Churchless Christian

The slogan ‘Paradigm shift’ was the cool jargon of the Church growth movement of the early 1990’s. Interestingly the actual idea of the ‘Paradigm shift’ was introduced by a Harvard Professor called Thomas Kuhn in the 1960’s regarding to how ideas have changed science. His basic premise was that the new paradigm does not take hold until the existing one is first demonstrated to be completely and totally inadequate and bankrupt. It works smoothly in science because theoretical constructs are easier to dismember than institutional ones - and the cracks are harder to hide! Below I have quoted Kuhn, but where he says Science I have changed it to Christianity.

(Christianity) is "a series of peaceful interludes punctuated by intellectually violent revolutions” which he described as "the tradition-shattering complements to the tradition-bound activity of normal (Christianity)." After such revolutions, "one conceptual world view is replaced by another".

An older paradigm is replaced in whole or in part by an incompatible new one. But the new paradigm cannot build on the preceding one. Rather, it can only supplant it, for "the normal-(Christian) tradition that emerges from a ( Christian) revolution is not only incompatible but actually incommensurable with that which has gone before." Revolutions close with total victory for one of the two opposing camps.

If this worldwide shift towards millions and millions of Christians world wide to once again move towards the beliefs, functions and forms of Pre – Constantine Christianity, is truly a paradigm shift, or a transformation of peoples’ faith (or even possibly a continuation of an uncompleted reformation), then in light of Kuhn’s theory, this emerging paradigm and the current cultural / institutional paradigm will oppose each other.

At this time, I do believe this to be true’. An example of a paradigm shift that I have had to make which is a direct threat to the cultural / Institutional church is that of Christian Giving.

At the beginning of my journey into this new form of Christian living, I was struck (somewhat negatively) by the prolific amount of writings against the theology of tithing. Even though I have come to agree with what they write, I fear at times, that some readers might just conclude that such writings are authored by tight fisted and bitter believers! There seem to be many other issues that could be written about, yet the most common topic is tithing.
Just recently, I think, I have begun to grasp the significance of this topic to the organic ‘paradigm’. If the system of tithing is broken, then two other major areas of concern are naturally exposed: the relevance of professional clergy, (no regular tithe = no regular salary), and the possession of buildings and other assets (a mortgage requires a reliable ‘income’ of money).

“The New testament church was a body of believers that came together regularly. The meetings occurred spontaneously within the houses of the believers. Therefore, no precedent was established to indicate how a latter-day, asset-oriented church infrastructure was to support itself. Faith offering are fine, but somewhat unreliable, erratic and ungovernable. An institution that has a consistent and regulated expenditure requires a constant and reliable source of income.” Kearney, Shaun The Counterfeit Church (self published, www.kingdomline.com)

My point here is not to argue against tithing but to point out that the idea of tithing and New Testament giving are in direct and powerful conflict. They cannot live in harmony with each other. A Church full of believers who do not tithe or give a regular tithe but give alms to the poor and needy, and faith offerings as the Holy Spirit leads, is going to have to be completely changed in form and functions to thrive (just think of the budget changes). Both paradigms and their practitioners oppose the others viewpoint as wrong, inerrant and dangerous. The clash of paradigms and the culture and systems that develop them is what revolution and reformation is about. Of course there are other ideas which we do not have time to cover such as paradigms about the rights and wrongs of professionalized Clergy, the accumulation of property and the habit of synagogue worship which are all ideas that if held with conviction are not going to be able to live in harmony with status quo faith for any length of time.

Millions and millions of Christian Believers are beginning to take part in a ground swell of change that is beginning to radically alter the Christian landscape beyond what we recognise today. There are the beginnings of a massive migration from the cultural experience of Christianity which we have practiced through an institutionalised / congregational model (post – Constantine) towards the beliefs, functions and forms of Pre – Constantine Christianity.
“The local church has virtually no discernible influence on people’s lives… One million people leave the traditional church each year”. (Barna, George www.barna.org)

“These Christians reject historical denominationalism and all restrictive central authority, and attempt to lead a life of following Jesus, seeking a more effective missionary lifestyle. They are the fastest-growing Christian movements in the world. Barrett estimates that by the year 2025, these movements will have around 581 million members, 120 million more than all Protestant movements together. Hirsh confirms the trend from his own experience, and believes that these new Christian movements "are simply under the radar of traditional Christianity", at least as long as it holds on to the classical Constantine church structure).” Hirsch, Alan. www.forge.org.au

This change is like a wave not led by Academics and Leaders but by simple followers of Jesus Christ dissatisfied with the status quo and wanting to be more in step with the New Testament in a relevant way for the world they live in. Their cry is to be Christ incarnate to a desperate world.

Below are Stan and Nina who have a neat testimony of originally being practiseing Orthodox Christians, moving to South Africa and getting involved with a Protestant church and coming to the realisation that it still was'nt the church that they were reading about in the New Testement. They now live in Glenfield in Auckland and are seeking out other believers who think as they do.

Every Home a Church
(A registered charitable trust)

Ted and Bobbie Hipkins are Followers of Jesus Christ living on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. For most of the Hipkins married lives a lot of their time has been taken up looking after two of their children who were very ill and then Bobbies Mother during the last years of her life. The Hipkins have worked out that in there entire married life they have had nobody to look after for only four of those years. In 2002 Bobbies Mother, Sadie sadly passed away.
After a trip down to the South Island which they had always hoped to do and a short trip to Australia they arrived back to there large house now empty ready to settle into a well reserved retirement. But God had other plans!
Soon after they arrived back, they were listening to a young woman who had come to speak. In the middle of her message she pointed at the Hipkins and said “God has not finished with you yet! You will be bringing young ladies into your home!” Three days latter they were asked if a young lady could come and stay with them. The rest as they say is history. Within a short period of time young women mainly from Asia were beginning to board at their large spacious home. During this time another prophetic word came “God will not take you to China but he will bring China to you”.
Before long women from all over Asia were staying and popping by. After a period of time an outreach group from the local university asked Ted and Bobbie if they would host every Friday night a Christian group reaching mainly Mainland Chinese Students which increased even more the traffic of young women from China being cared and loved for through there home.
Some of the students had been in New Zealand for over two years but had found the Kiwi culture so closed off to them that this home was the first and last ‘Kiwi’ household they had entered during there time in New Zealand. It must say so much that the one household who opened its doors was a couple who put Christ first and cared and served them with Christ’s unconditional love and acceptance. When talking to Ted and Bobbie about some of the highlights of seeing there home become part of the frontlines of the advancement of the Kingdom of God, they said the following things
 They have fun!
 Friday is like a party
 The food just turns up
 Lot’s of laughter
 God will lead you! You cannot plan God.

This is a photo of Lucas Creek which runs through Albany. Close to hear is where the Hipkins have there outreach to Chinise Students and the Albany gathering meets in home's not far from here. Massey University with its large International Student numbers is just up the road a bit.

A Friday dinner at the Hipkins house

Below is a photo of Barry and Iona. They are doing a great job facilitating an organic gathering in Albany Auckland.

1. Donald Dunn
2. Coming to Give
3. Upcoming events

1. Donald Dunn: Yesterday over 50 people crammed into our home to hear
Donald Dunn share his testimony of Organic Church Life. Donald planted Shiloh Community Church in Mangere New Zealand and saw it grow dynamically by over 20% a year for nearly a decade. Most of this growth came from new conversions. Donald shared the reality of his experience being a 'successful' Pastor of a large church with ministry extensions in other
nations, and how in the midst of this success God gave him a vision to seek true 'Koinonia' and a challenge to lay everything down including his ministry to experience 'Koinonia'. During the last 14 years since Donald stepped out of the mainstream church, he has spent most of his time ministering in other countries. One note of interest that at one of his seminars in the United States several years ago a couple called Tony and Felicity Dale came along, and it was there that they first got an inkling to what would develop into the House2House Magazine. A couple of years ago
Donald felt God had called them back to New Zealand and are currently reaching out and connecting with other like minded people around the country. Donald has years of experience and wisdom and what I would call an Apostolic Gift. I recommend connecting with the Dunn's if you are keen on learning and exploring a more unstructured life of faith. I am hoping to devote an up coming letter to a fuller interview with the Dunn's as I think it would be a real encouragement to us all.

2. Coming to Give: As Organic Believers, the biggest change we need to
make when we gather together instead of in a institutional service is our readiness to give (I'm not talking about money). When we attend a service we are looking to get a good time of praise and worship, we are looking to get a good sermon to inspire us; we are looking to get a good programme for the kids. The reality is that we judge the service by what we get out of it. This attitude needs to be quickly broken in an Organic gathering setting otherwise the gathering will die because it is lifeless or it will
mutate to one (or two) people doing all the talking or leading of the day. If you are in a gathering where one person always does the teaching while everyone listens you are in reality just a miniature church service in a house. From what I read of Paul's writing's he is very strong and clear when he says that we must all come to give. Whether it is a spiritual song, a prophecy, an encouragement, a word in season, we should all arrive at the gathering with something. In regards to new believers what they share is usually the best and most interesting from my experience. We are not here to accumulate lots of complex knowledge that we never live out. Even if people come completely dry with nothing spiritual to give, they can still give something, like being honest about where they are at, or bring more food to bless people or a financial gift to a member who is struggling, or help do the dishes and clean up after the gathering. There is no separation between practical and spiritual giving. If everyone is doing this, you are
going to see a more dynamic time where you really feel Jesus Christ is leading the gathering. This week if you gather my challenge to you is that before you even leave your house you have set in your heart at least one thing you are going to contribute to the gathering you are going to.

3. THINGS TO NOTE
* I will be away for 3 weeks from the 29th of August and will be checking my emails infrequently. An e-letter will still be sent out each week and my blog www.everyhomeachurch.blog.co.uk will be updated 3 times a week.
* General Election Prayer and Fellowship, Saturday and Sunday 3rd and 4th September. 3:30pm prayer, 5:30pm shared meal. Please contact Donald or Joyce Dunn 2757518 for more details and location.
* KEYS TO KINGDOM LIVING SEMINAR this is being offered in the same format as the prayer meeting above during the first weekend in October. Space is limited so confirmations (2757518) will be taken on a first in first served basis.
* I still have lot's of books and H2H magazines that are available, contact myself for a list.
* I am desperately seeking anyone ready to donate back to Every Home A Church, the 2nd Session DVD of Wolfgang Simson. I have sold out of that particular DVD and do not have one for myself, which I often use when on the road.

Have a Great Week

Philip and Kim

Around 50 organic believers crammed into our home today to hear Donald Dunn share with us. Donald walked away from Leading what would be considered a very 'sucesful' church 14 years ago to seek what true 'Koininia'. I will tell more of his story in the next month or so. It was a neat day of prayer, song, sharing, communion and food. Below is Geoff and Darren after the gathering.

Reformation is a free act or a repeated series of actions which are intended by the
reformer to recover, reestablish, augment, and perfect certain essential values which at one time existed in human society but which subsequently were lost or impaired by willful neglect or due to a general decline(Ladner, 1959).
While history shows that the content of the religious idea of reformation has through the ages been subjected to varying modalities, certain elements have been recurrent, if not constant. For reformation in Western thought has indeed stressed man's intentional efforts, multiple, repeated, and variegated, to reassert good old values and by personal regeneration and individual reform as well as by the restoration and improvement of community life in the Church and the world to lift man above low levels to which he has periodically fallen. If one were to take a bold look at the whole sweep of history, one might venture to conclude that in the early centuries of the Christian era renewal elements were very strong in combination with ideas of personal reformation; that in the medieval and Reformation eras reformation of the individual and of the Christian communities, regular and secular, was prominent; and that in very modern times the reform of society seems to loom large as the primary concern of religious men in the West. The religious idea of reformation has at all times been a powerful force in history. Luther, the magisterial reformer, caught the paradox implied in the religious idea of reformation.
He emphasized strongly that God “works within us” but not “without us.” Reformation is God's work, but at the same time it is man's work. To Luther the world was “the sphere of faith's works,” one of the most powerful organizing thoughts, Wilhelm Dilthey observed, that a man has ever had (Gesammelte Schriften,4th ed., Leipzig and Berlin [1940], II, 61).

* House Churches need to blue print themselves with a healthy emphasis on evangelism.
* Multiplying house churches typically grow large enough toform a second group within 6 - 9 months. Otherwise they stagnate.

* House Churches should not grow to large before they decide to multiply.

* It is known that smaller churches experiance a proportionally higher growth rate than larger churches.

* Conventional churches are not able to penetrate into many areas of society, necessitating a restructuring and re-strategizing towards a more mobile and flexible approach that can do the job.
* AS MORE HOME CHURCHES EMERGE, THEY WILL NEED TO BECOME PART OF CITYWIDE NETWORKS IF THE MOMENTUM IS TO INCREASE FURTHER ON LOCAL, REGIONAL, AND NATIONAL LEVELS.

This is a picture taken of Mt Ngaruhoe (spelt it wrong)as we came back from the Micro Church Confrence. I think they briefly showed it in Lord of the Rings, though I could be completly wrong!
I would write some stuff down but I am nipping off down the road to watch a bit of the ashes cricket between England and Australia in less than an hour

I have been writing some thoughts that I believe to be important. I have spent the last few days trying to get them down in an understandable manner and have not yet succeeded. So I will continue to get it ready for next week. In the meantime I will leave you a snippet about George Barna. I read many of Barna’s books when I was heavily involved with church growth and cell churches etc (in my former deluded life!). It is fascinating that this incredibly informed man of God is coming to conclusions that many of you have arrived at from viewing your own small part of the Christian landscape. Have a great weekend
Thom works closely with the well-known church researcher, George Barna. Over the years, Barna's research has turned up devastating "big picture" information about traditional church life in the US like:

1. Only 9% of people who say they are "born again" have a Biblical worldview.
2. "...the local church has virtually no discernible influence on people’s lives."
3. One million people leave the traditional church each year.

For 20 years, in book after book, Barna has been delivering this information to the American church. He has now concluded that, in spite of his best efforts, no one was really listening and he has now changed his strategy. Rather than being solely focused on research, he is now committed to actively supporting new forms of church that have the potential for actually seeing lives transformed. (Click on "New Directions" at http://www.barna.org/ )

The new books that Barna and others are writing "will reveal what is happening in the emerging Church – not the postmodern, candles/coffee/couches types of anti-modern ministries, but the Revolutionary ministry that is percolating to the surface of American society through new forms of ministry such as the cyber church, house churches, marketplace ministries, and tribal faith experiences."

Barna continues, "While I will write a few books for the line - the first, "Revolution", is scheduled to release in September 2005 – most of the books will be written by the new generation of spiritual leaders who are propelling the Church into the 21st century with an intense passion for God and a commitment to being the Church rather than worrying about protecting the forms and institutions that have been in place." http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=Perspective&PerspectiveID=2

The following is an extract from a book by Shaun Kearney. Before Shaun saw the truth of the Institutional Church, he was a well known Pastor in New Zealand. He was at the forefront of establishing one of the larger pentecostal movements in the country and was the President of Auckland's Pentecostal Fraternal. So like me this man was very involved and so needs to be listened to when he now says that the Institutional Church is on the wrong path. I have written a snippet of his book The Counterfeit Church below

the system pastors struggle with is not just difficult, but impossible. It's like entering a forest with a hammer to cut down trees. It's impossible, because the system they grapple with has no precedent in the word. It's also demoralizing, because it effectively defeats the purpose they hope to achieve. Instead of their flocks becoming strong, they remain weak. Their churches have revolving doors that frustrated, disatisfied sheep walk through as they wonder from church to church, (high places), looking for reality. It's building with straw, because it has no scriptual foundation. In spite of all the good things that happen within the system, the good should never be the enemy of the best. For this reason many Christians are no longer loyal to one church. Pastors must must rely on the happy hour on Sunday morning's to accompolish everything they want to...

(Pastors) The New Testement does not support the exalted position given him in the modern church. he is without contradiction an interloper, intruding in God's affairs. he cannot be seen in Act's nor did he ever exist in Paul's thinking. he has as much validity as 'big-foot'. You cannot build a case for the modern pastor on one proof text, (Ephesians 4:11 - 13) or then you become just as guilty as the Mormons, who baptize for the dead.

We went to a gathering at the Dean's house yesterday. The place was rather full as you will see from the photos!

Above is my good friend Robin Corner. Robin has recently established a House Church in Hong Kong and has a dream to see many House Churches birthed in that city. I took this photo at the Airport as he was passing through on the way back.
It was great to catch up and talk 'God stuff' again and pray over concerns and challanges we were both faceing.
Robin is heading to the Phillippines in the next month or so where he is running a trainning course for those wanting to see churches birthed in homes. Awesome stuff

The photo is of Jim (and my family) from Nottingham in England. Jim is in Auckland for a week catching up with family. Jim is part of an organic church in his city which has been going for 4 years. From the group they first started they have seen a couple go out and start there own group, and they have a work happening with the Elderly.
Jim contacted me through the House 2 House website and it was fantastic to catch up with a kindred spirit.
As Jim said as he left, we (the organic church) need to keep connecting with one another and encouraging and learning from one another. If someone can make the effort on the other side of the world, surely we can make the effort with each other in the same city!

I went to church at the McDonald's house on Sunday. There homeis next door to Massey University where Barry McDonald works. Naturally I forgot my camera as usual!
We started with morning tea while everyone arrived (mainly European in the 45 to 65 age group with some mainland Chinise as well). We caught up on what was happening and then Iona (very talented muzo) led us in some songs, and then we prayed.
I really felt the presence of the Holy Spirit and there was a real peace in the room.
This group has for the last year been going through the book of Mark methodically. They read each verse, and ask 3 questions

1. Is there something I don't understand in this verse (question mark)
2. Is there some revelation that I have about the verse (candle)
3. Am I going to apply this scripture to some area of my life (arrow)

Its going to take them a while longer to complete the book, but the meat they have extracted and the revelation recieved makes one realise how shallow Sunday sermons are! Also the great thing is that it is so easy to prepare and do, just ask the 3 questions and let the group led themselves!

Alongside there Sunday gatherings the group has seen Ted and Bobbie's home be used mid week to reach International Students for Christ and they have also been involved doing services at a local rest home. They are awesome people.
As the organic church develops I would love to utilise Barry more wider as he has a real strong gift of teacher and can bring real clarity to things when he speaks. Iona on the other hand is the real Pastor and hear of the group, leading, shepherding and loving the group.