UK: Church in the neighborhood
In Europe there is an emerging awareness among Christians that church should ‘happen’ where people live and work throughout the week. House church networks are springing up, like ‘Neighbours and Nations’ in Coventry. What began in January 2003 with five Christians meeting together in a small rented home in Potters Green, developed into a house church network of four different groups in the north-east of the city.
“Many of us are living just a minute or two’s walk apart, which is great for ‘meeting together daily’ over breakfast, for coffee, or just dropping by,” says Nick Howes, one of the founding group members. “Our vision is to produce healthy, mature communities of disciples, loving life and impacting the people around us. Our conviction is that the nuts and bolts of church life should be much more simple, relational and completely committed to revealing Jesus to the community in which it exists.
The Holy Spirit spoke to us that we should develop church ‘neighbourhood by neighbourhood’, like a family living on each others’ doorsteps. It has been a fantastic experience, loads of fun, loads of ‘tweaking’ in terms of what we do and how we do it, and a steep learning curve. We work closely together with the existing neighbourhood churches, so that together we can express the Body of Christ. Though still feeling we are very much in our infancy, we are loving the adventure of getting to know our neighbours, being involved in our community, and seeking to express the Kingdom of God practically right where we live.”
http://www.neighboursandnations.net
Source: Nick Howes
J Fokker