Simple Church (part 2)

Simple Church

Notes from Chapter Two:

Before I came to Community Bible Church I took a couple of classes at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. One of my professors was Thom Rainer, one of the authors of this book. “Simple Church” was conceived out of a study of Southern Baptist Church (SBC) health. It was expanded to non-SBC churches, but you can definitely detect the SBC influence. Many SBC congregations are bogged down with committees. They have a committee on committees. They have a large menu of program options. In many cases this gets in the way of actually making disciples.

In that respect, I came away from reading this book slightly encouraged. I don’t believe our congregation has a complex process. I’m not sure we need to streamline. My concern is we don’t a process at all.

A process is not about “programs.” Programs are not ends in themselves. They are to be used as tools to move people toward spiritual maturity (p.42).

Programs were made for man, not man for programs. If the goal is to keep certain things going, the church is in trouble. The end result must always be about people. Programs should only be tools (p. 43).

I believe in preaching. I believe that the gathering of the church should be centered on the Word of God. The main Sunday morning preaching service is the heart of worship. The question is however, is that alone enough to produce spiritually mature disciples?

No it is not. It takes a process that begins on Sunday morning, but that doesn’t end there. The goal is to move people from stage to stage so people naturally progress through the process of spiritual transformation.

The authors clearly believe in the value of small groups. People who attend worship services are encouraged to move to a small group. From small groups people should be challenged to serve on a team that reaches out to others. This is what they mean by a simple process.