Micro-Church: Churches that Multiply Churches

I’ve written a lot about small groups, and recently suggested an annual planting season approach. Lately I’ve been mulling over a church form that combines the strengths of both with low overhead, strong evangelism and powerful mission outreach. Tying everything together is a highly intentional, personal discipling process lived out in close community. Pew-sitters need not apply.

The premise is that rather than having a single large church experience, you have lots (and I mean lots) of cell churches or micro-churches. These are largely autonomous, and each church is probably no bigger than 40 people.

Membership means you’re expected to participate. Each church is guided by mentors (elders) who help others discern their God-given gifts and calling. Churches learn to obey the headship of Jesus Christ rather than any particular leader. The mentor is rather a kind of overseer who points people toward Christ, then gets out of the way so they can respond. This mentoring process is largely one-on-one, and each church typically raises up a handful of mentors.

The micro-churches are tied together into a network, with a central hub greatly resembling a diocese or parish. There is a central office and lead pastor, but the pastor’s job is to hold and spread a vision from God for the church. The pastor embeds the vision in key leaders (who we might tentatively call “deacons”) who are gifted and called to work with the micro-churches and mentors. These deacons also carry out the networking function, helping micro-churches stay connected. They also measure the health of the larger church through various metrics, combined with insights from working directly with micro-churches.

The office is the resource point for organizing large events or missions. One common event will be large-venue worship. This is not a weekly affair, but rather monthly or even quarterly. The key purpose is evangelism. Church members are expected to share faith with newcomers as much as experience the event. These events will take whatever shape will best reach the community.

In my own New Orleans context, I’d expect them to look like concert venues, all-day fairs or other large public events. They might happen in public parks, stadiums, convention centers or other places made to accomodate crowds.

The other common task of the central office is facilitating mission. Micro-churches carry all the weight, including following Christ’s call to mission service. Many mission projects take more than a couple dozen people, though, so the central office helps connect mission leaders to resources, existing non-profit networks, communications tools, training and whatever else they need.

The key to this model functioning successfully is discipleship. Members of the micro-churches must be disciples of Christ, prepared to follow his lead and act on his wisdom instead of their own ideas. This will never be a perfect scenario, which is why the deacons and lead pastor pay regular visits and keep in contact with the elders and church members. Much of this process is about encouragement and alignment.

This necessity is intentional. Declining churches are unhealthily dependent on the lead lastor, staff and a few overfunctioning leaders. Many just do as they’re told, passively receiving. The micro-church model takes many of the safeties off.

Annual Planting Season

What if every chuch planted another church every year? Just a thought.

The Gospel According to Bob

A simple and common way to boost spiritual conversation through worship is the testimonial. Ask a congregant to tell their faith story in church. Simple, right?

Why not step it up a notch. In most denominations, the ordained minister isn’t the only one allowed to preach a sermon (or something indistiguishable with a different name). You could put on a “sermon series” of sorts, where each Sunday a different elder or other lay person preaches on their experience of Jesus Christ, and why they can’t live without it.

Could be a fun experiment during the slow summer months.

What If Worship Was…

…a conversation.

A lot of churches are experimenting with new worship service formats. Some have been for years; some are just starting. Almost inevitably, they still revolve around one or a handful of leaders speaking to a crowd of listeners.

In the new culture of networks, clouds and global collaboration, most people learn and grow through participation. The bible’s also pretty clear that everyone should share their gifts in a chuch’s regular meetings.

You’d need smaller crowds, of course – probably less than 20. And folks trained in group dynamics to keep things on Jesus and not current events, and manage potential conflicts. It’d help to have some folks gifted in pastoring to talk privately and pray with folks who have strong emotional responses.

What do you think would happen to a church that worshiped this way? How would people grow? Would responsibility and participation in worship bleed into other areas of the church?

What Is Worship For?

The obvious answer – worship is for worshiping God! – is not my answer. Not exactly, anyway. I think the real trouble is we’ve misappropriated the word “worship” to apply to regular church gatherings, of which worship was only part. I’ll keep using “worship” to refer to church gatherings because it’s familiar language, so please just bear that in mind while you read.

I believe there are three distinct kinds of worship we can find in the New Testament. Unfortunately, I find only one – or at best two – in modern churches. We have a lot to learn from our past.

Regular Meetings

We have to start at the regular weekly gathering of the early church, particularly because the other two won’t make sense without this foundation. 1 Corinthians 11-12 give some specific images of these gatherings. They’re small, intimate, and most noted for their participatory nature. Everyone is involved through their gifts to make the concept of a unified Body of Christ a legitimate reality.

The central purpose is expressing Christ as his Body. The main event is the Lord’s Supper, which for them is a genuine feast. Everyone comes together to share the meal equally. The meetings are also marked by a mutual sharing of spiritual gifts. All the believers are gifted, and all are exhorted to use their gifts in the meeting, as led by the Spirit. Paul is clear this shouldn’t be chaos – Christ guides the church in its meeting with unity, as one guides their own body. Sometimes the early churches messed it up, but were always encouraged to continually seek to be more faithful.

This kind of meeting is absent from modern churches, and I mean entirely. There are ways to use one’s spiritual gifts in various ministries, but not in any communal setting like this. If a brother or sister is gifted for teaching, they can either teach a class or (if they’re either clergy or in a particularly open church) preach a sermon. Other gifts, like prophecy or tongues, in these settings would be disruptive.

Preaching

The second kind of worship we can talk about is marked by preaching sermons, large crowds, a mix of believers and non-believers, and (if it’s successful) baptisms. This is most familiar to us, because it looks almost exactly like a modern worship service.

The central purpose here is evangelism. We can see the marked absense of spiritual gifts and sharing. There is generally one preacher talking to a large crowd. While it isn’t described as such, I can easily see other brothers and sisters leading songs or prayers for the group. It’s also likely brothers and sisters were mingling in the crowd, talking one-on-one with non-believers or new converts, praying with them, baptizing them, and connecting them with a local church.

While we see leader-to-audience services with a focus on teaching the gospel, there’s usually a greater expectation that members attend than newcomers. Not that visitors aren’t welcome, but they’re only part of the puzzle. Members going deep in faith – however that happens at each church – are expected to get their primary spiritual experience from what is intended as a sort of newcomer’s seminar.

Church Planting

The last kind of worship gathering is when an apostle is planting a church. The church isn’t ready to be led exclusively by the Spirit, so an apostle mentors them – usually for a handful of months – in functioning properly. The work is never truly completed, as the epistles show us, because the apostle continues communication and coaching in Body life. However, a point always comes when a church is mature enough to function independently, without constant supervision.

The central purpose here is discipleship. Newly converted Christians are guided into the full experience of Christ’s church through his Spirit. They find their gifts, learn to express them in an orderly, Spirit-led way, and comprehend living Christ as a group instead of as an individual. They are also taught in how to live all of their lives in Christ, how to serve the poor, and how to spread the faith and make more disciples.

This kind of meeting happens in some modern churches, but not all. In the ones it happens in, one or more facets are still missing. It’s usually done as a small group ministry, but may be a bible study, outreach or service mission, or membership class. Small group ministry is most akin, and most effective, as a small group can practically function as an early house church. The trouble is, there’s never a separation from apostolic leadership. The church is never allowed to truly mature and grow up; they’re trapped as spiritual children, or perhaps even teenagers.

The Full Measure of Christ

We’ve lost focus on why we do the things we do, what the purpose is. All three kinds of gatherings are vital to the whole church, but church leadership needs to reclaim the apostolic traditions of evangelism and planting. We also need to acknowledge each other’s spiritual gifts, and create space for their proper use.

Spiritual matters don’t come naturally to our sinful flesh, which is why it takes time to learn. Since the apostolic traditions are so lost among most of our churches, it will be a messy process.

I don’t want to discourage anyone reading this, especially those part of an institutional church. I believe we are a long way off, but rather than condemn I want to help shed light on the Way of Christ. We Christians have a long and famous history of making mistakes. Rather than fall prey to guilt, instead we must affix fresh eyes on Christ. His Spirit is a guide to us, guiding us ever closer. There are small steps you can take at your own church now to pursue Body life. Seek them out always, and pray in the Spirit constantly.

Heart, Mind, Soul & Strength

The Great Commandment can be a useful lens to view your church through. I recently visited an Assemblies of God (pentacostal) church and realized how strongly they emphasized heart in worship. Music was highly repetitive, with leaders improvising or adding variations on the theme. Prayers and testimonies were emotional, punctuated by loud outbursts. I’d suggest the sermon emphasized a secondary interest in strength, focusing on coaching for life challenges.

In my last church, Presbyterian, the focus was mind. Music was lyrical hymns designed to slowly reveal points of understanding. Prayers were usually read, either by a leader or responsively, and (apart from the Apostles’ Creed and Lord’s Prayer) were unique to each service. The sermon interpreted and illuminated scripture. A secondary emphasis was on heart, with prayer requests, flowers in loving memory of someone, and a few minutes to pass the peace.

Consider what your church focuses on – heart, mind, soul or strength - and to what extent. What would a church look like that focused on something different? What changes could be made immediately in your church to raise emphasis on an under-represented aspect of the Great Commandment? What changes might take longer (a year or more) to fully realize?

The Death (and Resurrection?) of the Mentor

Most of us grew up in the modern era, which is now coming to an end. Modernity was defined by the Industrial Age. The “first world” modeled the machine as the new paradigm. Society was a large, complex system composed of interlocking smaller systems which could each be broken down into a hierarchy of parts down to people, the cogs of the social engine.

Machines are factory-built, so education came to resemble an assembly line. Move from grade to grade at the correct rate, taking the required courses, until you were a perfectly interchangable widget. From there you might go to be specialized in college, but you’d gotten all the essentials to “fit in” by high school.

The problem I came to realize (and I think most folks in my generation are with me) is I have little idea how to really live, or even how that’s different than filling a role.

We’re heading into the “postmodern” era, which is defined by the network. Finding a specific role is akin to locating an electron’s position. The cubicle walls, white picket fences, and any other traditionally modern boundaries are crumbling in exchange for hive-like interconnectivity and mutual participation.

The problem is, while there are still valuable skills like reading or math, our challenge isn’t proficiency but wisdom. This was the job of mentors. Unfortunately, in the modern era this was a colossal waste of resources. Machines need uniformity, but organisms need heterogeneity.

I’m struggling with these issues now because of my daughter, who will eventually need some kind of formal education. I feel let down by mine. There were mentor figures to me, but our time was always brief, constrained by pre-ordained seasons.

I suspect as the Industrial Age continues to give way to the Information Age, we’ll see a return to education-by-mentor. Apprenticeships will be far more valuable than undergraduate programs. There’s still the issue of elementary and high school. To my mind, the necessary academics could be condensed to a handful of years. Specialization is far more valuable in the postmodern era than ubiquity.

The same dynamics are playing out in the church. The modern era saw a one-size-fits-all worship format. Each church was essentially the same as each other. Membership was defined by performing the pre-defined tasks (giving money, volunteering, serving committees) to keep the machine running. Each person’s unique gifts were irrelevant to these chores, as basically anyone could perform them.

Now I think we return to the Apostolic Age, where mature Christians will coach new brethren in the Way, instead of content Christians recruiting brethren to membership.

What Visitors See at Your Church

If you’ve ever wondered why that nice young family who joined and participated for a year or two eventually faded out of your church, I have something short for you to read.

In Kicking Habits, Tom Bandy illustrates and contrasts a declining and thriving church through a narrative. Bob and Sally Public visit St. Friendly-on-the-Hill Church, then move on to New Hope-in-the-Heart Church. Tom has made the narrative available on his website.

I have personally been Bob Public, although I’m sorry to say I haven’t found a “New Hope-in-the-Heart.” I’ll let you know when I do.

Bursting Wineskins

There’s a very familiar bible verse I recently saw in a new light. This is Jesus talking, from Matthew 9:16-17.

No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.

The unshrunk cloth and new wine are like new Christians, and the cloak and wineskin are like the church. We can especially see a declining church in the damaged cloak. Members of a declining church often see solutions in new (and especially younger) members.

But the reality is, new members will need to grow and flex. They’ll be moving in new directions. A “damaged cloak” church can’t accomodate it, and the existing damage is made worse by yet another conflict.

Rather than try to assimilate new Christians into an old church, raise up missionaries to plant new churches. The old church has experience to offer, but its procedures, habits and patterns will smother new enthusiasm. Let it instead become a parent church fostering and releasing children churches to create new families, who will in turn raise and release their own children churches. Just as a family stays connected through regular correspondance and special gatherings, so churches can do, too.

What the Church Needs

I hear frequently statements that begin “The church needs…” Some of the more common endings are:

• Young people
• Young families
• A particular ministry or program
• More volunteers
• More money

There’s only one thing declining churches need: Jesus.

Some might be quick to argue their church has Jesus, or is faithful, or feels the Spirit moving, or whatever. The thing is, the above “needs” betray different priorities. Through many, many conversations I’ve had about what the church needs, Jesus never comes up. He’s just plain not mentioned. His absence is profound.

If you’re in a declining church and struggling with what your church needs, listen for Jesus’ name. Seek him. Ask others about him. Thriving church life is a side-effect of the overflowing abundant life of Christ.

All the church needs is Jesus. The rest of that stuff follows, because everyone else needs Jesus, too. They’ll show up, volunteer and contribute their hearts and souls, but only for Jesus.