Today we finished putting our donor letters and pledge cards together. We also finished our constitution and bylaws, along with the supporting documentation for our 501(c)(3) affiliation ruling. Before we went to the post office, we prayed over the letters and asked for God release all of our needed provisions.
God is still revealing new facets of the ministry to me by the day. We will use the Simplicity Church locations as church plant incubators open to any starting ministry that is pursuing Great Commission ministry. I am already dreaming of seeing 5, 6, 7 or more congregations birthing in one location on a continual basis. Since our model is based on the incarnational ministry (being the church in your day to day world) of the Organic Groups, the facility is truly only used for a weekly coming together of the groups for mutual edification. This great stewardship, and again something birthed in my spirit in prayer many months ago.
I think the most difficult part of this for those coming out of the institutional design of church will be the paradigm shift. It has been so ingrained to have the building as the hub of activity, to have the family split out by ages, to have programs for your leanings and to have designated leaders. In the Organic Group the Holy Spirit is the leader. We know from Scripture that He is the one who joins the body together for effective service. He is the one who will equip the teacher, servant, administrator, evangelist, etc…