Skip to content

Trying To Figure Out “Church?” Try this…

Neil Cole over at his Coleslaw blog recently wrote a post entitled “Jesus’ View of The Church.”  I thought that Neil had a great idea for anyone or any group trying to figure out what church should look like.  Spoiler Alert… this was the very last part of the post. Here’s a closing suggestion: Take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle creating two columns. On the left write: “Who is Jesus?” and write down all the things you know about him (descriptions, names, powers). On the right side write: “Difference this should make in the way we do church.” Write down all the ways we should be different because of who Jesus is. I seriously doubt you can leave church the way it is in light of who Jesus truly… Read More »Trying To Figure Out “Church?” Try this…

Jonathan Wilson, FCA, and Skate Church

I am pleased to introduce a good friend.  Jonathan Wilson, a local Fellowship of Christian Athletes representative, also serves as a leader in simple church. This short video, put together by Providence Church in Raleigh, NC (a church that supports Jonathan’s work with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes), highlights his work in the skate community here in Lexington. He also briefly discusses what simple church at the skate park looks like. You can find out more about the skate camp mentioned in this video here.  The simple church that gathers at the skate park (also known as “skate church”) has a facebook page here.  

House Church Multiplication In Appalachia

I often think about opportunities for simple or house church multiplication in my region.  When I pray, Appalachia frequently comes to mind.  Eastern Kentucky is often characterized by its economic and drug challenges.  However, when I think of of Eastern Kentucky and the Appalachian region, I see opportunity–opportunity for disciples and churches to multiply. A recent article online from the folks at Exponential about Clarence Greenleaf (1915-2004) highlighted the faithfulness he and his church family (Grundy Church) in the region.  While many the churches he helped plant ended up going the way of brick and mortar, he had a passion for church multiplication throughout Appalachia. Grundy Church had many strategies for multiplication. For instance, they sent a bus to one target area to bring in a dozen or more people to their services. That sounds… Read More »House Church Multiplication In Appalachia

NPR All Things Considered: Simple Church

Recently, National Public Radio featured simple/house church ideas.  “All Things Considered” aired House Churches Swap Steeples For Sofas and Say Thay’ve Never Been Closer.  You can listen to the feature and read a related article here.  I am grateful for their coverage and am not surprised that it appeared on the show since more people are moving to simpler forms of church life.  Overall, I thought the story was done well, but like anything squeezed into 3:30, much was left out.  Here are a few thoughts I had after listening to the story: * The reporter states that “everyone just talks about what’s been weighing on them.”  While I’m uncertain if those in the community would describe themselves that way, I encourage people to each bring a message that has been “weighing on them” as… Read More »NPR All Things Considered: Simple Church

Mega Church planting House Churches?

Northland Church in Florida recently caught my attention.  Northland is a mega church seeking to be a “church distributed.”  Their vision for distributing the church, according to their website, is to plant simple churches.  The even have a directly-linked page dedicated to simple church planting that is similar to this site.  Also, you will see a link to a special training site that includes 11 video teachings and notes to help people start simple churches. Here is a video on their churches main website that features the first lesson in their simple church training:   Without question, the Church in America changing as more and more people wrestle with the question, “What is a church?”  What are your thoughts about mega churches planting simple churches?   While larger churches with this mission can sometimes overestimate… Read More »Mega Church planting House Churches?

Simple Church Hangout – March 4

NEXT HANGOUT:  WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4TH, 8PM EST The Simple Church Alliance desires to help people, regardless of location, to start simple church ministries and networks.  In 2015, we want to help those who want to multiply simple churches, but are geographically unable to join us for our monthly Simple Church Experience opportunities here in Central Kentucky.  Beginning February 4th at 8PM, and continuing on the first Wednesday of each month, meet us here to join a special Google hangout where you can meet and be encouraged by others on this journey.  We will post details and links to the hangout here on our website and on our Facebook Page.  If you know you would like to take part, please email us your Google email so that we can make sure you get connected to the… Read More »Simple Church Hangout – March 4

Every “Christian” Couple Should Talk About This

As my wife Karla and I have had the opportunity for informal premarital counseling experiences with several young couples, our own marriage has been strengthened as we have helped guide others through the process of answering some important questions: “Where will we live?”  “How will we raise our children?”  “How will we handle our finances?”   I believe that a continual open dialogue about these questions and others are essential for the unity of husband and wife as well as enjoyment of the marriage relationship.  For Christians, however, there is one question that precedes all of these important marriage questions.  I find, though, that this one gets much less attention than it deserves. “How are we, as a couple/family, going to actively participate in the Great Commission?” Even more specifically, I like to ask the… Read More »Every “Christian” Couple Should Talk About This

A Letter From Karla and Gavin

Dear Friends and Family, Here we are at the end of one year and the cusp of another. As we reflect on 2014, we are moved to express our gratitude to you. We wake up and get to do what we are doing because of the great love and support we receive from you. We continue to serve with the faithful pioneers of Simple Church Alliance. We have been trusting God together with this endeavor for four years. In 2014, we have enjoyed celebrating marriages including Kye and Kendall’s beautiful ceremony on the Wheeler’s farm and Dirk and Charity Joy’s in historic Lexington. Our friends Lindy, Katherine, and Emmalee were baptized. Leaders from here and across the globe gathered for our third conference at Asbury. Preparations are being made for more babies and more marriages.… Read More »A Letter From Karla and Gavin

Simple Church Experience – Intro Jan 21

Starting January 21st and continuing on the third wednesday of each month throughout 2015, we will begin hosting the Simple Church Experience. The Simple Church Experience will be an opportunity for you and a friend to take part in doing the things that disciple-makers do. Week 1 // Introduction // 6-8pm First Southern National Bank, Lexington // dinner provided. Our first week will be an introduction to the year and we will shape the experiential training times together.  What 10 activities would be helpful for every disciple of Jesus to have experience doing?  This will be the focus of our discussion during the Introduction.  Please consider this question before you come and we will work together to lay out the experiences for the rest of the year.   Starting in  February we will begin doing… Read More »Simple Church Experience – Intro Jan 21

A Simple Church Christmas (Free Music)

Recorded live at Awesome, Inc, on Main Street in downtown Lexington, KY, this album features music by members of simple church communities across the region at our annual Christmas Celebration Gathering. Special thanks to Gideon Maki, Hannah Flynn, Diego Vogel, and Dana Vogel for sharing their gifts with us all. Also included is “Lights on My House” also performed that evening as well as “Luke 2:11” recorded during Skate Church the same day when testing out the recording equipment. Enjoy! Note: You will need to provide an email address and to receive your download link.  If you have any troubles or would prefer the songs be emailed to you directly from us, please email us and we will get them to you. Click Below to Sample and To Get Your Free Download! Trouble with widget?… Read More »A Simple Church Christmas (Free Music)