SimpleChurch Journal aka House Church Blog

They Like Jesus but Not the Church

Nancy Kennedy wrote an article for her syndicated column that was published by several newspapers.  It is always interesting to see what is being published by media.  Here is an excerpt:

They like Jesus, but not the church. That’s the title of a book I’m reading and it’s also the sentiment of an entire generation.

According to a Gallup poll, each year 4,000 new churches start, but 7,000 close. One million people leave the traditional church each year, most of them young people right out of high school. Some return, but many, many don’t.

Dan Kimball, author of the book I’m reading, talked to scores of people who were not shy in telling him what they don’t like about church and church people. In a nutshell: Churches are like exclusive religious country clubs filled with right-wing, finger-pointing, judgmental, angry gay-haters.

Sadly, some are like that and I don’t blame people for not wanting to be a part.

In the Religion feature story today, I wrote about home churches, or “simple churches” as they’re called. People who gather together because they like Jesus, but not so much the institutional, traditional church.

Dave Shirkey, who used to pastor a traditional church, is now a part of a simple church that meets in his home.

He’s not the pastor, he said, but more like a coach. When they meet, they don’t have an agenda or follow a program and everyone has an equal say. No one teaches or preaches, but they share knowledge with each other as God teaches them individually.

They just all like Jesus and like each other and want to be the church rather than attend a church.

Kennedy goes on to describe her own fondness for her traditional church.  But she also acknowledges that there is an increasing number of people who are frustrated by the organized church's focus on attendance, buildings, and collections (the ABCs).

Her conclusion is: "Maybe house churches are the answer. Maybe the traditional church will change and care less about carpet color and more about people... After all, the church is God’s idea. Therefore, it will prevail. But it needs to change."

You can read the entire article here.

Resources to Help People Transition from an Institutional to Organic Mindset

In our last tele-conversation we discussed the issue of helping people to transition from an institutional to organic mindset.  For more on these tele-conversations see here and here.

Out of that last conversation we developed a list of resources that may be helpful as we encourage people through this transition.  I thought I should share these resources with all of you with thanks to Kathleen for keeping notes for us.

To prepare for the conversation we looked over Wolfgang Simson’s diagram on “Apostolic Migration.”  If you have not seen this illustration, it is very helpful in understanding the transition that we and others are walking through.  You can see a good summary of this diagram here.

The following are other resources that were mentioned during the course of our conversation:

Frank Viola books and articles:
Rethinking the Wineskin
Pagan Christianity
Who’s Your Covering

Wolfgang Simson’s “Houses that Change the World.”

Jake Colsen’s “So You Don’t Go to Church Anymore.”  See previous post.

Video by House2House entitled “When You Come Together.”  This is an excellent summary of simple church concepts using interview snapshots along with visuals of gatherings.

“Real Christianity” by William Wilberforce (late 1700’s subject of the recently released Amazing Grace movie) who changed the world because, as he wrote in this book, the church ought to live as she says she believes.

“Purifying the Prophetic—Breaking Free from the Spirit of Self-Fulfillment” by R. Loren Sandford.

Music by Jason Upton: Upton’s music calls to the inner man and to the church to awaken.

Music by Alberto and Kimberly Rivera.

International House of Prayer has many free resources on intimacy with Jesus.

The Praxis website.

Dawn Ministries website.

Please note: I am not personally familiar with all of these resources, but I have a lot of confidence in everyone that has been participating in this tele-conference so I am certain that you will find them all to be helpful.

Note on the tele-conversation: It has been very rewarding to develop relationship with each person involved and see how God has brought us together.  It has been a powerful “house church” type experience in which everyone’s contribution has produced insights, new awarenesses, and encouragement.  I have enjoyed it immensely.  I am not sure yet what next steps will be on future tele-conversations, but I will keep you posted.