For people who have been part of a conventional church with a building and some type of Small Group or Cell Group ministry, the question often gets asked, “Isn’t Simple Church just a new name for Small Groups or Cell Groups?” It is a good and honest question. On the surface they look nearly identical. In both you are likely to have groups of a dozen or so people who gather on some regular basis. In both groups there will likely be some discussion of the Bible as well as time for prayer. There will be fellowship and some degree of building relationships. But once you get beyond the surface and those common traits, the two things are very different.
Identity: Small group ministries are designed to give people a slice of life that the larger Sunday gathering can’t easily provide. Usually that slice is the sense of belonging and the chance to talk about the Bible together. Small groups are one piece of the ministry of the church. It is not expected to be holistic. The preaching, worship team, sacraments, missions, student and children’s ministry and a host of other programs are supposed to be provided by the larger church. The small groups identity is found in seeing itself as a part of a church and it’s ministry. It is complete only in that it is connected with the bigger picture and the ministry provided there. The Simple Church, sometimes called House Church or Organic Church has a self identity as a complete expression of the church only smaller, simpler. When the Simple Church gathers there is a sense of belonging and learning from God’s Word. But there can also be the sacrament, especially communion as part of a meal like the first century church did. If there are children or teenagers in the Simple Church then they are included in the overall ministry of that group. In short, whatever ministry is needed in the Simple Church, they are free to carry it out
Affinity vs. Neighborhood Mission: Most small group membership is based more on affinity than anything else. All the young married couples without kids get in a group together. The empty nesters have a group. Everyone has a group based more on who they are comfortable with and have something in common with than based on mission. In most churches you can live 20 minutes from the church building and someone in your small group can live 20 minutes the other way. So in effect you are 40 minutes from each other and really only see each other on Sunday and in your group meeting. This severely restricts relationships and makes it nearly impossible to serve a community together. The Simple Church is based more on geography and mission than affinity. Our affinity as brothers and sisters in Christ should be enough to get us together. If two or three families living in the same neighborhood start meeting as Simple Church they are much better positioned to serve their neighbors for Jesus. They will also see one another as they go through life, at the grocery store, mall, little league game and just coming and going. They will be able to love one another more effectively and as a result those who don’t know Jesus but are in that neighborhood, will know that they are Christians by that love. The neighborhood based Simple Church can work together to serve the other neighbors. Together they can reach out to the single mom, or the family facing a serious illness, or any of the other things that used to be common acts of being a neighbor.
The Simple Church looks like a small group but it is much more. It is the church in all it’s ministry and power. It is very much what the first century church experienced and how they changed the world.
Simple Church or Small Group: What’s the Difference?
For people who have been part of a conventional church with a building and some type of Small Group or Cell Group ministry, the question often gets asked, “Isn’t Simple Church just a new name for Small Groups or Cell Groups?” It is a good and honest question. On the surface they look nearly identical. In both you are likely to have groups of a dozen or so people who gather on some regular basis. In both groups there will likely be some discussion of the Bible as well as time for prayer. There will be fellowship and some degree of building relationships. But once you get beyond the surface and those common traits, the two things are very different.
Identity: Small group ministries are designed to give people a slice of life that the larger Sunday gathering can’t easily provide. Usually that slice is the sense of belonging and the chance to talk about the Bible together. Small groups are one piece of the ministry of the church. It is not expected to be holistic. The preaching, worship team, sacraments, missions, student and children’s ministry and a host of other programs are supposed to be provided by the larger church. The small groups identity is found in seeing itself as a part of a church and it’s ministry. It is complete only in that it is connected with the bigger picture and the ministry provided there. The Simple Church, sometimes called House Church or Organic Church has a self identity as a complete expression of the church only smaller, simpler. When the Simple Church gathers there is a sense of belonging and learning from God’s Word. But there can also be the sacrament, especially communion as part of a meal like the first century church did. If there are children or teenagers in the Simple Church then they are included in the overall ministry of that group. In short, whatever ministry is needed in the Simple Church, they are free to carry it out
Affinity vs. Neighborhood Mission: Most small group membership is based more on affinity than anything else. All the young married couples without kids get in a group together. The empty nesters have a group. Everyone has a group based more on who they are comfortable with and have something in common with than based on mission. In most churches you can live 20 minutes from the church building and someone in your small group can live 20 minutes the other way. So in effect you are 40 minutes from each other and really only see each other on Sunday and in your group meeting. This severely restricts relationships and makes it nearly impossible to serve a community together. The Simple Church is based more on geography and mission than affinity. Our affinity as brothers and sisters in Christ should be enough to get us together. If two or three families living in the same neighborhood start meeting as Simple Church they are much better positioned to serve their neighbors for Jesus. They will also see one another as they go through life, at the grocery store, mall, little league game and just coming and going. They will be able to love one another more effectively and as a result those who don’t know Jesus but are in that neighborhood, will know that they are Christians by that love. The neighborhood based Simple Church can work together to serve the other neighbors. Together they can reach out to the single mom, or the family facing a serious illness, or any of the other things that used to be common acts of being a neighbor.
The Simple Church looks like a small group but it is much more. It is the church in all it’s ministry and power. It is very much what the first century church experienced and how they changed the world.