Nine best simple church books
The Simple Church movement is growing rapidly. Lot’s of people are starting simple churches among campuses, houses, cafes and bars. Many have written good books to help understand simple church. But what are the best books? The Simple Church Europe team tried to identify the nine best simple church books that are out there. All these resources are great to help you catch the simple church vision and plant simple churches in the harvest!
1. Organic Church – Neil Cole
Neil’s book is a must read for every simple church planter. Neil challenges us to go back to the question: what is the nature of church? Just like every cell in our natural, the body of Christ has a DNA:
• Divine Truth
• Nurturting Relationships
• Apostolic Mission
If we want to connect with people and plant new churches, we need to go where they are hanging out. Neil shares about how to plant the seeds of the Kingdom in restaurants, bars, coffeehouses, parks, locker rooms and neighbourhoods. Organic Church offers a hands-on guide for demystifying this new model of church and shows the practical aspects of implementing it.
2. You see bones, I see an army – Floyd McClung
When reading this book, you are set on fire to reach the lost, make disciples and plant simple churches. Floyd shares five core beliefs that guide his life:
• Simple Church, which consists of easily-reproducible small groups of Jesus-followers;
• Courageous Leadership, which is team-based and focuses on guarding, governing and guiding;
• Focused Obedience, which avoids distractions from the core mission;
• Apostolic Passion, involving a high level of commitment; and
• Making Disciples, which should be the heart of everything.
3. Church Planting Movements – David Garrison
David Garrison researched church planting movements (CPM’s) all over the world. In his book he describes different case studies of movements happening in different continents of the world. He discovered that every of these CPM’s did have 10 characteristics in common. The ten characteristics are: extra ordinary prayer, abundant gospel sowing, intentional church planting, scriptural authority, local leadership, lay leadership, cell or house churches, rapid multiplication, churches planting churches and healthy churches. He also mentions factors that can hinder a CPM and gives us practical tips to answer the question: what does it take to start a CPM in my nation?
4. Church Multiplication Guide – George Patterson & Richard Scoggins
George planted churches in Honduras by training leaders in a traditional, seminary setting with poor results. God changed him and make him do only what Jesus and the apostles did. A lot of disciples were made and simple churches were planted. This handbook is full of practical insight and tips how to plant simple, highly reproducible simple churches in the harvest. A few topics handled: obedience oriented training and teaching, forming of new churches around web of relationships and training leaders.
5. Movements that change the world – Steve Addison
Jesus founded a missionary movement that now spans the globe. His followers are called to continue his mission in the power of the Holy Spirit. A movement is a group of people pursuing a common cause. Movements are characterized by discontent, vision, and action. For good or for evil, movements change the world. From biblical, historical, and contemporary case studies, Steve identifies five recurring characteristics of dynamic missionary movements:
1. White hot faith
2. Commitment to a cause
3. Contagious relationships
4. Rapid mobilization
5. Adaptive methods
6. The Forgotten Ways - Alan Hirsch
Alan Hirsch is convinced that the inherited formulas for growing the Body of Christ do not work anymore. And rather than relying on slightly revised solutions from the past, he sees a vision of the future growth of the church coming about by harnessing the power of the early church, which grew from as few as 25,000 adherents in AD 100 to up to 20 million in AD 310. Such incredible growth is also being experienced today in the church in China and other parts of the world. How do they do it? The Forgotten Ways explores the concept of Apostolic Genius as a way to understand what caused the church to expand at various times in history, interpreting it for use in our own time and place. From the theological underpinnings to the practical application, Hirsch takes the reader through this dynamic mixture of passion, prayer, and incarnational practice to rediscover the dormant potential of the modern church in the West.
7. The Rabbit & the Elephant – Tony & Felicity Dale
If you put two elephants in a room together and close the door, in 22 months you may get one baby elephant. But two rabbits together for the same amount of time will result in thousands of baby rabbits! In The Rabbit and the Elephant, “micro church” planters Tony and Felicity use the “rabbit” illustration to show the pace at which the Christian faith can (and should) be growing—through evangelism that is explosive and transformational. Tony and Felicity share the basic elements of simple church life. Combined with inspiring stories they help us how to deal with leadership, prayer, simple methods, Luke 10, finances, telling stories, unity, hearing the voice of God and many more.
8. An army of ordinary people – Felicity Dale
An Army of Ordinary People contains the key to explosive, transformational, 21st century evangelism. Felicity shares stories of how God has always used—and is still using—ordinary believers to carry out his work in simple ways throughout the world. Some of these stories are dramatic—people being led to the Lord by the friends who counseled them through drug addictions and criminal pasts. Some are everyday—a dad spending his Sunday teaching Bible lessons to his kids, or a couple inviting their neighbors over to dinner and a spiritual discussion. But in each of them, there is a light bulb moment, when someone just like you thinks I can do that! And as a result, the gospel is spreading . . . and lives are being changed.
9. Houses that change the world – Wolfgang Simson
THE practical handbook on house church. It contains the following topics:
-The Reinvention of the Church
-House Churches in History
-The Nature of House Churches
-The Fivefold Ministry
-House Church or Cell Church?
-Developing a Persecution-Proof Structure
-No Progress Without Change
-All Change is Practical
