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from Jon Reid (fr. a Vineyard church) : Here's a chart outlining some of the differences between cell group churches and traditional, building-based, program-based churches: (This is, of course, a generalization. The object here is not to condemn any churches, but to illustrate through contrasts. If it speaks to you, run with it; if not, don't get uptight.) CELL GROUP CHURCH TRADITIONAL CHURCH ----------------- ----------------- Location Meets in houses and buildings Meets mainly in church buildings Size Of Groups Small, intimate groups Large, impersonal groups Activities Daily fellowship Weekly worship services Support System Building up one another Problem? See the pastor Relationships Intimate; Helping one another Remote; Little transparency Discipling Groups of 2-3; Classes, notebooks; Modeling; Little modeling; Personal values shaped Values not shaped Primary Tasks Of Leaders Equipping every believer to Directing the traditional do the work of the ministry building-based church Prayer Life Daily; Together, purposeful Limited, directionless; Individual choice Pastor's Duty Model the life of a believer Preach good sermons Expectations Of Members Ministering to others; Total Attendance; Tithing; servanthood and stewardship Work in the "programs" Perspective Small Groups the focal point Congregation the focal point Key Words "Go and make disciples" "Come and grow with us" Teachings Apply the Scripture to needs Subscribe to the distinctive and relationships beliefs of this church Spiritual Gifts Regularly exercised by all Either downplayed or often used as believers to build up others a "crowd-pleaser" in public in the Small Group gatherings services Commitment To increase the Kingdom; To enlarge the institution; Unity, Body life Uniformity Evaluation Test "How you serve" "What you know" Source For Securing Staff Servant workers developed Trained, professional clergy within; Tested before they are set apart for ministry Chart Taken from *Where Do We Go From Here?* by Ralph Neighbour (Touch Publications / 1-800-735-5865 =================================================================== ================================= Part 2 : A response to the previous note's comparison chart. =============================================== From the late Ron Zess (Apostolic Lutheran): Jon: Your chart outlining some of the differences between cell group churches and traditional is based on the Neighbor's data from his magazine. There is still a little of the Edward's approach in the Neighbor's contrast between the CELL and the TRADITIONAL. Coming from a TRADITIONAL I resent some of this destruction of the old to reach the new. I'm not opposed to CELL concepts at all, in fact I'm facilitating one at this point. This concept is not new, it comes from the Pietist Lutherans of the 1600s and was originally called the "collegia pietatis" - and is concepted on a small chruch within a large church. Historically whenever the form of life becomes brutal, unrefined and uneducated (as it is doing now) there are groups which form to gather individual Christians who will accept the burden and the liberation of Christian life. Like the pietists, the main idea here is sanctification and the questioning of ethical adiaphora. Like pietism before it the CELL movement denies the very concept of adiaphora and calls it "the love of the world." The reason why I would change your chart a bit is to point out that it is possible for one who loves the established church to concept a growing relationship with God and an accountability to others in the Cell movement. This is not the abandonment of orthodox denominations, or the creation of a new denomination, but the transending of denominationalism into a new concept called Oikoumene Koinonia (Ecumenical Fellowship) For this purpose I would edit your chart (borrowed from Neighbors) as follows : ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The New Testament Vs. Today's Church in Contrast Location Moved from House to House Church Buildings Group Size Small, intimate (under 12) Large, impersonal groups Activities Daily fellowship Weekly worship services Agape Love Feasts Infrequent Midweek efforts Worship & Celebration Teaching Children Support Building up each other Problem? See the pastor Relationships Intimate; helping Remote; committee work Discipling Mouth to ear modeling Self help classes Kingdom lifestyle goals Values not challenged Leadership Pastors, equipped every Pastors direct the program Roles believer to do the work while elders/deacons work of individual ministry; deacons on stewardship problems handle physical needs Prayer Life Hours daily; Individual choice limited; emphsis on disciplines some private prayer Pastor's Role model Kingdom lifestyle Preach good sermons, Role discipleship training administer the building Means of Evangelistic outreach Numbers: new members, Measurement Lifestyle modeling donations,church attendance Expectations Ministering to others Attendance, tithing, work of members Total servant stewardship within established programs Perspective Spiritual growth Congregational life Key words Go, make disciples Come grow with us Teachings Apply the Bible to meet Defend distinctive beliefs today's needs/relationships and historic traditions Spiritual Regularly exercised by all Either down played as Gifts believers to build up groups history, or treated as human of believers in meetings talents only Commitment To increase the Kingdom To enlarge the institution, to ministry in unity, to insure uniformity in as "body life" outreach members beliefs or issues Membership Test "How you serve" "What you know, or do" Source for Servanthood developed Professionally trained Securing tested, then "set apart" and paid "lovers of people" trained staff to meet specific needs are seen as "experts." Result Priesthood of believers is Priesthood of believers is enhanced; real christianity not valued; clergy/laity advanced by serving each other in tension, zero growth or kingdom advances. serious reduction in numbers ------------- Pax tecum, Ron. ============================================= Message 124 THE.REIDS [Jon] -- D.C. -- >John Wimber, as I understand him, advocates the return to the >pre-modern worldview ... >but I don't agree that we should retreat to primitive concepts "Primitive concepts" -- as in a supernatural worldview? The supernatural is an integral part of every successful cell church that I know of, because as everyone uses their spiritual gifts to minister to each other, - people are saved from sin - people are delivered from demons - people are healed of diseases and injuries The kingdom of God is here! Not in its totality (not everyone is saved, etc.), but it is here nonetheless. >From your quotes above, it could be assumed that the cell churches >are simply another form of Alcoholics Anonymous (which many are) It could be that many small groups are like AA groups; but do not confuse small groups, or churches with small groups, with cell churches. Cell churches have two important elements which AA lacks: the Scriptures and the power of God. (cf. Matthew 22:29) >It is the critical thinking ability of the average Christian which >needs to be addressed and can be done most effectively in the cell >church. If there is a problem with incorrect teaching being accepted, it would seem to me that what is lacking is not necessarily critical thinking, but a knowledge of the Scriptures. Jon =============================================================== Message 127 Sat Sep 04, 1993 D.VANDEKROL [D.C.] Jon, >>John Wimber, as I understand him, advocates the return to the >>pre-modern worldview ...- >>but I don't agree that we should retreat to primitive concepts >"Primitive concepts" -- as in a supernatural worldview? No, I don't mean "primitive concepts" as in a supernatural worldview. If you'll go back and read you'll notice that I said it was the modern worldview which is mechanistic and atheistic. I advocated a constructive post-modern worldview. The church has been in retreat and isolation since the advent of the modern worldview. It's time for us to engage the world. It's obvious that there is a hunger for meaning and purpose - and the Church can provide it. But not by requiring people to give up their worldview without an acceptable alternative. "But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code." (Romans 7:6) ******************* --Don ================================================================ Message 134 THE.REIDS [Jon] I don't know what is meant by a "constructive post-modern worldview", but a small group church definitely involves a number of paradigm (or worldview) changes. The following sketchy list is from a workshop entitled "The Business of Paradigms" in the recent Small Group Church Networking Conference: "Natural" --> Supernatural Kingdom later --> Kingdom NOW and later Man-centered --> God-centered Clergy --> Laity Program-Based Design --> Cell Church Church with Small Groups --> Small Group Church Possible --> Impossible Self-effort --> Faith Own plans --> Spirit strategy Blessing receiver --> Blessing giver Mediocre Church --> Triumphant Church "Some" people groups --> ALL people groups Self-esteem --> Self-denial Temporal perspective --> Eternal perspective "Automatic" --> Spiritual disciplines necessary "Pass out tracts" --> Relationships Separate from sinners --> SERVE sinners Maybe so --> Nothing's Gonna Stop It! Feeling Culture --> Faith Circumstance --> Word of God If you can get a hold of it, I highly recommend the Joel Barker video about paradigms. It is owned by some businesses, mission organizations, and denominations. >It's too bad, but you are probably right about the church not being >ready for a different understanding of Scripture. The conservatives >are too defensive to consider change. In my church (and we are conservative evangelicals), we have come to recognize 3 aspects of spreading the gospel. I don't know who came up with these, but we like them: The Message -- does not change. The gospel remains the same. The Market -- has changed radically. One thing we were taught at the conference was that rapid change is here to stay in this culture. The Means -- must be adapted to get the message to the market. We can't assume that "the way things worked before" will continue to work in the future. Again, this involves discovering new paradigms. ====================================================================== Message 137 M.MILLER1 [Mike Miller] I share the feelings of some writers here about churches. I'm flopping around right now myself about "where to go to church." I was raised a Catholic and eventually really made it my own faith, but then wandered away from it -- and Christianity as a whole, converting to Judaism. I've since returned to Christ, but I don't know that I've returned to Christianity. I had a "church home" for a time, but mainly was going there (it was a United Methodist church) because it was where my then-fiancee went. But I got honest and admitted that I found the church incredibly boring and (here my arrogance comes in, I guess) the people just a bit shallow. I've made aborted attempts to return to the Catholic Church, but there is a very repressive atmosphere in the diocese I'm in these days, and church is not allowed to be meaningful except as a way to reinforce traditional teachings. Who Jesus is is not emphasized; what the CATHOLIC CHURCH is (or, rather, was before Vatican II) is the predominant focus. I've also "tried" various evangelical, traditional and charismatic Protestant congregations, but they invariably lead to the same focus: the institution, not Jesus. In the past few days, I've realized that what I may be looking for in terms of community is what I had when I was attending the synagogue. In fact, I've had fleeting thoughts of returning there for services on occasion -- I know for a fact I'd be welcome to worship there. On the occasions I have been back for bar/bat mitzvahs, I've found myself REALLY worshipping the Lord, who I still believe, with no reservation, is Jesus. Maybe God has something in mind for me, and I just haven't gotten there yet. I'll let you know if I do. ================================================================= Message 138 E.NIXON [DALE] Jon: I will need to take more time to look at the paradigms you presented last Sunday---this has been an exceptionally busy week---I would really appreciate a brief explination of how each element relates in terms of shifting paradigms. I understand some of them, but either disagree or don't quite understand the others. For instance, > "Natural" ---> Supernatural I think of classical liberalism under the "Natural" pardigm, but essentially, I want to place them both in a single unit defining the idea of separation of the two as catagories within a paradigm, and then discuss movement (-->) under something that looks like this: Natural/Supernatural ---> Circumstancial But I can't justify my own disagreements without adequate discussion. And my time is limited so perhaps we can discuss this at a later date. God bless! + Dale + ====================================================================== Message 140 Sun Sep 26, 1993 THE.REIDS [Jon] at 16:07 EDT Dale, It took a little time for me to figure out some of the things in the paradigm list, too. For example, "Clergy ---> Laity" bothered me a little, since I thought one of the points of small group churches was to get rid of the clergy/laity barrier. But the purpose of the list is not so much to clearly define every paradigm shift that must take place; rather, it is sketched out to challenge you and get you thinking. Read through the list again, and every place it says "X ---> Y", read it as, "Stop thinking in terms of X and start thinking in terms of Y." For example, "Possible ---> Impossible" might be read, "Stop thinking in terms of what is possible, and start thinking in terms of what is currently impossible." This particular example is tied into the paradigm shift question given in Joel Barker's video: What, today, is impossible to do in your business [or church], but if it could be done would fundamentally change what you do? Barker goes on to say that the answers to this question will take you to the boundaries of your current paradigm, and help you see the next paradigms coming. What is impossible in one paradigm may be easy in another! ====================================================== Subj: Re:Breaking Church Paradigms From: BOOKWOM719 Artur Baranowski's several books on the small faith community within the large community are probably the best "how to books" around. A wonderful background book is Bernard Lee's Dangerous Memories which talk about the history and tradition of the house church. Catholics are rapidly forming such communities within large parishes and it will change the face of church everywhere. Subj: Loren Mead From: NAAMAN I like Loren Mead's new book "More than Numbers-the Ways Churches Grow." Besides growth in number of members Loren says churches need to grow spiritually, missionally, and organizationally. Jim Dougans Indianapolis Subj: Willow Creek & Cell Churches From: TDBriscoe I am a part of a young community church in Birmingham, AL largely based on some of the concepts originated at Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago. One of their bigger ideas is setting up a weekly service aimed specifically at the irreligious/unchurched while preserving the full truth of the gospel. I would be interested in conversing will anyone curious or participating in this kind of church. Also, I would like to hear from anyone in a "cell church." If you don't know what that means then I suppose you aren't in one. Cell churches are -driven- by small groups/in-house bible studies. Corporate worship is still weekly but the emphasis is on the groups. TDBriscoe Subj: Re:Breaking Church Paradigms 94-04-24 16:49:07 EDT From: MsIO I'm a grad student in whole systems design...specializing in social change through systemic design...was a missionary for a number of years and mission coordinator of a large church in atlanta...have you read any of Bateson's work, or Humberto Maturana? Are you looking for general systems, whole systems, world systems, cybernetics, epistimology or 1 and 2nd order change readings? There are MANY place to begin...if you give me some specifics I can give you some suggestions...e-mail me if interested. Subj: Changing Systems 94-04-26 23:22:43 EDT From: JVDougans MS 10 can you say more about changing systems, the authors you mention. I need to know more before I can know if I need to know more. Subj: Blueprints of The Future 94-04-27 21:41:19 EDT From: PrjPlanner I am terribly excited to have finally stumbled across MSIO's existence. I am personally leading a major project that is designing a Systematic Community Development Methodology using CASE software and other Systems Engineering techniques borrowed from Enterprise Engineering. The group that I am managing are all Christians who are convinced that a systematic approach is the answer. I am a new AOL member and a novice. I specifically became a member so that I could find Christians who are interested in this concept of paradigm shifts. PLEASE help me to get in contact with all of those who are interested in this concept. The social implications of these types of concepts is phenomenal; we are talking about creating various "Blueprints of The Future" that will trigger large-scale social reformation. Subj: Systematic Change - Part 1 94-04-28 13:17:20 EDT From: PrjPlanner To all those interested, I deeply desire to establish contact, via email or telephone (on my dime), with persons who have a vision that Christian service, community development, and large-scale social reformation will be undertaken in a systematic and comprehensive fashion. I am seeking those who posses an intuition that within the next 4 or 5 years, the majority of Christian churches, nonprofit organizations and human services in this nation will collaborate in an unprecedented social reformation movement that has not been witnessed since Martin Luther King's Civil Rights demonstrations and rallies. Imagine communities where the people, children, students, organizations, churches, educational institutions, businesses, processes, even technology are all working together for the same objective. Imagine that affordable technology is effectively applied, that quality is built into the processes, which are constantly being refined for better delivery of human services, and the time it takes to reach those in need is virtually instantaneous. Imagine, too, that in this community the people have the freedom to express themselves and have enthusiastic support to create new ways of improving and extending community development and human services. Believe, for a moment, that this large-scale reformation could mature (within a community) at the rate of 100,000 persons/year with the assistance of a dedicated group of people serving as a community consultancy group. Picture a binder-based system that explains, in easy-to-understand words, the steps required to make this a reality starting with only one person. Now-imagine "seeding" the entire country with this binder-based system and the impact it would inevitably have on larger society. Sound impossible? Similar types of scenarios are common place in the corporate arena; the powerhouses of the global economic community are using advanced tools, many of them whose origins began with a binder-based system, to harvest the economic potential within the global community. What is good for the goose is good for the gander. There exists overwhelming evidence that the types of knowledge mentioned by MsIO can be creatively and effectively applied toward the empowerment of our church leaders, their congregations and communities. The "church paradigm shift" has been a subject of intense personal study for 5 years and I am currently a project planner of a development team that is viewing, from a Christian perspective, communities as systems of interacting people, principles and institutions, much the same way as Computer Programmers view computers as interacting hardware systems. So much so, in fact, that we are using Computer Aided Systems Engineering (CASE) software and Object-Oriented Thinking, a conceptual discipline for breaking apart systems (real-world or abstract) and understanding their behaviors and structures. Organizations, even communities can be systematically designed. For those that need improvements, reengineering is an available option. The team I work on is specializing in the creation of "People-ware", the instructions that help other people organize, manage and expand large-scale community development efforts. This is being undertaken in a fashion similar to how Computer Programmers create software. Our goal is to create a comprehensive, user-friendly, binder-based system. Its readability will be at a "High School" level. We are developing a framework for managing change that transcends many types of grassroots, development-oriented efforts. It will show how to use affordable software, computer hardware and template files to rapidly advance some given cause from concept to completion. We are designing the binder-based system (a methodology) to support exponential rates of growth. This binder-based system will illustrate HOW processes generate desired results. It will educate people how to think process-oriented instead of practicing traditional "results-oriented" behaviors ("management" of change by mandate). There are those who know how to systematically design and develop change within communities. It is not magic. It is hard and thoughtful work. It requires today's tools. It is not a "silver-bullet"; there are significant hurdles in the way of any "new-and-improved approach." Practitioners of Social Engineering exist within the realm of Christendom and many are patiently awaiting discovery. Churches need to be aggressively recruiting this talent like corporations recruit skilled graduates from universities. American Christian churches collectively represent $34 billion dollars in investments. Only a fraction of 1% of this capitol is invested in community development programs. Churches within this society are not poor, however, their vision of how to use money as a weapon to fight, even win, the battle against poverty, crime, undereducation, unemployment, etc. largely is. We need some corrective lenses in a hurry. Churches need vision specialists, people with vision who also possess the specialized knowledge to facilitate their development. "Computer Strategies For Reengineering Your Organization", written by Cheryl Currid & Company, says this: "In this society, knowledge is the primary resource for individuals and for the economy overall. Land, labor, and capitol-the economist's traditional factors of productionsx-do not disappear, but they become secondary. They can be obtained, and obtained easily, provided there is specialized knowledge." It is time for new wine. There is no need to beat around the bush. The faster we admit it, the faster we can all work together to create a more effective solution. God has provided us ample opportunities to exploit affordable technology to undertake the endeavor. The signs that this is of urgency are everywhere and need no elaboration. These changes, however, will not materialize for free; we are going to have to invest in people, in technology, in planning and in implementation. It will require capital. If leadership won't take the initiative to make sweeping changes quickly, their respective followers will need to lead by example. This will mean there will be "grassroots" efforts within grassroots organizations themselves. Let's build a brighter future together, today! Don't overlook us. Reach out! Everything is relevant to us. YOU are relevant to us. I look forward to speaking with you and getting to know you on a personal basis. And may God richly bless you. Sincerely, Tim G. H: (408) 224-0998 (San Jose, California) W: (408) 256-6628 (IBM, San Jose) P.S. - The project team would be more than willing to share authors and titles of reference materials. We also are looking for titles to expand our knowledge. Keep us in the loop and we will do likewise. P.S.S. - We are practical people, too. Let us know about all the interesting things being done in churches around the nation. Spiritually-based information is a ministry all in itself! P.S.S.S - I am interested in any and all opportunities Churches and non-profit organizations, even businesses may have related to this topic.