Comments on MissioMishmash: Simple Church (1 of 2)

My brother-in-law wrote and said the following (I ...

2010-03-11T05:12:48.083-05:00

My brother-in-law wrote and said the following (I think his comments help "correct the record" so I post it to keep me honest): Just read your blog on simple church and appreciate your thoughts. Just for clarification, and I am telling you this because I did the same thing, the simple church movement is not related to the book, Simple Church, by Eric Geiger and Thom Rainer. The simple church movement is in my opinion, a misguided, though well intentioned attempt to make the church more intimate and effective by moving it into homes as opposed to an organized body of believers. The book Simple Church is a book that challenges churches to re-evaluate the effectiveness of what they are doing to develop disciples and reach the lost. It is more an organizational model than anything else.

Just finished reading the two postings on this sub...

2009-11-19T09:57:21.543-05:00

Just finished reading the two postings on this subject and found them very helpful and thought provoking (I don't get around to blogs much, so I realize that I'm 6 months out of date!). I've been wrestling with a number of these ideas as well. I like the simple church's emphasis on a bottom up development and not needing 50 people for a while before you officially launch as a church. However, they certainly aren't the first to promote this. There is a very similar emphasis among the old Plymouth Brethren churches. Even as those who promote a somewhat stronger approach to church polity can learn from the ideas of the "simple" church as well as the Plymouth Brethren.

This kind of sounds like how churches here in Germ...

2009-08-11T07:23:54.642-04:00

This kind of sounds like how churches here in Germany start.First as a house church and then as more people come and gifts are seen or realized then leadership roles are filled. Our church has elders who are laymen. Some churches here also divide into more house churches when there are 8 couples (4 couples per house church). Others stay together and then start renting a meeting place.
I had no idea there is a movement....interesting.
Zina

Very well put. I too have been thinking about some...

2009-06-29T16:07:59.259-04:00

Very well put. I too have been thinking about some of these points for some time, but it's nice to see them all out there. Also, I know of a movement that is trying to start simple churches by visiting their target field for short time periods, without speaking the language, and hoping to find somebody to start, and someplace to meet. hhhmmm.
I have also found that in some areas, simply saying "I'm a follower of Christ" is refreshing, and in other areas, the evangelized person is as confused as ever. Sometimes, simple = unclear.

Buddy

I was encouraged by much of your analysis. I have ...

2009-06-26T09:47:02.430-04:00

I was encouraged by much of your analysis. I have been thinking about the "simple church" thing for a while. I have read many books on house church planting, etc. In fact, I am about through with the book "Pagan Christianity." I have your same reservations for their seeming disdain for what I consider clear in Scripture concerning leaders (pastors/elders) and preaching. At the same time, there are obvious failings in the area of every-member involvement and gift contribution in many of our churches. This is an area where we could learn something from "simple church." We NEED to be more organic and less organizational. I now go to read your second post!