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| What is the Simple Church Network? |
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| Written by Ben Cheek | |
| Friday, 26 January 2007 | |
What is Simple Church Network (SCN)?Simple Church Network (SCN) is a group of friends who dream together about changing the Greater Philadelphia region with the good news of Jesus. SCN is a cooperative organization of churches and church planters that share strategies and resources to saturate the region (PA, NJ and DE) with simple churches. SCN is a movement of urban Christians absolutely sold-out to living the mission of Jesus Christ among their loved ones, neighbors, and co-workers. Can you imagine what it would take to change a city system that covers over 30,000 square miles and portions of two states? Consider what would be required to communicate the Gospel to 5.8 million people. What could possibly be done to meet the needs of the 600,000 people in the metro area who live below the national poverty level? Margaret Mead says, "A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." We don't have as much confidence in thoughtful people, but agree with the power of a small group. Our answer: "A small group of faithful people who follow the heart, vision and commands of Jesus could change the world. Indeed it's the only thing that ever has." We believe that the single greatest hope for the city is the body of Jesus. Jesus made no mistake when he strategically commissioned a community of disciples to change the world. By caring for each other and those around them and spreading the life-changing message of their Master, the first followers of Jesus effectively evangelized and transformed much of the known world. But today it seems the church everywhere is losing its ability to impact those around it. By shifting from communities that "come" to communities that "go," our churches are returning to their neighborhoods, re-connecting with those around them, and making a difference in the lives of people. One driving force of SCN is the vision of connecting with several "anchor churches" that will enter a relationship with simple churches that benefits both. Anchor or "legacy" churches with buildings, professional clergy and ongoing programs are able to do what simple churches cannot. Simple churches with their flexibility, proximity to unbelievers, and freedom to risk (little to lose), and tremendous diversity can do what legacy churches cannot. We believe God will use both working together to reach this generation.
What is a Simple Church? On any day of the week, simple churches gather in houses, apartments, public schools, barbershops, parks, taverns or wherever life happens. We meet wherever people live. In fact, the meeting place really doesn't matter as long as people gather in the name of Jesus. We call this simple church, without the necessity of church buildings, professional clergy, budgets, denominations or Sunday worship programs. The idea is that we can simply be the church when we gather as a community to nurture each other in God's truth and move out on the amazing journey of joining him on his mission. It's really that simple. During our gatherings, we pray together, study and discuss the Bible, sing, share our victories and struggles, share the Lord's Supper and often have a meal together. We take seriously the idea that, "when you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation," so we encourage people to come ready to participate. We have no set liturgy, no spectators, no distinctions between laity and clergy. In fact, from group to group our gatherings are really very different, seasoned with the cultural flavor and experiences of the people who come. Even with all these differences, all our churches have this common DNA:
Why Plant Simple Churches?We plant simple churches for several reasons. First, simple churches are Biblical. The descriptions of the early church in the Bible tell us that the believers meet wherever they could. They prayed together, shared together the Lord's Supper, devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching. They met in houses or in public places. They were a community that shared life, sought truth, and spread the word about Jesus. Second, simple churches can be grassroots. In missions language our churches quickly become "indigenous." Since our churches are simple -- centered around a few core values -- they can grow in any culture and be truly owned by the people who come. Since participation in church life, ministry, and leadership is encouraged, people have many opportunities to discover God directly. Third, simple churches can multiply and spread quickly. Our churches are highly portable, so they can easily enter any "space" where the Gospel needs to go. For example, if a group of mature believers reaches a couple of their friends in a nearby neighborhood, instead of removing these new believers from their natural connections, we would encourage a new church to start there. Perhaps the first church would lend the new start-up a few leaders until they got going. But once they had the hang of it, the new believers have a network of friendships upon which the Gospel can travel, drawing others in and continuing to spread to new places. Forth, simple churches are cost effective. We can start several churches per year in a region of the city for less than it takes to run a small 75-member storefront church (at least $100K/yr. in Philly). In a city with one of the most expensive real estate markets and cost of living indexes, it makes sense to employ one full-time worker for several churches, to "de-clergy" much of the ministry, and to not be tied down by buildings that will only be used a few days a week. Helping Churches Plant Churches That Plant ChurchesIn reality, SCN doesn't plant churches by itself. It helps church planters and churches plant churches by providing prayer support, training, encouragement, communication links, strategic insight, and resources. Our hope is to work with local Christians to catalyze a movement to bring Christ to everyone in the metro area. This movement must be led by churches that plant churches that plant churches. The success of a city-changing movement will depend upon whether we develop a culture of grassroots ownership and participation in the mission of starting and growing vibrant families of Jesus. To think in terms of movements, it might be helpful to use this example: Elephants are wonderful and amazing creatures, but it takes a lot of time and resources to grow an elephant. If you wanted to spread a population of elephants throughout a given area -- say through a large park in Africa from which they have been extinct -- it would take decades. Butterflies are equally wonderful and amazing, but it takes very little time and resources to grow butterflies. In fact, you could spread butterflies over the same area in a matter of only months. Philly, with all its mid-boggling size and complexity, would take forever to impact with an elephant strategy. Working with churches to develop butterfly thinking makes impacting the city challenging but possible. SCN desires to work with more traditional churches. Some of these churches would be missionary sending congregations that want to see Philly reached. Some of these churches would be local congregations who have a vision for reaching individuals and people groups that may never enter their doors. We welcome the involvement of churches of every shape and size. Even though we have a vision that focuses on building simple churches, we acknowledge the validity of other types of churches and know they will reach people we cannot. We believe it is in cooperation and fellowship that we will find our greatest strength to accomplish our common mission.
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