I've recently finished reading Simply Church by Tony and Felicity Dale who are part of House2House ministries. It's only a small book (around 100 pages) and a fairly easy read. Tony and Felicity have been involved in church planting and house church movements since the late sixties and have gathered their insights into this book.
A quote from pages 84-85 - "There is no question in our minds that God's intention is for the church to have a structure that enables each person to develop their full potential ... One of the consequences of this is that we have always had an emphasis on small groups. Small is beautiful! In the small group there is the potential for every person to tkae an active part in a meeting ... Does this means there is no place for the large gathering? Absolutely not! Big is beautiful too. There is nothing more inspiring than a large celebration of hunderds, if not thousands of people all worshipping the Lord together. We see in the early church the disciples not only met together from house to house but also in the temple. We know that the apostles taught not just in people's homes, but also in the larger context of the temple courtyard, the synagogue and the hired hall. Some may ask, with this emphasis on the small group, what becomes of the kids? Too often the children are kept out of church meetings as being the "church of tomorrow," when actually they are the church of today. In our experience, the kids play a vital part, particularly in any times of worship. The kids will frequently start a song, or pray for those needing prayer, when they are allowed to participate. We have often seen their contribution bring the Spirit of the Lord directly into a meeting in such a way as to totally change the course of that meeting. The Holy Spirit is no respecter of persons - not by age or gender."
4 comments:
Great stuff. SOunds like a great book. Yeah, I wonder why we separate kids from the larger church body for much of the service. It's a bit sad really.
By the way Pete, I still have those 2 books you lent me a few weeks back. What do you want me to do with those?
Hey Megs,
You could return them .... when you've finished with them.
I read one of them, but not the other one. Are you still at Kingsley? I could drop them in one day when I have some time.
Small or cell groups are great, when they work well. It's often there, and not on the Sunday service, that the real work of discipleship and ministry is done. Praying for one another, confessing of sins where needed, sharing of struggles, building relationships, and encouraging one another to be more authentic followers of Jesus.
Post a Comment