"Only that which is simple can multiply rapidly." Hence, simple church.  A way of doing church that is so simple that any believer would say, "I can do that!"

But simple doesn't mean watered down.  In fact, my belief is that simple church can be a far more effective means of "making disciples" than most building centered, program based, traditional churches.  Why?  Because church becomes family and family is where lives are most deeply shaped and impacted.  And, the dinner table is a center point for most families.

 Church around the dinner table

Dear Church,

To review:

"Only that which is simple can multiply rapidly." Hence, simple church.  A way of doing church that is so simple that any believer would say, "I can do that!"

But simple doesn't mean watered down.  In fact, my belief is that simple church can be a far more effective means of "making disciples" than most building centered, program based, traditional churches.  Why?  Because church becomes family and family is where lives are most deeply shaped and impacted.  And, the dinner table is a center point for most families.

Below is a great quote about the "eating" part of church.  The quote was captured by Marti Grahl.  Marti and her husband, Chris, are developing simple churches in western Maryland.

John White

House Church Coach

Denver, CO.

Every believer a church planter.

Every home a church.

Every church building a training center.

"I'm so drawn to the idea of the table being a central part of life together as believers. It's natural, it gives a way to share our lives in a common, informal manner. I came across a quote that I found really interesting.

It's actually from a PBS website. (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/) about a series that they did about what life was like in the time of Christ and the early church. This is a description by a Bible scholar/historian concerning what typically would be the "gathering together" of those early believers.

I don't know about you, but it kind of puts in perspective the whole idea about "church meetings," programs and questions like "What do we do with the kids." I found it food for thought, anyway. This particular quote came from

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/first/congregations.html

"The worship of an early Christian house church probably centered around the dinner table. They don't necessarily all sit facing forward like in a church building that we think of today but rather they're in someone's dining room and the center of their activity really is the fellowship meal or the communal meal. The term communion actually comes from this experience of the dining fellowship.... We need to remember that dining is one of the hallmarks of early Christian practice almost from the very beginning. All the gospel traditions tend to portray Jesus at the dinner table as a very important part of his activity. Paul's confrontation with Peter at Antioch is over dining, and when we look at the context of the letters, especially First Corinthians, the role of dining in fellowship is central to all of their religious understanding and practices.

"We also know that all other aspects of worship that we think of as going with early Christian practice probably happened around the dinner table as well. Paul refers to one person having a song and another person bringing a prayer. Everyone is contributing to the banquet whether it's in the form of food or in the form of their piety and worship. They all bring it to the table.... Some of them bring prophecies or charismatic gifts, and these too form some of the concerns that Paul deals with in some of the letters. Sometimes charismatic gifts also produce tension within Paul's communities. We hear at times of Paul having to discipline people or suggest that the congregation discipline people by kicking them out of the fellowship dinner because he doesn't like the ethical behavior of some people. We hear of questions of dining with pagans and going to dinner parties where the meat might not be of a suitable sort, so there's all kinds of questions that come up in the context of this house church environment in Paul's letters."

Marti

Wife to Chris, and mom to Emilee, Rachel, Katie, and Becky

Smithsburg, MD

"Unanswered questions aren't nearly as dangerous as unquestioned answers"