When we first began doing house church in 1998, we were reacting against the structure of traditional church. Now, we weren’t going to have any structure! What we discovered was that no structure actually made church very complicated.

In time, we have come to a simple structure that moves us toward our two values – connecting with each other and with God. We use the same two practices when we gather as we do in our CO2s. This gives us a “track to run on”.

We begin by going around the circle using SASHET to check in with each other. This usually takes about an hour. Then, we take 20 minutes or so to individually listen listen to the Lord. We ask this question: “Lord, what do you want to say to your church today?” We come back and share what we heard and “church” emerges out of that. (teaching, singing, praying for one another, etc.)

One result of this simple structure is that every member of our church is fully equipped to be the facilitator at any time. And, every member is fully equipped to start a new church.

These two simple rhythms make it possible for church to be both deeply transformational and easy to multiply.

John