SimpleChurch Journal

Article From a Church Planter

Here is an article from Jeff Gilbertson, a YWAM church planter in Central Asia, that was passed along to me by John White:

Dear Saints,

One of the best descriptions we can find of an early church “gathering” is found in Acts 20:7,11:

“And on the first day of the week, when we gathered to break bread, Paul began talking to them…when he had gone back up, and had broken bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while.”

Unfortunately, this brief description of the early church is often overlooked. In some way this situation reminds me of the initial days of the Internet, when people used to say: “You can find that book at http://www. amazon. com”. Later they would shorten that and say: “www.amazon.com”. Now, of course, it is just: “amazon.com” (sometimes just: “ebay”, “google”, etc.). We intuitively know what the speaker is saying, having followed the progressions ourselves!

Herein is precisely our problem when we try to put together “snapshots” of the New Testament church and how they met and functioned from the NT. We were not there to live through the NT expansion of church life! When we read of it in the Scriptures, the apostolic authors cut short their communication when referring to the churches they have planted and watered. They are not trying to paint a picture of the way churches should meet, for how long, or their size, etc. but correct things that have gone awry or simply recount church history. This leads to us - nearly 2000 years later- paying little attention to vital church life clues! I often wonder if, over the centuries, we have “strained out the gnat, and swallowed the camel” in this regard…

In this snapshot from Acts 20, though, I find three key ingredients that have great significance for today.

1. They gathered together on the first day of the week...

As we know from history the Jewish day was from 6 pm to 6pm. The early church gathered together in the evening of the “first day” of the week, evidently a carry-over from the weekly rhythm/flow of the Old Testament Sabbath. St. John wrote that he was “caught up in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day” (Rev. 1:10), which most scholars today equate with the first day of the week.

I think we can assume then that the apostolic pattern then was to start churches that kept to a weekly flow of gathering together once a week. They also met in different ways throughout the week to have fellowship and pray but once a week they all met together. I think we have followed this practice quite well even to the present day!

2. They gathered together on the first day of the week to break bread…

Here you may be very surprised where we haven’t gotten the apostolic practice down quite so well. For Luke, writing in apostolic “dot.com shorthand”, just records that the church in Troas waited a whole week to gather together again and the reason they met was to break bread. Period!… not to worship, pray, give, fellowship, or to listen to a sermon!! How can this be? “They meet to eat!??!” Incredible!

“ They did not think that religion was meant only for Sundays, and for what men now-a-days call the ‘House of God’. Their own houses were houses of God, and their own meals were so mixed and mingled with the Lord’s Supper that to this day, the most cautious student of the Bible cannot tell when they left over-eating their common meals, and when they began eating the Supper of the Lord.” (C. H. Spurgeon, 1874)

What was unmistakably a big part of the early church lifestyle has become a mere “token practice” in our day, completely devoid of the very setting that would make it meaningful! “To simply explain ‘the breaking of bread’ as ‘the Holy Communion’ is to pervert the plain meaning of words, and to mar the picture of family life, which the text places before us as the ideal of the early believers”. (Page- emphasis mine)

3. They gathered together in homes and talked with each other...

Although Paul was to leave the next day for a very long time and spoke into the wee hours (so long that he put the young man Eutychus fast asleep), this should not be considered the norm for a first century home gathering. What is more, the words “talked to them” (which the KJV regrettably translated “preached unto them”) is dialegomai in the Greek, from which we get our English word dialogue. A synonym for dialogue is an exchange of ideas! The great apostle Paul talked, but then they asked questions, Paul talked some more, others talked, they all sang and prayed, they ate food and broke bread. This same Greek word is used of the disciples who “discussed with one another” other about who would be the greatest (Mk 9). Clearly they weren’t “preaching unto” each other!

Without a doubt, we know that God gave teachers to the Body (Eph 4:11) and that the elders were called to teach (I Tim 3), but we also must practice the art of “When you assemble, each one has a hymn, a teaching…” (1 Cor 14:26)

So, where does this leave us now?

If we want to be Biblically-oriented, orthodox believers we need to look afresh at every description of NT church gatherings and try our best to reproduce it today! This obviously doesn’t mean we need to speak Greek or wear robes and sandals, BUT we must do that which reproduces church more like a family gathering than an institutional one. As one house church planter has observed: “Size is the real issue. The church should [have]… more participation, closer interaction, more accountability, more commitment and closer relationships.” (Dick Scoggins, fcpt.org)

Yours for the Least in the Kingdom,

Jeff Gilbertson

Church Planting Thoughts

We are continuing the process of starting a third church in our network and have discovered the value of taking it sloooow! We have two great couples who are launching out with a Friday night gathering... and we don't even want to introduce the term "church" too soon lest it give off the wrong impression before people even come.

We call this a "pre-church" stage... not because it's not "church" but because we don't want people to bring traditional "church" thinking to it. These couples want people to just gather, enjoy each other, and have some conversation around "God-stuff." An excellent starting point.

We strongly believe in the concept of "prevenience" put forth by John White. This means, simply, that Jesus is the one who gathers and plants communities. At the most, all we can do is take note where He is working and go there... cooperating with Him the best we can. We don't want to control the process, just let it take shape.

So we have an initial process that looks something like this:

1. Determine the group to be reached. It seems to us that it's important to begin with a missional view by asking the question, "Who has God asked us to reach?" I like the way that Ed Stetzer remarks on this:

What would you would hope church planters in the United States would missiologically wrestle with in particular?

I would say that first and foremost, they need to wrestle through who God has called them to reach. They don’t need to come with a model-specific vision, such as, “I want to plant a mega-church” or “I want to plant a house-church.” They need to abandon a model-specific vision and bring the gospel into a context, a place, asking the question, “What cultural containers-church, worship style, small group ministry-will be most effective in this context?”

2. Begin to articulate a vision of a gathering so that you have something to say when you talk to your identified group. This is not some "presentation," rather it's simply being able to share your heart with those that you want to connect with.

3. Gather people. Take your time. Keep it simple. Get to know people. People is what it's all about. God is the one, ultimately, who will begin to draw people to you.

4. Look at, listen to, and get to know those who are gathering.

This would be our "pre-church" starting point. The process, of course, continues beyond this, but we don't want to rush it. Let God draw and begin to shape, organically, what He is doing.

Core Values & DNA

As a house church network, we have worked to clarify the core values and DNA that we believe leads to the kind of healthy communities we seek to plant:

1. Participatory-- 1 Cor. 14:26
Jesus in the midst of His church through everyone involved
Leadership facilitates
The Holy Spirit leads the church gatherings; the church listens and responds

2. Love is the core value—1 Cor. 13
Acceptance
All are important. Every person’s contribution is valued
“One anothers” lived out in real community

3. Consensus—“take it to the church”
Family meeting decision-making (submit to one another)

4. Authenticity, openness, honesty in relationships
Necessary for relational growth and conflict resolution

5. Every church reaches out and reproduces
“Seek and save the lost” – the missional nature of church
We want everyone to know Jesus; inclusive not exclusive
Intentional ministry to the poor and needy

6. Shared responsibility in finances, time, and other concerns (i.e. children)
Otherwise you will develop a caretaking/enabling system.
Generosity is the fruit of loving God: “Give and it will be given…”

7. Spiritual formation through relational mentoring
Healthy churches are the result of healthy Christians who are the result of more mature Christians relationally discipling (mentoring the spiritual formation of) others who will relationally disciple others

8. Shepherds undergird, support, mentor, love, facilitate, communicate, disciple, counsel, and nurture other people and families with the intention of seeing others become all that they are meant to be. People are to be cared for!
This is the primary leadership paradigm: the “gardener”; the “equipper”; the “flight instructor”

9. Connect with larger Christian community
Network with cluster of house churches
Connect with city church leaders
Invite in Five-fold ministers

10. Prayer
The power generator for God’s work

Diary of a House Church Plant - Pt. A

Two weeks ago my wife and were having lunch with Aaron and Cindy, a young couple, when they said they wanted to talk about starting a new church.

The surprise was that, only days before, we had written their names down as people who would most likely be ready to "sprout" off from one of our existing churches. The church had become too large and was ready to give birth to a new work. The timing was right and Aaron and Cindy had confirmed it by their expression of interest. Ah, nothing like serendipity to give one hope that God is at work!

We got up from lunch assuring them that we would continue praying with them and seeing what God was up to.

Within a week they called saying that they had spoken to another couple, had had several conversations with them, and wanted to get together with us and both couples to explore more. Ooh... some initiative on their part... things are moving... and we're not the one "pushing" things along. Excellent!

Of course, this was no surprise. Aaron and Cindy, having grown up in "Christian" families and schools, had wandered from any kind of meaningful faith expressions. House church had provided a safe place for renewal and real relationships to ignite their hearts with a fresh wonder for God and enjoyment of the simplicity of church life. They were (and are) excited about God and exciting to be around. By their own admission, this is the best time to launch out... while the excitement is stirring.

Having just re-read Rolan Allen's "Spontaneous Expansion of the Church" I was struck by the reality that church planting is better accomplished by the newly empassioned than by those who have been thoroughly trained and indoctrinated. Aaron and Cindy are a perfect example of this.

So... we met with the two couples and found that not only were they raring to go, but they had talked to a number of unchurched friends who had expressed real interest as well. This is definitely going in the right direction!

So... next step was to plan a time for prayer. They want to begin church within the next week or two, but we will first meet this Friday night to pray together... and to begin to chart out some basics.

This is exciting for my wife and I as we will be able to walk alongside without trying to dictate the type of church that Jesus creates. They are younger than we are and will definitely do things differently than we have done. This is exactly what we want! We will be able to learn from their ingenuity and creativity. We are all learning how to allow God's church to be His church, His people gathered, whatever that looks like. Every church is a unique expression. We will see them make some mistakes (perhaps) and be there to support (hopefully) when it's wanted, but that's all part of the process. We look forward to all of it.

I am working hard to distill my understanding of "building community" to principles that can be applied in different ways by different people. Good principles can be useful as long as they don't define the form. The basic principles of community life that we will look at will include these:

1. Participatory Gatherings-- 1 Cor. 14:26

2. Consensus decision-making—“take it to the church”

3. DNA of reproduction

4. Family health=shared responsibility in finances, time, and other concerns (i.e. children)

5. Growing spiritual lives

6. Authenticity, openness, honesty in relationships

7. Prayer

I'll keep y'all posted as this develops. Hopefully Aaron will be posting comments and you will be able to hear his perspective as well.

House Church Planting

My son-in-law attended a church planting workshop put on by New Church Specialties. Although it was focusing on traditional churches, some of the initial preperatory steps are relevant for house church planting:

1. Ask "Why are you doing this?" It's important to look for verification that God is at work and for confirmation that you are following His lead. He is, after all, the Church Planter.

2. Intercession. Church planting begins and ends with prayer.

3. Who? Look for those who have been called to join the church plant. When God is at work, those who are to be involved know it as well.

4. Core values. Begin to outline the core values of the church. In our house church setting, we repeat this process a number of times, involving everyone, as the church develops.

5. DNA and vision. We want to see outreach and reproduction set in place from the very outset. Again, however, we make this an all-church project early in the church planting process.

House Church Planting: Let the Spirit Lead

These are good "pre-church" steps. Most important, of course, is just following as the Spirit leads.

We are just beginning the process of possibly planting our third church. I will be posting journals as we go in order to log the process that God leads us in.

Church Planting Lessons

Darren at Living Room posted 10 "Church Planting Lessons." Here is an overview:

1. DNA - Get some sort of DNA/Core Values etc together.
2. Mission needs to be central.
3. Read 'The Shaping of Things to Come' - by Alan Hirsch and Michael Frost. It is the best thing I've read written about missional church.
4. Multiplication rather than Addition.
5. Simplicity - Replica-table.
6. Incarnation... because our approach to mission and church is incarnational.
7. Sending vs Attractional approach.
8. Participation is key.
9. Community - Shared life.
10. Have fun!

Get the full scoop at his site.
I would love to hear from others what they have learned in the process of planting churches!!!