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On Sunday I got to a workshop called "Sigposts", it was run by Bessie Peteria from Oikos and was sponsored by Youth for Christ Oikos Australia and the Well.

Okios is a resource and support for 'home church' and 'Missional groups'.

I think if you like Neal Cole, Frank Viola this is the group in Australia you should be linking into.

Just a few brief notes which I took::

:: Home Church
= Kingdom of God focused
= Get back to what Jesus said and did.
= Aquila and Prescila would have said "We are the Church" not point to a building.
= Shape is a network not hierarchical.
= Covering => It is Jesus not the Church
= Aim house Church "To encourage one another"
= Criticisms => worship, teaching => aim is to be 'learning' in the home church.


It was a good few hours, Bessie is a pretty encouraging person.


If I was a full on evangelical then I'd say this is the 'Biblical' way to travel.  But is it the answer to a Godless country. I'd say no; that no Church/Denomination/System has the answer. I really don't believe that the Church understands our culture.

Reimargining Church, Frank Viola

 

At last I've finished the book. I did set out to summarize each chapter but....

The end of the book Viola makes an important statement::

If you have understood and accepted the message of this book, then you have drawn two significant conclusion:

1. The institutional church as we know it today does not reflect the church that God originally intended.
2. The church that Scripture envisions is organic in its nature and expression, and the Lord desires to recover it today.

Agreeing or disagreeing with this statement is a good way of summarizing this book.

There are a number of responses to this statement.

If you an evangelical who takes the majority of scripture as literally then I think you have to agree with the statement. Churches as we know it are not scriptural but have been shaped by humans.

If on the other hand you are a Christian of a "progressive" or "liberal" bent. Then Viola's forceful argument does not sit as well. The traditions and sacrements in the Church in themselves have value and significant Spiritual significance.

Personally I think the small group is a better way in which community develops. I also like the idea of the 'priest-hood of believers'. I also find meaning in a lot of the traditions and sacraments within the church

One last comment on the last Chapter, which I don't think was neccessary in the book. Viola has a go at most of the main large grouping of evangelicals. He has a go at the 'Vineyard', through the 'Third wave, restoration' label. (Who would know what 'third wave' meant why not just say who the churches are....).

....most third-wave-restoration churches have put the cart before the horse. Namely, they have sought to possess the power of the Spirit before they have gone under the flesh-severing knife of the cross.

I'm not sure what he is trying to get at. There are plenty of examples of the Spirit coming along doing stuff prior to any knowlege of the cross eg pentescost. Anyway what anoys me is 'I've got friends in this movement, blah blah blah. I think he should have just left the chapter out instead of grand genralisations.

Otherwise its a great book if you are in the evangelical camp.

If you want to see my chapter summaries they are here

Frank Viola, Chapter 12, Re-magining authority and submission

 

Frank Viola, Reimagining Church, Chapter 12, Re-magining authority and submission

A few thoughts....
Firstly I've never heard of the 'shepherding movement' , but it would have been nice to have a bit more history on in. Especially from a non US christian background.

Frank has some interesting definitions in this chapter which I think are helpful in  summing up the chapter.
Subjection:: Absolute
Obedience:: Conditional
Authority:: An action carried out without hindrance. Authority is never over other believers. The New Testament authority is new linked to Church leaders or other Christians. It is not the same authority as government officials have.

Organic authority:: Rooted in a persons life of 'word and deed' or has it from the 'Lord himself' (Mmm subjective), often confirmed by the community. It is always based on function and service rather than 'Spirituality'.
Viola calls for a mutual subjection between believers. Which (I like), is rooted in the Trinity.

Frank Viola, Re-imagining church, Chapter 9, Reimaging oversight

There was some interesting observations in this chapter....

Elders whose function was overseeing and shepherding the members of the church.

Very interesting was the claim that

"...The Bible unshakably demonstrates that a plurality of elders oversaw the activity of the early church. No church in the first century had a single leader
Consequently, the common accepted notion of sola pastora (single pastor) is at odds with the New Testament. The bible knows nothing of a person who stands at the helm of a local church, directs it in the world, officiates its Communion (or Lord's Supper), blesses civic event, marries the living, and buries the dead. No such person exists in the entire New Testament."

This paragraph certainly rocks who is seen as traditional 'Church' in regards to structure. I cannot help but think though it is a natural tendency for people to look for an individual for leadership. But maybe as suggested by Viola it should be a plurality of 'Eldership'
Interestingly Ranges is currently working in the manner at the moment, and as far as I'm aware not really interested in changing.

Also of interest, Viola claimed the only time when there was a single leader as such, was when it was getting started, the 'apostolic worker' such as Paul.

Frank Viola, Re-imagining Church, Chapter 8, Leadership

I had a great affinity with this Chapter because I've seen a change of attitude and working at Church due to the change in this paradigm.
Viola's basic assumption is that leadership is effectively a function not an office. That most structures within the Church are hierarchical based. The results been, the Church community is overly reliant on one person to do most of the work.

Most of Viola's disagreement is how the Old Testament understanding of 'Priesthood' is carried into todays church. Where it was not seen in the New Testament. That the 'Preisthood of believers' should be the dominate force, in understanding leadership.

One area which I would disagree is his comparison of leadership in a 'Gentile' setting. I would argue especially if you read any modern day organizational leadership book. More than ever in history of leadership/management. There role more than ever is bringing together different skill sets in a facilitatory manner to reach certain objectives. Certainly this has been my experience in Nursing.

Frank Viola Re-Imagining Church, Chapter 7, Church practice and God's eternal purpose

Its been a while since I picked up this book so the summary continues.

There was quite a bit to chew on this chapter. The main idea that God's 'purpose' or 'mission', precedes the fall and can be identified in the first two chapters in Genesis and Revelation chapters 21 and 22. This been downplayed in the Christian Church. With the emphasis instead been::

Evangelical Christians have built their theology mostly on Romans and Galatians. And many nonevangelical Christians have built it on the Gospels (particularly the Synoptics- Mathew, Mark and Luke). And for both groups, Ephesians and Colossians have been but footnotes.

I think this is a pretty good observation. It is worthwhile pondering what God was up to. I'm not even sure 'purpose' or 'mission' are the best words to use. I'm probably happier with the words 'delighted'. MMmm worth a bit more thought.

Viola also adds a list of ten points which he has identified as part of the purpose. I'm would probably put more of an emphasis of God and his total creation, not just man.

Frank Viola, Re-imagining Church, chapter 6

This Chapter was one where I had differing views from Viola. There is no doubt that if you have unity you have to have something very basic in common. Thus common unity, in other words “community.” This comminality for Viola is “If God has accepted you you belong to the Church”. (I think Viola has shown us his reformed spots here)

I would think there are two main points for Church unity.

That a members are on a Journey towards Jesus. That some would have crossed the line, that Jesus is there saviour and others not. What is important is the direction that members of the community are travelling. Towards Jesus? This comes from social set theory.

The sticking point for me is, does God desire a relationship with those outside the church as those within?  We end up with a type of dualism when God loves those inside the church more than those outside. 

The other aspect which is essential for church unity and Jesus spoke of it at the last supper a number of times is that his followers “love one another”. You will always find something which you will disagree with someone else. What is important is that  you can still love them despite differences.

I felt that the ‘Reformed’ angle, let this chapter down. The line  ”To receive unbelievers as family member is to turn the church into something earthy and human”. Viola used a number of scriptures to support this, which he never elaborated on, but I’ll do that now.

 1 Cor 5:6 : immorality of one who was in there group

Gal 2:4: Spies entered there group

2 Tim 3:6 non-Christians take advantage of Christian women

2 Peter 2:1 : false prophets

Jude 4, 12 : Infultators at the meeting. 

I’m not sure these were the best scriptures to make the above point. What I would say in regards to church unity with those scripture  examples are, the  characters are not heading towards Jesus, the characters are not loving one another.

I was surprised that “love” was not given a greater prominence within a chapter on “Unity”.

Frank Viola Re-imagining Church, Chapter 4

This chapter is basically about house Church. Anything other than a house church for the New Testament Christians ‘ would have been looked upon as being out of the ordinary.’ Viola supports this argument pretty well. I’m not sure that this could disputed biblically, other than to say that some evangelism, debate occurred in the Jewish synagogue. That certainly for the messianic Jews part of the culture of Judaism certainly involved regular attendance to the synagogue.

A point to consider which I don’t think Viola addressed is- Just because some modern Churches have turned something large 50+ into megadom does this make it wrong? I don’t think so, so long as the elements that you get in a ‘house church’ are addressed. I’ve had one discussion from a person who went to a ‘large church’ yet described his home group as ‘his church’ and the Sunday gather as an adjunct to that. I liked that.

Frank Viola, Re-imagining Church, chapter 3

I’ve been side tracked with other books, so this review has suffered….

The basic premise in this chapter is that the Lord’s supper was actually taken as a meal. That the church has in many ways has taken many of the meanings and metaphors away from the Lords supper when it is not been taken and eaten in a more literal sense.

I suppose what I reflected upon was that the meal was intimate between believers. Most churches which I have been involved with, there communion has been based around an intamicy between God and the participants, but not neccessarily with other communicants. In actually sharing a meal this has a greater scope for happening. Through sharing and dialogue, there is greater chance of understanding and interacting in the Lords supper.

The question then arises especially for larger church is it actually possible to have an intimate communion where in the process everyone is able to express some of the amazingness of the Lords supper and through this worship God? I think it probably could happen, but it would for many almost seem contrived. Thus I think for the larger church the dynamics which Viola talked about would probably work best in the ’small group’

Some good stuff for reflection in the chapter, I pretty much agreed with it.

Frank Viola Re-imagining Church chapter 2

Basically a chapter regarding how Violas understands how the Church meetings took place in the New Testament. These came in four types-

Apostolic Meetings

Evangelistic meetings

Decision-Makeing Meetings 

A point that is made a number of times is that Leadership is flattened

The regular meeting of the church envisioned in scripture allowed for every member to participate in the building up of the body of Christ (Eph. E:16. There was no “up-front” Leadership. No one took center stage.

An interesting aspect was on worship. 

…early Christians worshipped God through song, they didn’t confine their singing to the leadership of a group of professional musicians. Instead, the meeting allowed for “each one” to lead a song. Or in the words of Paul, ‘each of you has a psalm’ in the gathering (1 Cor. 14:26 NKJV). Even the song themselves were marked element of mutuality…

This worship scenario has been something that in some ways we have been forced into at Ranges. There just aren’t that many musicians at Ranges, it has made us to look at what worship is and then encourage people to explore and share what it means. In the process I would say worshiping.

I think that Violoa is heading in the right direction. I can only really image what he describes in a home, small group context. The question arises does this totally exclude medium to mega size churches? I don’t think you can do that. 

So onward to the next chapter….

Frank Viola, Re-Imagining Church chapter 1

This is a repost from the Ranges Blog, which I will be continuing here

So this book from what I’ve read is welcomed and more positive than Franks previous toxic book ‘Pagan Christianity’. I’ve tackled the first chapter and thought it was good, so I’m going to attempt to summaries each chapter….

Pursuing the dream of organic Christianity, Frank Viola

1) Reimagining the Church as an Organism

I was really pleased that the books main assumptions are based on the Trinity. That the Church is built in the image of the Triune God. That in that relationship is the dance between the Father Son and Holy Spirit. That relationship is one of the key elements for the Church. I was pretty impressed that Frank quoted Kevin Giles for a lot of this section. Kevin is an Australian theologian. (I think we have a book of his on subordination within the Trinity). Viola argues that the Spirit of mutual relationship within the Trinity has been usurped in the modern Church.

Command -style relationships, hierarchy, passives spectatorship, one upmanship, religious programs, etc were created by fallen humans. And they run contrary to the DNA of the triuene God as well as the DNA of the Church…’

Viola then looks at four Paradigms for Church restoration.

Biblical Blueprintism, Cultural Adaptability, Postchurch Christianity and then finally Organic Expression. The Last Organic Expression is what Viola hangs this book on.

Naked Pastor attends the Frank Viola conference

I was interested to read on Naked Pastor's blog, his thoughts on the Frank Viola conference which he attended. I was especially interested in his thoughts regarding the parallels to the Vineyard Movement.

Viola says that he has been outside of the institutional church for over 20 years. But the problems that he admits so beset the house-church movement sound remarkably similar to what, say, my denomination, the Vineyard movement, presently struggles with. The issues of theology, purity, passion, mission, power and authority, money, commitment, isolation versus networking and clustering, are identical. We are all talking about the same old solutions to the same old problems.

Im glad that the Vineyard movement has moved on from this stuff a bit. That for us in the Vineyard Catalyst network there is the ability to do House church stuff, that Frank Viola talks about.

I'll be continuing my look at Frank Viola's book Reimagining Church on this blog and I'll drag some of my previous posts of the ranges blog across as well.