommentonthemodernministry. 39 Gehring,p300 305 40 Zderop54.Hecites1Cor11:22Thes2:151Cor11:16 41 Jn5:39 42 Eg1Cor14:2425 43 Revchs23 44 Mat28:20John14:23Acts2:4 45 Acts9:1016 46 Acts13:14 47 Acts20:28 48 Dale,AnArmyofOrdinaryPeople,p128 49 Cole,OrganicChurch,pp5152 50 ViolaPaganChristianity,p70 51 Jn17:2023 52 Jn13:35 53 Nouwen,HJM1987,Jan/FebTheSpiritualityofWaiting Weavings11,1citedinGorman 54 Acts2:42474:3237 55 DiscussedinThechurchthatmeetsinyourhomeEricSvendsoninAtkerson(ed), TowardaHouse ChurchTheology,pp2936.HecitesGa6:10Col4:71Jn4:21Phm2Rom16:21Jn3:1Jn1:12131 Tim5:12Rom16:13. 56 Banks,PaulsIdeaofCommunity,pp189192 57 Banks,TheChurchComesHome,egch6 Experimentsinprogress:currentmodelsofhomechurches. 58 Theycanbelookedupinaconcordance,orfoundinDale,GettingStarted,pp168171. 59 EmpowerMissionwww.empowermission.org EmpowerGramNo24Oct/Nov05,availableon request. 60 Banks,PaulsIdeaofCommunity,pp3436 61 Banks,GoingtoChurchintheFirstCentury 62 Article,HouseChurchNetworkGives$1Million,posted6/1/06onwww.house2house.com 63 WolfgangSimsonattheNew ZealandMicroChurchconference,Waikanae,Nov2003 64 SpiritledNetworkwww.spiritled.com.au 65 Gramenz,WeaponsofMassDistraction,egch14SpectatorChristianityViola,Rethinkingthe Wineskin. 66 Simson,p26.SeealsoViola,RethinkingtheWineskinGramenz, www.spiritled.com.au 67 Viola,TheUntoldStory,p73 68 Montgomery,egp22 69 Silvoso,introduction 70 EgBaptistPressNewswww.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=22592 71 Garrison,pp910 72 EmpowerMission,EmpowerGramNo23,July/Aug2005 73 Carlton,Acts29ICEL 74 Dale,AnArmyofOrdinaryPeople,p178 75 Cole,OrganicChurch,egch9 76 ViolaPaganChristianity,p146Violacites1Cor11:12Thes3:91Tim4:21Pet5:3 77 Newby,p49 78 SeealsoforexampleLuke22:256Eph5:211Pet5:13,5 79 Eg1Cor4:15 80 EgCarlton,Acts29,pp202206Cole,OrganicChurch,ch9Kreider,TheCryforSpiritualFathersand Mothers 81 Kiesling,p100 82 Miller 83 Bakker 84 Allen,p13
31
85
Zdero,p27.HecitesActs1:2462:424:243116:25Eph6:1820Phil4:67Col4:241Thes2:8 andotherscriptures. 86 Carlton,Acts29,p224ICEL,p11 87 ReportfromIndiaarticle 15/6/05onwww.house2house.com 88 Dale,AnArmyofOrdinaryPeople,pp7987 89 EverywhereChurchsite www.everywherechurch.com 90 Nacua 91 EgcommentsmadebySimsonat2004microchurchconference,NewZealand,andatotherconferences. 92 Comiskey,HomeCellGroupExplosion,pp17,28,79 93 Neighbour,p22 94 Beckham,p84 95 EgaddressbyRalphNeighbourtotheCellChurchMissionNetworkConference,Nov2002. 96 Comiskey,From12To3 97 Commentintheendorsementsby PaulGustitusoftheIndianapolisChristianFellowshipinIndianafor LarryKreidersbook,HouseChurchNetworksHousetoHousePublications2001. 98 Simson,pp130 155 99 Grady,J.LeeCharismaMagazineJune2006issueStrangCommunications 100 ArticlebyNateKrupponwww.house2house.com 101 Cole,Article TheThreatofHeresyintheOrganicChurchMovement, www.dawnministries.org/regions/nam/simplechurch/archive/feb2004/heresy.html 102 Aikman 103 Simson,pxxxiii 104 House2housewebsite,articlebyViolaposted27/6/06 105 Atkerson,Ekklesia,p186190 106 EgEdwards www.everyhomeachurch.blog.co.uk 107 Viola,articleAPleaforHouseChurchUnity29/5/06, www.house2house.com 108 Nee,TheNormalChristianChurchLife,FurtherThoughtsontheChurchLife 109 SeeforinstanceEdwards,G,pp325 110 LarryKreiderHouseChurchNetworks. 111 Fitts,TheChurchintheHousearticleonHouse2housewebsite. 112 AnouncedatNationalHouseChurchConference,Denver,2005 113 http://www.xenos.org/homegroups/theory.htm see also annual report 2005 comments on David Garrisonsbook 114 ForinstanceJesusforAllNationsChurch,CagayandeOro,Mindanao 115 SeethedownloadablevideoProjectThessalonikaonwww.neglectedfields.net 116 SeeCarlton,ProjectThessalonika http://www.xenos.org/homegroups/theory.htm ,alsoannualreport 2005Banks,TheChurchComesHome,ch6Zdero,pp115117,1323 117 Carlton,Acts29,ch5 118 Speechat2005NationalHouseChurchConference,Denver,2005 119 ICELp20 ResearchhasfoundthatmanyCPMsinvolvebothcellchurchesandsimplechurches. 120 ICEL,pp1120
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AnEmergingMethodologyto Fulfil TheGreatCommission

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Bakker,JimIwaswrong:TheUntoldStoryoftheShockingJourneyfromPTLPowerto PrisonandBeyond KieslingAngelaJJaded2004BakerBooks,U.S.A Miller,SusanMartinsDietrichBonhoefferBethanyHousePublishers2002 Silvoso,Ed That noneshouldperish1994Regalbooks

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