From John White…exciting stuff!
LK10 Friends,
I was delighted this last week to meet Jim Shindler, a LK10 member visiting here in Denver from Dayton, Ohio. Jim is part of the leadership team of Apex, a mega “church” of 2500, which in the last few years has been moving toward house church as the primary expression of church. Here are some of the ways that they are moving beyond the “cell church” model.
1. Their name. Apex: A Network of Community Churches. It’s not Apex Community Church. Apex is not a church, it’s a network of churches. See http://www.apexcommunity.net/
2. Their message. In the large gathering on Sunday morning the message is: “This is not church. Church happens in the small groups scattered throughout the city. If you have to choose, go to your house church before you come to the large gathering. The larger gathering serves the smaller gatherings.”
3. Their connection. Regional groupings of house churches are connected but autonomous. Every house church and every regional network must listen to the Lord for direction. (It doesn’t come down from centralized leadership.) They are free to separate from Apex and go any direction the Lord leads them.
Jim would be the first to say that they don’t have this all figured out. At the same time, it’s clear that they are developing an important new prototype for other traditional churches.
Add your comments about this way of networking house churches: http://lk10.com/component/option,com_fireboard/Itemid,31/func,view/catid,9/id,1668/#1668
Your brother,
John
John White
Simple Church Coach
LK10: A Community of Practice for Church Planters
http://lk10.com
Simple Church Coach
LK10: A Community of Practice for Church Planters
http://lk10.com
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