CMA LogoTools & Trainings E-Newsletter
Issue 39                                            March 31, 2009
Go Small to Go Big 
 
Why is small such a big deal? Small does not cost at all. Small is easy to reproduce. Small is more easily changed and exchanged. Small is mobile. Small is harder to stop. Small is intimate. Small is simple. Small infiltrates easier. Small is something people think they can do. Big does not do any of these things. We can change the world more quickly by becoming much smaller in our strategy.

If I can be vulnerable for a moment I want to share with you my greatest phobia. Until now, this was a secret known only to my wife and three kids (and boy do they have fun with it), but it is time for full disclosure. I am not afraid of large dogs, strange people or standing in high places. I have no problem in the dark or an enclosed place. I have a phobia about bugs. There, I said it. An individual bug doesn't really bother me. I am glad to remove a spider found in the bathroom by one of my daughters without hesitation. It is when bugs swarm that I am creeped out. This has always been my greatest nightmare. Even as I write this and imagine it in my mind I feel shivers on the back of my neck. The feeling of ants all over my legs is the worst! I hate it.
Swarm of  Bees
The truth is we should all be a little freaked by swarms of insects; they are so overwhelming that there is almost no defense. You can have a double barrel shotgun and an automatic machine gun at the same time and you are absolutely defenseless against a swarm of killer bees. You can shoot at the swarm, and you may even hit a couple of the bees, but the swarm doesn't even need to duck when you shoot. It will come without any slowing or adjustment after you have fired all rounds. And that is also why a decentralized movement can literally be unstoppable.

While for years now the church has invested in growing larger, the new missional movement is trying to get smaller in its focus so that it can get bigger in its impact.

Small is the new big.


- Neil Cole
  (From Church 3.0: Upgrades for the Future of the Church).


The Gathering in Globe
t
Gathering in Globe
CMA Conference 2010

We'll be doing a "Gathering in Globe, AZ"
A woodstock-esque festival- retreat, reconnect, refresh
April 9-11, 2010
Globe, Arizona
Online Registration ends April 1


Upcoming Trainings- Organic Greenhouse


Greenhouse Story 1Portland, Maine // Story 1
@ SouthCoast Community Church
April 16-17
Limited seating
Online Registration Ends April 11

Hamburg, Germany // Story 1
May 28-29
With Neil Cole & Dezi Baker
Details and Registration (in German):HERE
Greenhouse Story 2

Orlando, FL // Story 1
@ Northland Church
June 11-13
Early Bird Registration open now



Click HERE for more Details and to Register

Trainings in the planning stages:
Long Beach, CA // Story 1
Twin Cities, Minnesota // Story 1

Detroit, MI // Story 1
Canada, Kenya, Germany, Norway



Other Organic Church Learning Opportunities

Exponential
Exponential 10

April 19-22
Orlando, FL
Neil Cole teaching a Church 3.0 Workshop


South Texas House Church ConferenceSouth Texas House Church Conference
Disciples, Leaders, Churches, Multiplication
April 30-May 1
with Neil Cole
San Antonio, TX
Only $30 with 3 meals!
More Details & Registration HERE (PDF)
Local Coordinator: Gail 210-525-9954 or email
Video about this movement

Featured Resources

Church 3.0Church 3.0: Upgrades for the Future of the Church
By Neil Cole
In this next-step book, he answers questions about how to deal with theological and organizational issues that come up. He talks about issues such has what to do with finances, children, heresy, leader training, and rituals and ordinances.
                            
UntamedUntamed: Reactivating a Missional Form of Discipleship
By Alan and Debra Hirsch

Discipleship is costly. Are we willing to critique and even challenge much we've been taught for the sake of the kingdom? For this is the radical nature of the discipleship to which Jesus calls us. He did not allow the outside culture to hold him captive; instead he established the kingdom of God and turned the world on its head. Jesus was untamed, and he calls his church to be the same.



For the whole list of resources on Sale >> click HERE

OCM-08med Check out the Organic Church Movements Facebook Group

Twitter
 On Twitter     @CMAResources


Missional Movements ConferenceFREE Audio from the Missional Movements Conference with Neil Cole and Michael Frost

Intro to Missional - Michael Frost - Session 1

The Seeds of Church Multiplication Movements - Neil Cole - Session 2

Important Leadership Insights for Movements - Neil Cole - Session 3

Crash Course on What it is to Be Missional - Michael Frost - Session 4

Essential Questions for Being Missional - Michael Frost - Session 5

How Movements are Formed and Released - Neil Cole - Session 6

Summary of Missional Thoughts - Michael Frost - Session 7



Online Map of Organic Churches and Networks

Check it out here and add your group!

Featured Article


The Multi-Site Model
by Neil Cole



One change that is sweeping through the Western church today is the multi-site model, where one church spins off several branches or sites. This phenomenon is so popular that a recent book by Geoff Surratt, Greg Ligon and Warren Bird called A Multi-site Church Road Trip has the audacious subtitle: Exploring the New Normal. According to their book, on a typical Sunday in 2009 some five million people-almost 10 percent of protestant worshippers-attend a multi-site church in the US or Canada. Leaders at some forty-five thousand churches are seriously considering the multi-site approach according to a recent survey by LifeWay Research. Before you jump on the bandwagon, I want you to think about a few things.

What does it mean to be a multi-site church? Basically, it is one church meeting in more than one location. Some use the term "campuses," or "services," others call them "satellite churches," "polysites" or even "house churches" or "missional communities." With such a wide range of descriptions I imagine one could say that our organic church networks or even CMA as a whole could represent this idea, but I personally believe that would be a stretch. Listening to those considered the forerunners in this model, it is clear that they mean one church in multiple locations...not multiple churches like we would articulate.

There are, of course, variations on this theme. Some are video-venues where different styles of worship are offered at different sites, sometimes even on the same campus, but the same sermon from the same preacher is beamed in to them all on a larger-than-life screen. Others are spread across a city while some branch out across a state and a few go even interstate. Some are on the internet; a few are even branching out internationally. For some it is a way to grow their church when there is not any possibility of building a larger facility. For some it is a way of building a network of churches. Many like it because they can have church for a variety of different tastes. Some even would call it church planting, while others say that it is counterfeit church planting. I heard one person describe the Mars Hill Campus strategy as "Just add water and Driscoll and POOF you have a new church." For the next few blog entries I will weigh in on this subject. All seat backs and tray tables must be in their upright position. Fasten your seat belts.

The idea of satellite church campuses is not new. One could argue that the New Testament is one gigantic multi-site church. Certainly, there are examples of churches in the Bible that are meeting in a variety of locations. Paul wrote to all the Christians in Rome and at the end of the letter described them all meeting in a variety of different homes throughout the city. All of them got a special greeting from Paul and his companions. Could this be the first multi-site church?

There are some similarities, but also some drastic differences between the Romans church and today's multi-site churches. Both have groups meeting in different locations and yet they are still considered one church. Both seem to have localized leadership for each "campus". It is hard to tell with the Roman church, but perhaps these New Testament churches had a variety of styles simply because they are in different places with different people.

But I think the differences between the Romans and their counterparts today are more obvious. The multi-site churches of today all have a centralized headquarters, which is not evident at all in Romans. The Romans churches were a network of simple churches all meeting in homes rather than a large church with multiple congregations. The multi-site churches of today are mostly starting satellite worship services and forming congregations around them, whereas, in Romans these are spiritual families tied to households and are much more than a worship service. In fact, there is no mention at all about worship services beyond the service of worship that each disciple is to offer before God (Rom 12:1-2).
 
I must be honest and confess that I have not been smiling at the spread of the multi-site phenomenon. I know some do it well, but many do not.



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