What is a simple church network?
For our project we use a description of what we see as a simple church network. Below you will find the characteristics and kind of SC-networks we discovered.
Characteristics
What we are?
1. Small: the backbone of the church is groups of 3-20 people
2. Jesus-centered: the focus is following Jesus Christ, seeking His direction and mission
3. Relational: the members really care for each other
4. Mission-minded: intentionally sharing Jesus and his Kingdom with others
5. Reproductive: a vision for reproduction of disciples and small groups
6. Decentralized: bottom-up initiative, including communion, baptism and discipling others
7. Connected: part of a local or national network of (simple) churches/ministries
What we are not?
1. no services in a congregational model as the main focus (there can be a kind of celebration/networkmeeting once a while)
2. no paid pastor (in the sense of paid pastor and pews, there can pastors/elders/apostles who are paid who serve the different house churches by travelling, teaching & training)
3. no building as the central part of meeting for service
Kind of SC-networks
1. apostolic model: one apostolic figure links the groups/people with each other
2. intentional relationships model: multiple simple churches have intentional relationships with each other
3. church of small groups: backbone is small groups and SC dna, but with regular gathering/meeting point with the whole network and likely more centrally defined leadership