Organic things go bad. Fruit grows old, vegetables go rotten, and meat will decay. When it comes to organic church groups, the principle is the same. Organic church can go bad, too. I’ve been mauling over this for sometime now and because my blog gets a good deal of traffic on my Simpler Church category posts, I thought the time … Continue reading →
The COVID-19 crises is changing the ways we do life in America, and it is yet to be seen how much of those normal ways of doing life will return. I suspect a good deal of what was normal a few months ago will come back, but I also suspect a lot will not. I also suspect that it won’t … Continue reading →
The coronavirus is challenging many of the ways we do life in America. Some businesses are discovering that employees can work from home, families are adjusting to actually spending more time together, and church members are realizing that a weekly formal program may not be as necessary to their personal spiritual growth as they once thought. I am guessing that … Continue reading →
In 2006 I was working at a local hospital as a chaplain and taken back by a high number of patients who could express and articulate their personal belief in Jesus Christ and convictions in biblical doctrines, yet who also had no involvement and fellowship in any church congregation. Many of these same individuals also shared stories with me of … Continue reading →
Don’t start a house church because you want to be in charge. That’s not a good reason. Worse yet, you can not sustain a house church if you just want to be the boss. My personal opinion is that it is perhaps the one really bad reason to want to start a house church. I happen to think that starting … Continue reading →
In a previous post I gave a definition for what I think when I use the term “Organic Pastor” and you can find that post here. In this post I would like to help you understand just what I mean when I use the term “Simple Church Communities.” My definition of the term “Simple Church Communities” is any gathering of people for … Continue reading →
I consider myself an advocate of house churches, but I have long been perplexed by books, blog posts, and statements that claim an identifying mark of a house church is having “no pastor” or no leader. Usually the flip side of that coin is often explained as “the priesthood of all believers” and everyone in the house church is involved. … Continue reading →
Want to do some more exploring about how others are doing simple church? Let me suggest a couple online visits you can make to explore the concept of house church ministry. The sites I’ve listed below do not imply an endorsement, but they do give some clarity to today’s house church movement. • YouTube video: “What is Simple Church?” • Ed Stetzer … Continue reading →
A house church is not a one-size-fits-all or a cookie-cutter singular approach, but rather a zero-budget mission that is developed organically according to God’s leading and your calling. First, start with a call upon your heart. God uses pastors in His ministry and house churches that are led by pastoral care leaders are certainly following the biblical example that best … Continue reading →
The word church comes from the Greek word ekklesia which is defined as “an assembly” or “called-out ones” so according to the Bible, the church is the body of Christ—all those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. Our society has benefited from the traditional brick and mortar church building as a beacon of light in its presence and mission. However, … Continue reading →
It’s not often I copy and paste from another’s blog but I can’t say it any better and I want to share these thoughts with our CrossHope Chapel fellowship and those considering God’s calling to a simple church ministry. The below words are from a January 29, 2015 post by Ben Gosden, Senior Pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in … Continue reading →
I am an advocate of doing church simply and a believer in the God ordained pastoral calling. However, I realize that there are voices in organic, simple, house church movements who reject the roles or at least the position of a “pastor” as belonging to institutional church. (I spoke to my concern of pastoral clergy criticism in my blog post “Critics of … Continue reading →
Several years ago I left traditional institutional denominational church pastoral ministry and received a lot of criticism from my colleagues on planting a house/organic church fellowship. Criticism from my fellow traditional ministers didn’t surprise me as much as the criticism I received from other organic church advocates, including random unexpected emails and even letters chastising me and trying to correct … Continue reading →
Somewhere along the line of my journey with CrossHope Chapel, it occurred to me that my calling in this mission was one of an “organic pastor” in philosophy, approach, and ministry. I want to give you a definition for the term “organic pastor” which is a term that I like to use when talking about those called of God to pastoral … Continue reading →