God’s not dead — He’s the world’s best at running church services. When human leadership steps aside and allows God to lead, church services enter into a dynamic new dimension as ordinary people, prompted by the Spirit, show and tell what God has done. Try it and see for yourself!
Participatory church shows you the invisible! How?
–You see the invisible move the visible.
–In nature, you see the invisible wind stir the leaves.
–In participatory church, you see the invisible God stir people and prompt them to share amazing things from the heart.
Here’s an amazing fact: Participatory/organic church created the most amazing growth of Christianity in history:
–After the Communists took over China in 1948 they arrested almost all of the country’s pastors and held them in prison for 20 years or more, thinking that this would kill Christianity in China. However, just the opposite happened. Ordinary believers began to minister to one another and to evangelize nonbelievers.
–After many decades of intense missionary work, there were fewer than 3 million Christians in all of China in 1948. Today it is estimated that there are 100 million Christians in China. (Check out the YouTube video series “Jesus in China.”)
Participatory church will help you do this . . ;.
“Say yes to the situations that stretch you and scare you and ask you to be a better you than you think you can be.” –Annie Downs
Participatory church has a mystical profundity that powerfully presents the presence of Christ through everyday people!
“I suspect a major reason why the kind of participatory worship Paul recommended to the church in Corinth (see 1 Corinthians 14:26) is so rare is fear. What might happen if the Spirit was allowed to work in the congregation free from control by one or more leaders and from cultural constraints? It seems so much safer to keep things under human control.” –Bill Samuel
Perhaps it is time for interactive church services!
“Our broadcast world is quickly giving way to an interactive world. One-way broadcasting is being replaced with multi-way conversations. People no longer passively consume media, they interact with it. They talk back, through Twitter, Facebook, text messages and more.” –Kevin D. Hendricks
If you are in the Nashville, Tennessee area, experience participatory church at The Salvation Army Berry Street, 225 Berry St., 37207 on Sunday mornings at 10:45.
I saw in Prism an interesting story on an experiment in participatory church.
http://www.evangelicalsforsocialaction.org/holistic-ministry/soup-and-solidarity-at-the-lords-supper/
This may be a little hard for Salvationists and Quakers to accept since the Eucharist is central in this, but I think it is beautiful.
And my full post on Participatory Worship, from which the quote in this post comes:
http://billsamuel.net/blog/?p=37
I totally agree, except to say that the phrase church service does not describe what our Jesus did with his disciples. It was a dynamic lifestyle that permeated every facet of their lives, not just on Sunday. I love the quotes you added, especially from Bill Samuel. Hits the nail on the head for me.
Yes, I agree. I just use “church service” because it is a common term and it is easier to use it.
It is true. Most “churched” people understand that. If your audience is just considering the validity of the IC, giving them all the organic info is like putting them in front of a fire hydrant and expecting them to drink. I know when i started reading Alan Hirsch, Frank Viola and Francis Chan, it took some time for those concepts to sink in. I was actually offended by “Finding Organic Church”, and almost threw it away. I am glad i gave it a chance and really considered the questions it posed. I have never been so free in my faith amd walk with God. Now I am saddened by the luke warm, status quo the IC perpetuates. I enjoy reading you. So glad there is a voice to the first century movement.
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