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Fall Network Gathering October 20 @ Raven Run

Sunday, October 20th, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM at Raven Run Nature Sanctuary Simple Church Friends, I look forward to spending time together on October 20th!   A reunion is long overdue and your presence will make it special!  This will be a great time to connect new folks to simple church with others on a similar path!  Make plans for you and your simple church to join in a time of encouragement, worship, and refocusing.  I look forward to sharing some of my recent thoughts regarding simple church when we reconnect on the 20th!  * Bring a picnic lunch for you and your family. * Coffee will be provided. * We will gather rain or shine. * Enjoy meeting others in simple churches from the region. * Worship Jesus through songs led by simple church… Read More »Fall Network Gathering October 20 @ Raven Run

Two Churches at The Same Time

One of the take-a-ways from my time with Lee Wood at our simple church conference was the simple concept of “two churches at the same time.” One of the biggest challenges for simple churches is grasping how we can be a committed and intimate community of believers that also grows into multiple simple churches.  Growing together and outward can seem at odds.  Often, our minds are bent toward the “splitting” (grow the group and then split it in half when it gets too big).  Others envision sending folks out of the group to start new groups as opportunities arise.  Because we perceive that both of these options neccesitate saying goodbye to those we love and enjoy, we can be consciously or subconsciously averse to both. This is where being in two churches at the same… Read More »Two Churches at The Same Time

Not Officially Hosting House Church Anymore

I recently received and email from a woman that I had contact with several years ago when I was seeking to connect with others in Kentucky exploring simple/house/organic church.  She was trying to host a house church in her rural Kentucky home.  I thought this “update” was very interesting… not the least for the fact that she was no longer “officially hosting a house church anymore.” You know, I am not officially hosting a house church anymore. I really enjoyed that season of my life, but several of our families moved away and it just seemed like the season was over. . I now host a weekly potluck with a group of friends who are for the most part not Christians. It is an interesting assortment of people—a couple who have recently left the Jehovah’s… Read More »Not Officially Hosting House Church Anymore

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

Not to Abandon Community

By Nate Smith: It would be so much easier not to be in a simple church. It is simple because we meet in an apartment. It is not simple because it does not allow one another to stay where they are in their walk with Jesus….

Discipleship Happens In Small Community

Discipleship Happens in Small Community. This is another “starting point” for me.  For the longest time, I thought that to “go and make disciples” necessitated entering into a teacher/student relationship in which I was primarily educating my  pupil (or being educated) about what it means to follow Jesus via a Bible study or a discipleship curriculum.  While this is a way of fulfilling the Great Commission, I have recently realized that it’s not the only way that God makes us into His disciples.   In fact, I have concluded that small community has been the driving force of discipleship in my life.  How about for you? Look no further than Jesus’ example to see this principle in action.  Jesus had a relatively small group of followers, 12 disciples and 3 with whom He spent greater… Read More »Discipleship Happens In Small Community