In a recent Charisma magazine article, Francis Chan shared more on his journey from megachurch pastor to simple church planter.
Chan doesn’t think the standard church model is wrong. But he does think it’s often distracted from what matters. He compares it to throwing a birthday party for his son. He could invite a few friends over to celebrate his song and give him gifts. He could also rent out Chuck E. Cheese and give everyone all the tokens they could want. Undoubtedly more kids would come to the second party. But it’s no longer a celebration for his son: “At some point, all the other stuff distracts us from quality interaction with the person himself.” Chan finds that offensive. “I just think we need to return to people who love getting together to break a piece of bread and stare at the mystery of Communion,” he says.
You can read the entire article here. Thank you, Marilyn Walker, for sharing this article with us!
I continue to be encouraged and inspired by what God is doing in California and across the globe through Francis’s ministry. We have had more traffic on this site in the past year than any other year and a lot of that has to do with a groundswell of interest in house church and simpler forms of church from folks who have been encouraged by Francis Chan’s example. While our approach is slightly different, our objectives (as described in the linked article) are the same. May Jesus continue to call His people to deeper areas of faith across this nation!
Other articles on our site relating to Francis Chan, WeAreChurch, are located here.