Planting churches where unbelievers gather
More quotes from Organic Church by Neil Cole …
Cole gives five principles for starting reproducible churches: 1. practice of prayer; 2. pockets of people; 3. power of presence; 4. person of peace; and 5. people of purpose. On ‘pockets of people’ he says:
The key is … in bringing the Kingdom of God to the people He is calling out. In searching for a fertile pocket of people, look for a strong sense of community and social cohesiveness. Just like the bar Cheers in the TV show of the same name, look for a place ‘where everybody knows your name.’
Jesus’ plan is for us to identify a pocket of people who do not have a vital Kingdom witness. Then we enter into relationship with those people. We inject the Kingdom virus right into the darkness, and a church is born there from the changed lives. If they are not receptive (which happens frequently), we simply wipe the dust (bad soil) off our feet and move on to the next pocket of people. (177)
Instead of bringing people to church so that we can then bring them to Christ, let’s bring Christ to people where they live … What would it be like if churches emerged organically, like small spiritual families born out of the soil of lostness, because the seed of God’s kingdom was planted there? These churches could reproduce just as all living and organic things do. We have seen such churches meeting in restaurants, offices, homes, university campuses, high school facilities, and beaches. We’ve had churches meeting in bars, coffeehouses, parks, and locker rooms. (xxvi)
