CHAPTER SEVEN: Gathering, Covenanting, Reproducing

Overview
The following overview is a summary of the rest of this manual. The divisions in Section II follow the three stages outlined below. This section assumes the church planter is starting from scratch and will thus go through the 3 stages we have found in house church development. Each stage has a goal, out of which arises a project and from which activities flow. You are encouraged to use these as a starting point and adapt them to your needs. Section III of the manual outlines what to do once the first house church begins to reproduce.

Stage 1: Gathering
GOAL: Two church planters gather a group of 2 or 3 family units who realize that God's plan is to extend the gospel through the church.

PROJECT: The church planters find a man/woman of peace who can gather members of his/her social circle to become the nucleus of a house church.

ACTIVITIES: The church planters train the man/woman of peace to penetrate his/her social circle. Gathering meetings begin.

Stage 3: Reproducing
GOAL: The church begins other gatherings which lead to the formation of new house churches.

PROJECT: The church writes and implements a vision statement which outlines the goals for evangelism and edification which they believe the Lord has for them.

ACTIVITIES: Initial leadership is appointed. The church planter lowers his profile. Leaders take more responsibility for shepherding.

Stages in House Church Development
God has called his church into being and given it His marching orders: to extend His Kingdom to the uttermost parts of the earth! In every generation the challenge is the same: to publish the good news that Jesus Christ has indeed come to extend His Kingdom by inviting whoever will follow him to become part of His global plan of conquest.

In order to complete the task, the church must understand its purpose and constantly evaluate its progress in fulfilling the commands of its savior. For us, this means developing a church which constantly reproduces. By reproducing disciples, leaders, churches, church planters, and church planting teams, which will plant churches which will repeat the pattern, we are answering the call of Christ here in Rhode Island, and, as God gives us grace, to regions beyond.

The house church has presented us with a structure simple and flexible enough to enable continued and unrestrained reproduction. Like a virus, under the right conditions it can replicate itself rapidly and adapt to new conditions. However, it can also turn inward, crystallize, and become an isolated small group of self-centered "naval gazers". Let us be the guerilla invasion force God has called us to be!

To avoid the common pitfalls of a small church, we must know where we are going and how to get there. Then we must ruthlessly evaluate our progress, not by some absolute, legalistic, human standard, but by prayerfully looking at the health of our church, the call of God to reach the lost around us, and the motives of our heart as we "plunder the strong man's house".

Let us consider the 3 stages of house church development as we have found them, the goals for each stage, and suggested activities to reach these goals. We will also share materials which have been useful in helping those responsible (called church planters in this manual regardless of their official capacity).

Each house church will be different, but experience reveals some common goals, activities and problems. The order in which problems arise, the speed at which the church comes to grips with them, and how they overcome them vary from church to church. Materials have been developed by the Fellowship of Church Planters to help overcome problems, both of individuals and groups. More materials will be needed in the future and those already developed will constantly undergo revision according to the needs.

Stage 1: Gathering (Dating)
GOAL: Gather a group of 2 or 3 family units who realize that God desires them to form a church.

PROJECT: Get a group of seekers or believers to meet and look into the Word to see God's plan for mankind (the church!).

ACTIVITIES: The most important activity during this phase is evangelism. This evangelism, however, does not focus on gaining individual disciples, but rather on gathering a group of disciples into a loving, committed body -- the church.

The Church Planter may begin by winning a single person to Christ. But he emphasizes not only the person of Christ, but the corporate salvation to which the convert is called. Evangelism should include a focus on the Kingdom of God and the new life to which He calls us. Group or individual studies in Matthew (Cf. Chs. 1, 5-7, 12-13, 16, 18, etc.) and Acts (Chs. 1-11) are helpful for this. When a person comes to Christ, we use the booklets Entering the Kingdom & Living in the Kingdom for training a convert to become a corporate disciple. (See Appendices 1 and 2 for these studies)

As soon as possible, a gathering meeting should be arranged where a new believer or seeking unbeliever can bring his family and friends to hear about the good news. Thus the gospel can penetrate that person's social circle. It is best if this occurs on his "turf"--his house, or a relatives, or an interested friend--any place unbelievers will gather. Biblical examples of gatherings like this would be at the home of Cornelius (Acts 10), Matthew (Mt. 9), Zaccheus (Lk. 19). The gathering meeting should last over a definite period of time, with a specified purpose for the "studies". For example, 6 studies in Matthew on the Kingdom of God, or 4 in Acts on the church, or a single meeting to see the Jesus film. New friends can come at any time, and people can of course stop coming. At the end of this specified period a new set of studies might be proposed, to help the group embrace God's purpose for them to become a church.

A new believer or seeker should not be extracted from his social circle into an already existing church until his circle has been evangelized. (The exception to this rule would be an alcoholic or drug user if his social circle would keep him entrapped.) Each new social circle is potentially a new house church; do not alienate the convert from his people. If he is alienated already, the convert should be shepherded into an already existing house church where he can develop new friends and relationships. A new church will not be planted in this case. The goal of this gathering stage, once again, is for 2 or 3 family units to commit to follow Christ by committing themselves to become a church. Obviously then, the church itself is an important subject for evangelistic studies.

There may be some individual discipling during this first stage, but the primary thrust is to penetrate the social circle. Therefore, a gathering meeting must be the goal of individual discipleship. We teach the seeker or new believer to explain the call of God to his Kingdom to his family and friends through his personal testimony (Cf. John 9) and Bible stories. The goal of the gathering meetings is to find 2 or 3 believers committed to becoming the church.

As we move into the second stage of house church development, the group moves on to the Covenanting and Reproduction stages. It should keep having at least one gathering meeting in order to penetrate new social circles for the Kingdom. When all the social circles represented by those in the church have been exhausted, the church prays and plans to penetrate new ones. We teach and help every believer to penetrate his social circle for Christ and to take the responsibility for learning how to do it. It may be the only opportunity God ever gives those in that particular circle to hear the good news. Every single social circle represented in a house church presents a potential new house church. We call this Gathering stage the dating stage because we get to know each other and begin to bond to one another.

Stage 2: Covenanting (Engagement/Marriage)
GOAL : Have the 2 or 3 families covenant together to be the church, ministering to each other.

PROJECT: Write a covenant defining the relationship believers are to have in their church.

ACTIVITIES: Once the church planter has gathered 2 or 3 families who see that it is God's will for them to become the church, the next step is to commit themselves to be all that God calls them to be as the church. We do this through a covenant. The covenant enables the 2 or 3 families to define their relationship. They commit themselves to keep learning and applying the lessons of love and thus live out the community life of the church. Part of the covenant's statement relates how the community lives out the life of Christ and calls others to follow. Thus growth and reproduction are part of the covenant.

During the gathering meetings, as spelled out in the booklet Entering the Kingdom, a person declares himself to be in the Kingdom by repenting, being baptized, and added to the church (Acts 2:37-41). We encourage church planters not to count converts until they take these 3 steps of initiation into the kingdom of God. Therefore the first families understand the importance of obedience to the Lord in these basic activities. We focus on the 3rd activity (being added to the church) in the covenanting stage. Sometimes we wait to baptize until they have agreed on a covenant, and sometimes we baptize first, depending on the nature of the group. Likewise, sometimes we wait to celebrate the Lord's table until covenanting, and sometimes we begin before. Remember, this is the engagement phase, so we want to make sure they move through it and don't get comfortable in it. Otherwise it is kind of like living together--some of the benefits without the bond (which will be essential once the honeymoon wears off).

At this stage in the development of the house church we begin a Community meeting. In America we would probably meet on a Sunday, although the primary consideration should be when the families can actually meet regularly. Some of our churches change meetings fairly regularly due to rotating schedules of the members.

The community meeting will often consist of a worship time and a teaching time. The teaching time may also include planning and implementing what has been learned (like writing the covenant). Usually in preparation for a study time, a reading schedule is prepared by the church planter to be used in the homes of those forming the community. Families first study in the home what will be covered at the community meeting. Thus the heads of the home are taught early to take responsibility for shepherding in the home.

For male heads of home, this is the first step in developing leaders, since leaders must care for their homes. These reading schedules assign a few verses each day, with a question to start discussion. The families are encouraged to spend 3-5 minutes each day reading the assigned Scripture and discussing the question, usually around a meal time. This forces people out of the passive learner's role so prevalent in churches today. The community meeting's teaching is often simply sharing what God has taught the family in his Word that week. Several reading schedules appear in the appendices.

Reading schedules during this stage might include verses or stories from Acts, Ephesians, the "one another" verses of the Bible, or a topical study on The Church (see appendices 3-5). Remember, the purpose of the studies is to fulfill the project for this stage: write a covenant which defines the group's relationships. Teaching times of the community meetings should be divided between study and applying the studies to drawing up a covenant. The Lord's table should be included during the worship time. The male heads of households should be taught to officiate at the Lord's table. Leadership of the various aspects of the meetings should be shared by all the men who covenant, on a rotating basis. The community meetings should be for believers interested in covenanting, not unbelievers! Separate men's meetings may be helpful at this point, to equip them to lead both in their own families as well as the family of God (the community meetings). Separate meetings for equipping women ministers by the older women will also happen (More on this in chapter 17).

Gathering meetings (Stage 1) should continue and expand as other social circles are penetrated by the group. If two church planters are working together it may be wise to determine which one will head the work, and focus on leadership development . The other should focus on starting new gatherings. A whole new social circle might be penetrated while the group progresses through this stage; a second work would begin. Twins are planted!

During this covenanting stage the church planter trains new men to help lead both the community meetings, and the gathering. The church planter focuses on training one or two key men. As new people are added to the gathering meetings and become believers, those who brought them take responsibility to ground them in the faith. We have developed materials to help young believers shepherd new believers into the community (appendices 1 and 2). Those who bring new ones are in are taught to shepherd them in the faith. Leadership develops naturally around these discipleship "chains". Men shepherd men and women shepherd women. Discipleship chains emerge along relational lines.

Those attending gathering meetings are encouraged, upon becoming believers, to attend the community meetings. The purpose of gathering is to show people the complete salvation which God has wrought in Christ, which includes the corporate (church) aspect of salvation. They normally are brought through the initiation activities of repentance, baptism and preparation for covenanting by the person who brought them to the Lord.

Writing a covenant with its corresponding Bible studies and community interaction is fun and helps build a loving community. This is why we call it the engagement stage. We have committed ourselves to marriage, but aren't married yet. During this stage, though, conflict often begins. The community begins to become a healing organism. People learn new ways to deal with conflict, selfishness, etc. In our experience, during the covenanting stage we have times when we despair of the group ever coming together. Most groups covenant, because dissolving the relationship becomes more painful alternative than resolving the conflicts. When this happens you have a church, supernaturally touched by God and ready to live out its covenant. The covenanting stage is painful, but rewarding.

The covenanting stage ends with Covenanting Together as a church (usually after drawing up the covenant and studying the booklet Covenanting Together as a group).

Stage 3: Reproduction (Married Planning for Children)
GOAL: Start a new church or two. (A minimum of three house churches networked has been shown to be strong enough to sustain a reproductive vision. We recommend that the CP team not disengage until a cluster of 3 house churches exists.)

PROJECT: Develop and implement a vision statement sealing God's will for the church over the next 6 months. This vision statement should be in two parts: a plan for evangelism by the believers, and a plan for edification which is the responsibility of the church planter and the initial leaders (Eph 4:12). These two ministries are related. Edification includes equipping the congregation to reproduce (disciples, leaders, and other congregations). The vision should have measurable goals which can be evaluated periodically over the 6 month period by "health checks".

ACTIVITIES: A new church's first vision statement will be fairly simple. When it reproduces, it draws up a new, more complex vision statement. We will focus now on a new church's vision statement. (In section III more complex vision statements are examined.). The Vision Statement includes evangelism and edification. The church planter works on the edification part, the congregation on the evangelism part of the statement. It should envision the next 6 months measurably and realistically. Several things should be included:

1. Teaching on leadership for the community meetings. Home reading schedules are provided with Bible verses corresponding to the activities in the vision statement. The church is equipped by God's Word at once to embrace and implement the vision. Heads of families need to be encouraged and equipped to continue the training in their homes through this daily Bible reading. The men continue to teach at the community meeting on a rotating basis.

2. Appoint the first provisional leaders. These work with the church planter to implement the edification activities of the vision statement. In the process they learn how to work within a leadership team. These shepherd's-in-training should be appointed as soon as possible since they set the pace for the other believers. This uncovers potential, but shy leaders, as well as proud, would-be leaders who need to be weeded out. Be prepared to bring those who desire leadership for carnal motives to a place of repentance. Also be prepared to deal with the initial pride which may come out in newly appointed leaders. The appendices 16-19 give some tools to help the church planter in working on the leaders life.

If there are two church planters still involved, one should definitely phase out of the community meetings and start other gathering meetings. He may exploit the social circles of those in the new church or find totally new contacts. Each member of the church should continue to evangelize their own social circles. They can also help the second church planter to find new contacts outside of their social circle, visiting them with the church planter. If there is no second church planter, the church planter heading up the new church should train one or two men for evangelism of new social circles and to lead the resulting gathering meetings. These men may be the core of a new church planting team.

As soon as the provisional leaders show themselves to be faithful men, the church planter ordains them as elders. He then moves on and serves as a coach for the most part outside of the church for these new elders. Elder appointment normally marks the end of the REPRODUCTION stage and serves to send off the church planter to start a new church. At least one church planter remains nearby to train the elders until they are able to raise up new churches and elders without his help.

3. "Discipleship chains" are set up around the new leaders and new believers coming into the fellowship. "Single link chains" all linked to one church planter are a recipe for destruction. This hub model will actually cause the church to become dependant on the church planter and stifle leadership development. Multiple link chains must be set up around one or more of the provisional leaders or elders. All new believers should be discipled by the ones who bring them in, who are coached by the elders.

4. As events develop, the leadership team discerns how the Lord desires the church to reproduce. Two common ways are:

a. Grow until the group must divide in two. Our experience shows that a group should make plans to divide when it approaches 12 covenant members (excluding small children). This is the most difficult way for a group to reproduce since it traumatizes the entire group. Often it leads to slower reproduction after the first split since it takes time for both groups to reorient themselves. However, if the group does grow and refuses to reproduce, it will become ingrown and exclusive and not be of much value to God for extending His Kingdom.

b. Reproduction through penetration of social circles in the group. This will normally happens in one of two ways:

(i). A person is saved who has contacts in the area and comes to the church. He begins to evangelize and gather these contacts to hear the gospel. When he needs help either the church planter, (the gatherer) or a couple being trained by the church planter goes and helps with the gathering meeting. He often may need to be challenged and helped to do a lot of the work himself. This will especially be true if the work grows rapidly. Remember: God uses consecrated inadequate vessels all the time (Cf. 2 Corinthians 3:1-6).

As this gathering group develops it also starts community meetings and covenants. During its "covenanting" stage it will probably have much contact with its "mother" church.

(2). New ground is broken by the "gathering" church planter (the one on the team who has moved on after the church covenanted). He should be helped by someone from newly covenanted churches that he has already helped to start. When gathering meetings start and develop into a church, it already has a relationship with a "mother" house church with which to form a fellowship or network of house churches. Be continually on the lookout for perspective church planters. Don't presume it will take a long time for these to be developed. We call this second method “budding” since it is a bud off of the first church.

5. Finally, as a new church comes into existence, begin networking the churches together so that the older leaders help the newer leaders, and the resources of one church can help the other. The church planters continue to serve as a resource to the elders while not taking any place of pre-eminence over them. Our Fellowships (networks) of house churches meet monthly for a time of worship and united celebration. The leaders of each house church along with church planters working in the fellowship of churches also meet monthly for prayer, accountability, and encouragement. They form what we call a "Fellowship Overseer Board" (a presbytery of sorts) covenanting together to be on guard for each other and for the churches.

Each house church is autonomous, but not independent, since all are in fellowship with each other. Decisions which may affect other house churches are brought to the Fellowship Overseer Board for prayer and consultation. Some events may be organized for all the churches' participation, to further edify the saints or reach the lost. But the Fellowship itself remains loosely organized. Once there are five or six house churches in the fellowship, new fellowships are encouraged to begin as new churches are formed.