Church Made Simple Again
We are a Spirit-led movement to take Jesus and His church to the overwhelming majority around us who aren’t part of any church.
The Commitments That Drive Us
01
Reach Those Far from God By Sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ
Every Simply Church is passionately devoted to seeing those who aren’t Christian and those who’ve walked away from church drawn into life-giving fellowship with Jesus Christ and other believers.
02
Bold, Contextualized Outreach in the Name of Jesus
Every Simply Church should become deeply embedded in the fabric of its community and place of ministry. The church should understand those they’re seeking to reach and be seen as a blessing to their community. Simply Churches must diligently develop creative ways to demonstrate and speak the love and good news of Jesus Christ in a contextualized, meaningful way.
03
Teach Believers to Follow Jesus in All Aspects of Their Lives
Following Jesus should be a radical restructuring of one’s life to willingly, joyfully, and sacrificially obey and follow Jesus in every element of daily life. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Simply Church leaders are committed to practically and relationally teaching people to walk in faithful obedience to Jesus.
04
Biblical Fellowship
Every Simply Church is committed to creating the kind of rich, Christ-centered community portrayed in Acts 2:42-47, in which lives and meals are shared, prayers are regularly lifted up for one another, the stories of Jesus are the center of conversations, and members genuinely care about and sacrificially minister to each other’s needs.
05
Biblical Worship
Weekly gathered worship is the center of every Simply Church’s existence. Worship is the appropriate response of God’s people to His person, power, presence, and salvation. Worship is an opportunity for the people of God to offer sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving. Worship gatherings will look quite different from one Simply Church to another. Music styles may vary tremendously as may the elements of worship and their order. Nonetheless, every worship gathering includes Christ-centered songs of praise, prayer, and the faithful reading and proclamation of God’s Word.
06
Minister Inside and Outside the Church In the Name and Character of Jesus Christ
Genuine love for God, neighbor, and one another should always characterize the church of Jesus Christ. Every Simply Church prayerfully chooses or establishes one or two specific ministries that serve the needs of their local community in a manner that demonstrates Christ’s love, character, and presence. Ministry must be done in the name of Jesus. Every Simply Church is committed to fostering a culture in which the members minister faithfully to each other in the name and love of Jesus.
07
Historical, Orthodox Christian Beliefs
Every Simply Church must agree with the tenets expressed in the Movement’s Statement of Faith or adopt a comparable statement of faith that addresses and does not contradict any element of this statement. An individual Simply Church could be aligned to a variety of denominations or no denomination at all.
08
God’s Kingdom Over A Particular Church
While we’ll always love our own churches, every Simply Church is primarily committed to the advancement of God’s Kingdom, even when it’s costly to their church. We remain focused on multiplying the churches and joyfully sending out our best leaders and members to launch the next Simply Church because we’re committed to God’s Kingdom over any single church.
09
Call Out the Called
We believe that churches need pastors. To rapidly multiply churches we must rapidly multiply pastors and leaders. Every Simply Church must regularly, boldly, and confidently pray for God to raise up new leaders (apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers) within their midst, helping them study and grow into leadership roles, including pastoral ministry, through the training resources of the Simply Church Network.
What Does It Mean to Be Simple?
Biblical Teaching
At Simply Church, the Bible must always be the foundation for all teaching. Simple and direct exposition and application of the Bible is our model for preaching and teaching. Preaching and teaching should consistently answer three questions: 1) What does the Bible say? 2) What does that mean? 3) How do we apply that to our lives today?
No Church-Owned Facility
We love the traditional church but owning a facility introduces significant complexity. There are many benefits to owning a facility but their maintenance naturally consumes significant time, energy, and treasure.
Unpaid Leadership
It is thoroughly biblical for pastors to be paid, just as it is thoroughly biblical for church leaders to lead on an entirely voluntary basis. To encourage simplicity and the rapid multiplication of leaders and pastors, Simply Church pastors lead in an unpaid capacity. However, a Simply Church pastor or leader may also be a paid staff member of another church.
Staying Small By Multiplying Rapidly
Large churches are wonderful expressions of God’s Kingdom. They are also inherently complex. As a church grows, it becomes more difficult for members to know one another and be known. Caring becomes increasingly complex and impersonal. Logistics and communications become exponentially more complicated. The earliest churches were small enough to meet in someone’s home and we believe this simplicity and relational depth has tremendous power to reach the lost in our present lonely, isolated age. Once a Simply Church consistently has 20-30 in attendance it should be actively preparing leaders and team members to plant a new Simply Church within the next six months.
80 Churches
Our Goal for 2030
3
Current Simply Churches
1
New Simply Churches In Prayer /Preparation
Find A Simply Church
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