IF NOT DENOMINATIONS WHAT THEN

Dear Church,I spent a lot of years of my life going to Presbytery Meetings (the monthly meetings of the leaders of Presbyterian churches in a geographical area). Open with prayer."Motion to approve the agenda. Is there a second?"Robert's Rules of Order. Moderator. Stated Clerk. Committee Chairmen (or Chairpersons).Discussions/Debates. Check the Book of Order. (Big book, other than the Bible, that tells how to do everything. Lots of small print.)Discuss the Book of Order.Revise the Book of Order.Committees. Committee Meetings.Committee Reports. Borrrrring.Close in Prayer.If you thought this was fun, you could go to General Assembly. This is one step up (or down?) from Presbytery. It's the national meeting of the leaders of all the Presbyteries where even more Committee Chairmen (Chairpersons) give even more Committee Reports.But, if the church is primarily an organization (maximum structure, squeeze the relationships where you can), you have to run it like an organization (the religious word for an organization of related churches is "denomination"). You need Robert's Rules of Order and committees.However, if the church is primarily an organism (maximum relationship, minimum structure), what does it look like?-The individual church looks like an extended family often called a house church-A group of related house churches is a network. (Network seems to be the term of choice so far.)-Beyond that, there seem to be developing "networks of networks". (Anyone have a name for this yet? Family reunion?)Denominations are not necessarily bad or evil. God has used them and will continue to use them. However, there is a new (old) "life form" emerging. This "life form" (we'll call it a "network" for now) has a minimal amount of structure (notice I didn't say no structure). Relationships are primary. There is little or no "institutional control". ("If you don't do what we tell you, we will remove your funding or your ordination or something.") (Concerned about heresy? Ask for my short article on the subject.) (What would I do if I couldn't use parentheses?)So, what does a "network of networks" look like? Well, they are just beginning to emerge but here's a description of one from Kevin Rains at VineyardCentral in Cincinnati:<<:: AllGroup+ ::>>One of the ways we've grown this year is by connecting with networks of homechurches in our region. This was evident to everyone who participated in ourrecent AllGroup+. We had 5 networks involved (3 from Cincinnati, 1 fromOxford (Miami), and 1 from Lexington). There were several others who wantedto participate but had already made commitments for that date. I can thinkof at least 5 other networks who fall into that category. To think thatthere are at least 10 other networks that we have a growing relationshipwith is amazing. At the beginning of this year there were only a few othersand 2 years ago we didn't know of any!And they keep coming! Today I'm meeting with an old friend who has been onstaff of a couple mega-churches in our region but recently decided to launcha church in his home. I haven't seen him in years so it will be interestingto hear what led him to this juncture...You can find out more about VineyardCentral at www.vineyardcentral.com. You can also sign up for Kevin's very helpful periodic emails by writing him at kevin@vineyardcentral.com John WhiteHouse Church CoachDenver, CO.Every believer a church planter.Every home a church.Every church building a training center.