The modern church needs a reset.
Five decades ago, after a long season of growth, American churches suddenly experienced decline. They responded with a marketing plan that focused on attracting visitors and turning them into attenders. The heart for evangelism was admirable but today most churches are known by their stage productions, children's programs, and business systems. We all speak a good word about discipleship, but the reality is that an embarrassing amount of energy goes into competing with each other for the fickle attention span of a dwindling crowd of already convinced but not-fully-converted church-goers. The modern church is broken.
Not only is the stage-centered, program-driven, big-business church model too expensive and unscalable to be the primary method of being Church, it’s arguably ineffective. While many in our culture are still drawn to a weekly stage event they call worship, most people are not. Unchurched people remain unchurched while churched people are caught in a current of dechurching and rechurching around the hopes of finding a church with better programs. And as churches compete for market share by trying to get better preachers and better worship leaders and better kids programs, supported by better buildings and better anything else that can get people through the doors, churched people are becoming disillusioned. Churched people are dechurching.
Even if this "church growth" strategy worked, the model will never reach everybody. It simply doesn’t scale. But even more alarming than its ineffectiveness at reaching people, is how effective it is at dividing the Church around brand competitions and entertainment distractions. We lament this, but with a hope for restoration.
Not only is the stage-centered, program-driven, big-business church model too expensive and unscalable to be the primary method of being Church, it’s arguably ineffective. While many in our culture are still drawn to a weekly stage event they call worship, most people are not. Unchurched people remain unchurched while churched people are caught in a current of dechurching and rechurching around the hopes of finding a church with better programs. And as churches compete for market share by trying to get better preachers and better worship leaders and better kids programs, supported by better buildings and better anything else that can get people through the doors, churched people are becoming disillusioned. Churched people are dechurching.
Even if this "church growth" strategy worked, the model will never reach everybody. It simply doesn’t scale. But even more alarming than its ineffectiveness at reaching people, is how effective it is at dividing the Church around brand competitions and entertainment distractions. We lament this, but with a hope for restoration.
We propose another way to be church, and invite you to be part of it.
We believe that, with the shaking of recent events, God has exposed the weakness of the modern Church's systems and structures. And we believe he is calling the Church back to the foundational practice of gathering around the gospel and encouraging each other in closely knit spiritual families, connected in vital community with other spiritual families.
So, we propose a return to the simple way of discipleship modeled by those who first devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (Acts 2:42). We believe and pray that by setting up these very simple faith families, churched people will be refreshed, dechurched people will be restored, and unchurched people will be redeemed. And so, with a spirit of grace and humility, we dare to cast vision for it and call people to it.
So, we propose a return to the simple way of discipleship modeled by those who first devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer (Acts 2:42). We believe and pray that by setting up these very simple faith families, churched people will be refreshed, dechurched people will be restored, and unchurched people will be redeemed. And so, with a spirit of grace and humility, we dare to cast vision for it and call people to it.
Gathered around a shared simple agreement.
Our vision is to gather lots of believers into very simple microchurches who meet weekly in people’s homes or other common spaces around a shared simple agreement of “one path, four devotions, and two loves.” That’s it.
- We follow the Way of Jesus (“one path”).
- We devote ourselves to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer (“four devotions”).
- And we love God with all we are and love our neighbors with all we have (“two loves”).
Network of microchurches.
Each microchurch meets weekly for worship in someone's home or at a park or wherever they want. There's no "program" per se. We simply practice the four devotions: We eat together, study the scriptures together, enjoy fellowship with each other, and pray together. That's "church" in its most basic form.
But we also believe that it's good to experience the broader community of believers in an area, so we have regional meetups where all the microchurches of an area gather as one large group for strength and encouragement. Again, the "program" is minimal, but it's here that we enjoy a time of praying and singing, hearing stories about what God's doing, serving our community, or whatever else flows from our mission to "love God with all we are and love our neighbors with all we have."
This is for everybody, but it's probably not for everyone.
People who want a church whose primary identity is the worship service or lead pastor will find this model lacking. But those who want a primary experience of community around discipleship and mission will find it here. And, of course, everyone is free to supplement their experience with corporate music services and sermons wherever they want, including the network's monthly meetups and teachings by different media.
This is for people who believe God wants to restore his Church to something better, and they want to be part of it. This is for people who feel depleted by the conventional church system, or have a heart for dechurched and unchurched people. This is for people who feel called to help develop an infrastructure that can serve the larger church if the above ground systems and structures are ever taken away.
Everyone is invited to be part of it, but not everybody will want to be, and we are at peace with that. Even if we see the need for correction of the modern church, we embrace all who call on the name of Jesus, regardless of their choice about how to be church.
So that’s our vision, and that's our invite. Is it for you?
This is for people who believe God wants to restore his Church to something better, and they want to be part of it. This is for people who feel depleted by the conventional church system, or have a heart for dechurched and unchurched people. This is for people who feel called to help develop an infrastructure that can serve the larger church if the above ground systems and structures are ever taken away.
Everyone is invited to be part of it, but not everybody will want to be, and we are at peace with that. Even if we see the need for correction of the modern church, we embrace all who call on the name of Jesus, regardless of their choice about how to be church.
So that’s our vision, and that's our invite. Is it for you?