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Center for Spiritual Renewal
Church MultiplicationSimple Church
The Foursquare Church Endorses Simple Churches!
On Oct. 20, 2009, the International Board of the Foursquare Church met in Christiansburg, Va. In addition to other business, the Board was to consider a simple church proposal presented by Rev. Rod Koop. Following that presentation, a resolution was passed, giving overwhelming affirmation of the Foursquare movement's support of the full release, celebration and blessing of simple churches as a way of advancing the kingdom of God.
The Foursquare Board enacted the following on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009:
Be it Resolved: By the Board of Directors of International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, a religious corporation, that we validate this Simple Church proposal while working out the details of implementation; and that we recognize and honor the move of the Lord in the growth of the Simple Church movement, embracing what the Spirit of the Lord is doing in the Body of Christ with Simple Churches; and that as an organization we bless that movement and are committed to working together in partnership that will extend the kingdom of God.
We are indebted to Tom Wymore for his extensive work over the past four years in helping to make this dream a reality. Tom is the national Simple Church Coach and is available for consultation to anyone wanting to know more about simple churches.
Please check back for subsequent information on the plans and procedures of registering simple churches. You may also refer to the FAQ's for answers.
Welcome!
In keeping with the simplicity of the house church movement (we call them simple churches), we will try to keep this Web site clean and simple. The main purpose of this site will be to give you a place to connect with others who are hearing God's call to explore the simple church world and to provide you with a growing body of resources pertinent to the simple church journey. We will build this Web site according to your input, so please send along your questions, comments and suggestions.
- Tom Wymore, Simple Church Coach
Resources for Simple Churches:
- Recommended books
- Recommended Web sites
- FAQs
- An Overview of Simple Church (PDF, 372 KB, 9 pages). Included in this document is:
- The Foursquare Family and Simple Churches
- Church at its Simplest - Defining Simple Church
- Simple Church Networks in the New Testament
- Beginning Steps for Starting Foursquare Simple Church Networks
What is Simple Church?
There are many definitions of simple church, our preferred term for what is also referred to as house church. One of the best definitions comes from House2House and is listed below:
- By 'simple church,' we mean a way of being and doing church that is so simple that any believer would respond by saying, "I can do that!"
- By 'simple church,' we mean the kind of church that is described in the New Testament, not constrained by structure but by the needs of the extended family (oikos), and a desire to extend the kingdom.
- By 'simple church,' we mean a church that listens to God, follows His leading and obeys His commands.
- By 'simple church,' we mean spiritual parents raising spiritual sons and daughters to establish their own families (oikos).
Key Simple Church Characteristics:
Many lists of simple church values exist, but the following seem to arise most often in the healthiest expressions of simple church. Healthy simple churches value:
- Simplicity.
- Intimacy with God and one another. Intimacy with God is foundational for everything else!
- Community.
- Family. The church is family and healthy families are the church.
- 24/7 Christian walk. Most people are in simple churches because of a sincere desire to be truly devoted followers of Jesus all the time, everywhere.
- Spontaneity.
- Supernatural lifestyle. We have found simple church folks to be remarkably open to the supernatural and keenly aware of the need to live naturally supernatural lives in today's troubled and broken world.
- Missional praying (e.g. praying the Luke 10:2b prayer for more workers for the harvest.)
- Participation for everyone. Everyone has something to contribute.
- Listening to Jesus, doing what He says and encouraging others to do the same.
- Leadership by example.
- Discovery learning and modeling as the preferred means of teaching and training.
Join the Discussion:
To facilitate lots of discussion, share ideas, victories and prayer requests, we have created a group on Google just for Foursquare Simple Church folks. If you would like to be a part of this group, please e-mail Tom Wymore and tell him a bit of your Simple Church story (how you came to be interested in Simple Church, etc.). He will respond to you and the interaction will begin!
Recommended Articles on Reachmore:
- "Church at Its Simplest" explains through biblical example what simple church is.
- "Coaching: Unleashing the Power of Discovery" answers such questions as what is coaching, why should I learn how to coach, how do I coach and more.
- "House Churches Gain Ground" contains one of the best collections of resource links for simple/house churches that we have seen to date. It has a brief overview of what's happening in the house church world then supplies a varied and plentiful passel of links that will keep you glued to your computer for quite some time!
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