Simple Churches

Of Simple Churches and Networks

Tell me more about what is a simple church and what is a network?

When we talk about the church, we have in mind its three biblical expressions:

  1. The Global Church: this is the church universal, in its global expression around the world and across time. We are only one small member of this great and glorious global family. We participate in this global church family through our friendship and partnership with several organizations that have sacrificially blessed ours.
  2. The City Church: this is the wider gathering of Jesus’ followers and communities in each city. Paul often addressed his letters to these churches (“the church in Ephesus,” “the church in Rome,” etc). It is in this expression of the church that there will be elders and a more robust expression of the various gifts and roles, especially for leadership responsibilities like shepherding and such, including periodic gatherings for teaching, training, worship, intercessory prayer and more. Typically, the city church will begin to take shape as the number of simple churches 10-12+ in a particular city, continuing to grow and take shape. This expression of the church will develop and replicate over time as the disciple-making and simple church formation multiplies and matures, throughout our network and in various cities.
  3. The Simple Church: this is the foundational expression of the church, the basic unit of disciples of Jesus gathering as spiritual families on mission. This is the church that meets home to home in worship, fellowship and mission, to strengthen and sustain their common communal and personal discipleship to Jesus, commonly ranging from six to twenty participants. We’re committed to the idea that it is the privilege, opportunity and responsibility of every follower of Jesus to found and facilitate such simple churches, with just enough loving mentoring to help them thrive.

What do you believe?

We are committed to the fundamental truths of historic biblical Christianity, from the scriptures of the Bible, and adhering to the traditional articulations of the doctrines of the Christian Church and the story of God, as expressed, for example, in the historical creeds of the Councils of Nicaea, Chalcedon and the Apostles’ Creed: 

We believe in God the Father, Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. We believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he rose again on the third day; he ascended into heaven and from there he shall come to judge the living and the dead. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

What keeps it from being weird?

This is probably the question many of us are wondering. We can be honest, right? Aren’t all churches at least a little bit weird? And that can be a good thing, because it means there’s space for real people. Yet, what keeps our simple churches grounded, without being the wrong kind of weird, is the relational connection with real world, real-time mentoring from someone a step ahead, and the commitment away from longstanding denominational hobby-horses and instead to rely on scripture and the Holy Spirit directly for wisdom and insights.