Tag Archives: organic church

Quarterback Preacher & Handoff Church

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Steve Simms

Is it time for a handoff or a pass to Jesus?  Football season is upon us and the quarterback’s job is to get the football to a playmaker, either by a handoff or a pass. I believe that a pastor’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Final Four, handoff, Jesus Christ, Nashville, open mic, open mike, playmaker, Salvation Army, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Corps, sports, Super Bowl, The Salvation Army | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Church Piano or Piano Church?

Posted on June 24, 2013 by Steve Simms

Church is like a piano.  Here is a piano lesson for the church. A piano has 88 keys, 52 white & 36 black. But what if 87 keys are stuck and only one key is free to make a sound? … Continue reading →

Posted in black keys, church format, church leader, church leadership, church meetings, church programs, church roles, church services, church structure, Holy Spirit, How many keys on a piano?, keys, music, Music City, Nashville adventure, Nashville church, Nashville events, non-church, non-traditional church, piano keys, piano lessons, religion, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Corps, Salvationists, The Salvation Army, tickle the ivories, white keys | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Could Church Services Be Like A Handbell Choir?

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Steve Simms

Have you ever seen a group of people play a tune with handbells? Each person holds two bells and all the bells play different notes. As a director leads them, each person plays one of his bells at the proper … Continue reading →

Posted in Christian community, Christianity, church leader, church leadership, church meetings, church program, church programs, church services, encountering God, experiencing God, participants, participators, participatory church, religious innovation, spiritual transformation | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

An Anglican & A Baptist Describe Participatory Church

Posted on May 28, 2013 by Steve Simms

Anglican priest, Robert Wild, describes participatory church: “God can speak to each person through the others and guide the entire assembly toward a common mind, toward consensus.” Baptist pastor, Ed Stetzer describes participatory church: “In all of our research on … Continue reading →

Posted in Anglican priest, church format, church leader, church meetings, church program, church programs, church roles, church services, clergy, clergy/laity, consensus, Ed Stetzer, laity, layman, laymen, ministry, missional, missionary, pastor, preacher, quote, Quotes, Robert Wild, simple church | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Church of the Nazarene Leader Proclaimed Participatory Church

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Steve Simms

Early leader of the Church of the Nazarene, P.F. Bresee, proclaimed participatory church: “‘Pump handle’ religion has to give place to the ever-ready springing up and sending forth of testimony and praise. How often the ‘pump handle’ has to be … Continue reading →

Posted in 1 Corinthians 14:26, audience, Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, church fathers, church format, church history, church leader, church leadership, church meetings, church program, church roles, church services, church structure, fire, fire of the Holy Spirit, history, Holy Ghost, Nashville, Nashville charity, Nashville church, participatory church, performance, preacher, preaching, preaching the Word, religion, religious innovation, renewal, revival, sermon, sermon-free, sermon-hearing, sermons, spirit, Spirit's flow, Spirit-filled, Spirit-led, spiritual, spiritual formation, spiritual innovation, spirituality, symphony, The Salvation Army | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Baptist Pastor Promotes Participatory Church

Posted on May 25, 2013 by Steve Simms

I “stumbled upon” a 1971 book by a Baptist pastor that describes a participatory style church service: “One winter morning I stopped for worship at a small East Tennessee rural church . . . The singing stopped and he (the … Continue reading →

Posted in Albert McClellan, attitude, East Tennessee, festival, mystery, praising God, pray for one another, prayer, praying, praying community, Quotations, Quotes, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Corps, shouting in church, simple church, testimonies, testimony, The Salvation Army, weeping | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Priesthood of the Believer Church (Church Meetings Without A Dominating Leader)

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Steve Simms

Can churches meet without one person dominating the meeting?  History says they can! When the Protestant Reformation broke with the Roman Catholic Church, one of the doctrines they embraced become known as “the priesthood of the believer.”  The Reformers acknowledged … Continue reading →

Posted in Catholic, Catholic Church, Catholicism, China, Chinese, church, church history, church in China, church leader, church meetings, Communists, holy priesthood, kingdom of priests, Laymen's prayer revival, laymen's prayer revival of 1857, Martin Luther, Methodism, Methodist class meeting, Methodists, participatory church, pastor, Peter Wagner, priest, Quaker meetings, Quakers, quote, Quotes, Ray Stedman, Roman Catholic, simple church, Spirit-filled, Spirit-led, Spirit-prompted, The Salvation Army | Tagged , , , , , | 23 Comments

Talk Church Is Better Than Talk Radio

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Steve Simms

Talk church is better than talk radio.  Its talking points are about the living, resurrected Jesus Christ. Sit-back-and-listen-church makes people passive.  Open line, talk church makes people powerful in God as they show and tell what God has done on … Continue reading →

Posted in Berry Street, Berry Street Worship Center, church format, church history, church meetings, church program, church programs, church roles, church services, church structure, faith, faith in God, faith-based, great awakening, hearing God, hearing Jesus, hearing the Holy Spirit, improv, improvisation, Jesus Christ, John Miley, led by the Spirit, listening, Methodism, Methodist class meeting, Nashville adventure, Nashville church, Nashville tourist attractions, non-church, open church, participants, participators, participatory church, power, powerful, quote, Quotes, religious innovation, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Corps, Spirit-filled, Spirit-led, Spirit-prompted, spiritual church, spiritual flow, spiritual formation, spiritual innovation, spirituality, The Salvation Army | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Sermon-free church will irrigate your dry soul, flooding your heart with the power and presence of the living, resurrected Jesus Christ as everyday people, led by the Spirit, show and tell what God has done.

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Steve Simms

The Methodists used to practice sermon-free church. Sermon-Free church broke out across American in the late 1850s. The Quakers practiced sermon-free church. A prayer for sermon-free church from the late 1800s is being answered in Nashville.

Posted in church, church format, church history, church meetings, church program, church programs, church roles, church services, church structure, churching, Methodism, Methodists, Nashville, Nashville church, preaching, Quakers, sermon, sermon series, sermons, simple church | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sermon-Free Church Rocked The Early Methodists

Posted on May 12, 2013 by Steve Simms

The early Methodists practiced a type of sermon-free church known as class meetings.  These were weekly, participatory meetings where every person present was given the opportunity to talk about their life with God.  The first Methodist class meeting was started … Continue reading →

Posted in bear one another's burdens, Christian experience, Christianity, church, Frederick William Briggs, John Bate, John Berry McFerrin, John Wesley, Kevin Watson, Methodism, Methodist revivalists, Methodists, Nashville, Nashville adventure, Nashville charity, Quotations, quote, renewal, revival, Salvation Army church, Salvation Army Corps, simple church, Spirit-led, spiritual awakening, spiritual growth, spiritual life, spiritual movement, The Salvation Army | Tagged , , , | 16 Comments