What is church? 1) A place where people passively sit in chairs? Or 2) A gathering where everyone shares? (See the Bible’s answer @ I Corinthians 14:26.)

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Steve Simms

Here’s a one question quiz:  What is church?

1) A place where people passively sit in chairs? Or

2) A gathering where everyone shares? (See the Bible’s answer @ I Corinthians 14:26.)

I want to be a Christianitypreneur (I made that word up.)  I googled and found two similar words:  Christpreneur and Christianpreneur, but I didn’t find my new word.

Christianitypreneur means to develop a fresh approach to church, a creative way to worship.  I want to discover, demonstrate, and disperse creative ways to let the Holy Spirit, in all of His Divine freshness, be in actual control of a Christian worship meeting — where human control, programs, and agendas are set aside so that the risen, present Christ can, Himself, take charge and run things His way.

We’ve been working on this for 4 years at The Salvation Army Berry Street Worship Center in Nashville.  It is definitely a non-traditional approach to a Christian worship meeting.  There is no sermon.  Instead people are invited to share Scriptures, testimonies, words of instruction, encouragement, prayers, and one-to-one ministry.

The results so far have been truly amazing.  Lives are changing in front of our eyes.  If you would like to experience a little Christianityprenuering, come visit:  Sunday mornings at 10:45 and Thursday nights at 6:30.    You’ll be glad you did.  We are located at 225 Berry St., Nashville, 37207.

 

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About Steve Simms

I like to look and think outside the box. In college I encountered Jesus Christ and I have been passionate about trying to get to know Him better ever since. My wife and I long to see the power and passion of the first Christ-followers come to life in our time. I have written a book about our experiences in non-traditional church, called, "Beyond Church: An Invitation To Experience The Lost Word Of The Bible--Ekklesia." If you need encouragement, search for: Elephants Encouraging The Room and/or check out my Amazon author page. Thank you!
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4 Responses to What is church? 1) A place where people passively sit in chairs? Or 2) A gathering where everyone shares? (See the Bible’s answer @ I Corinthians 14:26.)

  1. Pingback: What is church? 1) A place where people passively sit in chairs? Or … | Church

  2. ELIZABETH S's avatar ELIZABETH S says:
    March 29, 2012 at 2:20 pm

    LET ME SEE … OLD FOLKS MOSTLY = #1

    Reply
  3. Marcus Ampe's avatar marcusampe says:
    March 31, 2012 at 1:07 pm

    It is a good start to hold your church this way, one which is done already for ages by Christadelphians this way, though they still have an exortation as well. A sermon could be helpful to go deeper in the readings of the day, but it should be the only thing were the church goers are not active except being ‘active’ listeners. All the rest of the service should be communal, everybody doing something. A church should be a living community all active in the work of God, with as main activity studying the Word of God and helping others to find the substance of the Word of God.

    Reply

  4. Pingback: Dorothy In Oz, Wheels, Soul Train, TEAM, Yall, Lights, & A Quiz (Examples/Metaphors of Participatory Church) | Free Gas For Your Think Tank (Steve Simms Blogs From Nashville)

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