Neil Cole<\/strong> is seen by many to be one of the key founders of what is known as the organic or simple-church movement.<\/p>\nNeil wrote this in his article A Dangerous Question and Organic Church<\/em> (read the full article here<\/a>):<\/p>\nI have come to understand church as this: the presence of Jesus among His people called out as a spiritual family to pursue His mission on this planet.<\/p>\nWe’ve come to refer to some of the ideals of church planting movements as an “organic church.” By organic, I don’t mean that it is pesticide free. It’s a matter of churches being alive and vibrant as living organisms.<\/p>\nThe core reality is not how the followers are organized, discipled or helped. The core reality is Jesus Christ being followed, loved and obeyed. Christ alive, forming spiritual families and working with them to fulfill His mission, is the living reality of the organic church. The church really is an embodiment of the risen Jesus. No wonder the Bible refers to the church as the body of Christ.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nChurch as a Living System<\/h3>\nIn this audio presentation, Neil uses Jesus’ parables to explain how church can be understood as a living system:<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.cmaresources.org\/audio\/download\/2368\/NeilCole-ChurchLivingSystem.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\nThe idea of the seed growing by itself is illustrated in this story from Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel:<\/p>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Going Deeper<\/h3>\n<p>If you would like to read more about organic, missional church, we recommend books by <a title=\"Books by Alan Hirsch at Amazon\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Alan-Hirsch\/e\/B001JPANCK\">Alan Hirsch<\/a>, <a title=\"Books by Michael Frost at Amazon\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Michael-Frost\/e\/B001JOYQ2E\">Michael Frost<\/a> and <a title=\"Books by Frank Viola at Amazon\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Frank-Viola\/e\/B001IGSJX0\">Frank Viola<\/a> .<\/p>\n<h3>Grace Missions and Organic Church<\/h3>\n<p>We believe that the concepts of organic church can be applied in any culture, in any place. The Director of Grace Missions, Rev Ross Rennie, is putting these ideas into practice where he lives in Oswestry, England. His vision is to start a simple church on organic principles in his home. He is not trying to compete with existing churches or steal their members. He believes there is a vast pool of people who need Jesus but who would not darken the door of a church building. Ross’s heart’s desire is to welcome some of these people into his home, share the gospel of grace with them, see them established as disciples of Jesus, and then encourage them to start simple churches in their own homes: a multiplication of ‘<strong>churches without walls<\/strong>‘.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">If you live in the Oswestry area and would like to join them in this venture, please <a title=\"Contact Us\" href=\"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/contact\/\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">contact<\/span><\/a> Rev Ross.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Read All About It<\/h3>\n<p><a title=\"View this book at Amazon\" href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/Tz2epd\"><em>Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens<\/em><\/a> by Neil Cole<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-96\" src=\"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/organicchurchbookcover.jpg\" alt=\"Organic Church book cover\" width=\"140\" height=\"209\" \/>Churches have tried all kinds of ways to attract new and younger members \u2014 revised vision state\u00adments, hipp\u00ader wor\u00adship, con\u00adtemp\u00adorary music, livelier ser\u00admons, big\u00adger and better audit\u00adoriums. But there are still so many people who aren’t being reached, who don’t want to come to church. And the truth is that attendance at church on Sundays does not necessarily transform lives; God’s presence in our hearts is what changes us. Leaders and laypeople everywhere are realizing that they need new and more powerful ways to help them spread God’s Word.<\/p>\n<p>According to international church starter and pastor Neil Cole, if we want to connect with young people and those who are not coming to church, we must go where people congregate. Cole shows readers how to plant the seeds of the Kingdom of God in the places where life happens and where culture is formed \u2014 restaurants, bars, coffeehouses, parks, locker rooms, and neighbourhoods. Organic Church offers a hands-on guide for demystifying this new model of church and shows the practical aspects of implementing it.<\/p>\n<p>While it may seem revolutionary, this model of church \u2014 bringing God’s message where people are rather than expecting them to show up at church \u2014 is in keeping with the message of Jesus, who lived among the people of his time. Organic Church shows how we can return to those ancient roots by letting the church be alive, organic, growing, spreading in the most likely and unlikely places.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What Is Organic Church? Neil Cole is seen by many to be one of the key founders of what is known as the organic or simple-church movement. Neil wrote this in his article A Dangerous Question and Organic Church (read the full article here): I have come to understand church as this: the presence of Jesus among His people called<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-88","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/88","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/88\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1736,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/88\/revisions\/1736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Neil wrote this in his article A Dangerous Question and Organic Church<\/em> (read the full article here<\/a>):<\/p>\nI have come to understand church as this: the presence of Jesus among His people called out as a spiritual family to pursue His mission on this planet.<\/p>\nWe’ve come to refer to some of the ideals of church planting movements as an “organic church.” By organic, I don’t mean that it is pesticide free. It’s a matter of churches being alive and vibrant as living organisms.<\/p>\nThe core reality is not how the followers are organized, discipled or helped. The core reality is Jesus Christ being followed, loved and obeyed. Christ alive, forming spiritual families and working with them to fulfill His mission, is the living reality of the organic church. The church really is an embodiment of the risen Jesus. No wonder the Bible refers to the church as the body of Christ.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nChurch as a Living System<\/h3>\nIn this audio presentation, Neil uses Jesus’ parables to explain how church can be understood as a living system:<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.cmaresources.org\/audio\/download\/2368\/NeilCole-ChurchLivingSystem.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\nThe idea of the seed growing by itself is illustrated in this story from Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel:<\/p>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Going Deeper<\/h3>\n<p>If you would like to read more about organic, missional church, we recommend books by <a title=\"Books by Alan Hirsch at Amazon\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Alan-Hirsch\/e\/B001JPANCK\">Alan Hirsch<\/a>, <a title=\"Books by Michael Frost at Amazon\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Michael-Frost\/e\/B001JOYQ2E\">Michael Frost<\/a> and <a title=\"Books by Frank Viola at Amazon\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Frank-Viola\/e\/B001IGSJX0\">Frank Viola<\/a> .<\/p>\n<h3>Grace Missions and Organic Church<\/h3>\n<p>We believe that the concepts of organic church can be applied in any culture, in any place. The Director of Grace Missions, Rev Ross Rennie, is putting these ideas into practice where he lives in Oswestry, England. His vision is to start a simple church on organic principles in his home. He is not trying to compete with existing churches or steal their members. He believes there is a vast pool of people who need Jesus but who would not darken the door of a church building. Ross’s heart’s desire is to welcome some of these people into his home, share the gospel of grace with them, see them established as disciples of Jesus, and then encourage them to start simple churches in their own homes: a multiplication of ‘<strong>churches without walls<\/strong>‘.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">If you live in the Oswestry area and would like to join them in this venture, please <a title=\"Contact Us\" href=\"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/contact\/\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">contact<\/span><\/a> Rev Ross.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Read All About It<\/h3>\n<p><a title=\"View this book at Amazon\" href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/Tz2epd\"><em>Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens<\/em><\/a> by Neil Cole<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-96\" src=\"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/organicchurchbookcover.jpg\" alt=\"Organic Church book cover\" width=\"140\" height=\"209\" \/>Churches have tried all kinds of ways to attract new and younger members \u2014 revised vision state\u00adments, hipp\u00ader wor\u00adship, con\u00adtemp\u00adorary music, livelier ser\u00admons, big\u00adger and better audit\u00adoriums. But there are still so many people who aren’t being reached, who don’t want to come to church. And the truth is that attendance at church on Sundays does not necessarily transform lives; God’s presence in our hearts is what changes us. Leaders and laypeople everywhere are realizing that they need new and more powerful ways to help them spread God’s Word.<\/p>\n<p>According to international church starter and pastor Neil Cole, if we want to connect with young people and those who are not coming to church, we must go where people congregate. Cole shows readers how to plant the seeds of the Kingdom of God in the places where life happens and where culture is formed \u2014 restaurants, bars, coffeehouses, parks, locker rooms, and neighbourhoods. Organic Church offers a hands-on guide for demystifying this new model of church and shows the practical aspects of implementing it.<\/p>\n<p>While it may seem revolutionary, this model of church \u2014 bringing God’s message where people are rather than expecting them to show up at church \u2014 is in keeping with the message of Jesus, who lived among the people of his time. Organic Church shows how we can return to those ancient roots by letting the church be alive, organic, growing, spreading in the most likely and unlikely places.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What Is Organic Church? Neil Cole is seen by many to be one of the key founders of what is known as the organic or simple-church movement. Neil wrote this in his article A Dangerous Question and Organic Church (read the full article here): I have come to understand church as this: the presence of Jesus among His people called<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-88","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/88","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/88\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1736,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/88\/revisions\/1736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
I have come to understand church as this: the presence of Jesus among His people called out as a spiritual family to pursue His mission on this planet.<\/p>\nWe’ve come to refer to some of the ideals of church planting movements as an “organic church.” By organic, I don’t mean that it is pesticide free. It’s a matter of churches being alive and vibrant as living organisms.<\/p>\nThe core reality is not how the followers are organized, discipled or helped. The core reality is Jesus Christ being followed, loved and obeyed. Christ alive, forming spiritual families and working with them to fulfill His mission, is the living reality of the organic church. The church really is an embodiment of the risen Jesus. No wonder the Bible refers to the church as the body of Christ.<\/p><\/blockquote>\nChurch as a Living System<\/h3>\nIn this audio presentation, Neil uses Jesus’ parables to explain how church can be understood as a living system:<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.cmaresources.org\/audio\/download\/2368\/NeilCole-ChurchLivingSystem.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\nThe idea of the seed growing by itself is illustrated in this story from Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel:<\/p>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Going Deeper<\/h3>\n<p>If you would like to read more about organic, missional church, we recommend books by <a title=\"Books by Alan Hirsch at Amazon\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Alan-Hirsch\/e\/B001JPANCK\">Alan Hirsch<\/a>, <a title=\"Books by Michael Frost at Amazon\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Michael-Frost\/e\/B001JOYQ2E\">Michael Frost<\/a> and <a title=\"Books by Frank Viola at Amazon\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Frank-Viola\/e\/B001IGSJX0\">Frank Viola<\/a> .<\/p>\n<h3>Grace Missions and Organic Church<\/h3>\n<p>We believe that the concepts of organic church can be applied in any culture, in any place. The Director of Grace Missions, Rev Ross Rennie, is putting these ideas into practice where he lives in Oswestry, England. His vision is to start a simple church on organic principles in his home. He is not trying to compete with existing churches or steal their members. He believes there is a vast pool of people who need Jesus but who would not darken the door of a church building. Ross’s heart’s desire is to welcome some of these people into his home, share the gospel of grace with them, see them established as disciples of Jesus, and then encourage them to start simple churches in their own homes: a multiplication of ‘<strong>churches without walls<\/strong>‘.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">If you live in the Oswestry area and would like to join them in this venture, please <a title=\"Contact Us\" href=\"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/contact\/\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">contact<\/span><\/a> Rev Ross.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Read All About It<\/h3>\n<p><a title=\"View this book at Amazon\" href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/Tz2epd\"><em>Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens<\/em><\/a> by Neil Cole<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-96\" src=\"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/organicchurchbookcover.jpg\" alt=\"Organic Church book cover\" width=\"140\" height=\"209\" \/>Churches have tried all kinds of ways to attract new and younger members \u2014 revised vision state\u00adments, hipp\u00ader wor\u00adship, con\u00adtemp\u00adorary music, livelier ser\u00admons, big\u00adger and better audit\u00adoriums. But there are still so many people who aren’t being reached, who don’t want to come to church. And the truth is that attendance at church on Sundays does not necessarily transform lives; God’s presence in our hearts is what changes us. Leaders and laypeople everywhere are realizing that they need new and more powerful ways to help them spread God’s Word.<\/p>\n<p>According to international church starter and pastor Neil Cole, if we want to connect with young people and those who are not coming to church, we must go where people congregate. Cole shows readers how to plant the seeds of the Kingdom of God in the places where life happens and where culture is formed \u2014 restaurants, bars, coffeehouses, parks, locker rooms, and neighbourhoods. Organic Church offers a hands-on guide for demystifying this new model of church and shows the practical aspects of implementing it.<\/p>\n<p>While it may seem revolutionary, this model of church \u2014 bringing God’s message where people are rather than expecting them to show up at church \u2014 is in keeping with the message of Jesus, who lived among the people of his time. Organic Church shows how we can return to those ancient roots by letting the church be alive, organic, growing, spreading in the most likely and unlikely places.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What Is Organic Church? Neil Cole is seen by many to be one of the key founders of what is known as the organic or simple-church movement. Neil wrote this in his article A Dangerous Question and Organic Church (read the full article here): I have come to understand church as this: the presence of Jesus among His people called<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-88","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/88","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/88\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1736,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/88\/revisions\/1736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
I have come to understand church as this: the presence of Jesus among His people called out as a spiritual family to pursue His mission on this planet.<\/p>\n
We’ve come to refer to some of the ideals of church planting movements as an “organic church.” By organic, I don’t mean that it is pesticide free. It’s a matter of churches being alive and vibrant as living organisms.<\/p>\n
The core reality is not how the followers are organized, discipled or helped. The core reality is Jesus Christ being followed, loved and obeyed. Christ alive, forming spiritual families and working with them to fulfill His mission, is the living reality of the organic church. The church really is an embodiment of the risen Jesus. No wonder the Bible refers to the church as the body of Christ.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In this audio presentation, Neil uses Jesus’ parables to explain how church can be understood as a living system:<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.cmaresources.org\/audio\/download\/2368\/NeilCole-ChurchLivingSystem.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\nThe idea of the seed growing by itself is illustrated in this story from Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel:<\/p>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Going Deeper<\/h3>\n<p>If you would like to read more about organic, missional church, we recommend books by <a title=\"Books by Alan Hirsch at Amazon\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Alan-Hirsch\/e\/B001JPANCK\">Alan Hirsch<\/a>, <a title=\"Books by Michael Frost at Amazon\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Michael-Frost\/e\/B001JOYQ2E\">Michael Frost<\/a> and <a title=\"Books by Frank Viola at Amazon\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Frank-Viola\/e\/B001IGSJX0\">Frank Viola<\/a> .<\/p>\n<h3>Grace Missions and Organic Church<\/h3>\n<p>We believe that the concepts of organic church can be applied in any culture, in any place. The Director of Grace Missions, Rev Ross Rennie, is putting these ideas into practice where he lives in Oswestry, England. His vision is to start a simple church on organic principles in his home. He is not trying to compete with existing churches or steal their members. He believes there is a vast pool of people who need Jesus but who would not darken the door of a church building. Ross’s heart’s desire is to welcome some of these people into his home, share the gospel of grace with them, see them established as disciples of Jesus, and then encourage them to start simple churches in their own homes: a multiplication of ‘<strong>churches without walls<\/strong>‘.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">If you live in the Oswestry area and would like to join them in this venture, please <a title=\"Contact Us\" href=\"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/contact\/\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">contact<\/span><\/a> Rev Ross.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Read All About It<\/h3>\n<p><a title=\"View this book at Amazon\" href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/Tz2epd\"><em>Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens<\/em><\/a> by Neil Cole<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-96\" src=\"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/organicchurchbookcover.jpg\" alt=\"Organic Church book cover\" width=\"140\" height=\"209\" \/>Churches have tried all kinds of ways to attract new and younger members \u2014 revised vision state\u00adments, hipp\u00ader wor\u00adship, con\u00adtemp\u00adorary music, livelier ser\u00admons, big\u00adger and better audit\u00adoriums. But there are still so many people who aren’t being reached, who don’t want to come to church. And the truth is that attendance at church on Sundays does not necessarily transform lives; God’s presence in our hearts is what changes us. Leaders and laypeople everywhere are realizing that they need new and more powerful ways to help them spread God’s Word.<\/p>\n<p>According to international church starter and pastor Neil Cole, if we want to connect with young people and those who are not coming to church, we must go where people congregate. Cole shows readers how to plant the seeds of the Kingdom of God in the places where life happens and where culture is formed \u2014 restaurants, bars, coffeehouses, parks, locker rooms, and neighbourhoods. Organic Church offers a hands-on guide for demystifying this new model of church and shows the practical aspects of implementing it.<\/p>\n<p>While it may seem revolutionary, this model of church \u2014 bringing God’s message where people are rather than expecting them to show up at church \u2014 is in keeping with the message of Jesus, who lived among the people of his time. Organic Church shows how we can return to those ancient roots by letting the church be alive, organic, growing, spreading in the most likely and unlikely places.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What Is Organic Church? Neil Cole is seen by many to be one of the key founders of what is known as the organic or simple-church movement. Neil wrote this in his article A Dangerous Question and Organic Church (read the full article here): I have come to understand church as this: the presence of Jesus among His people called<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-88","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/88","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/88\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1736,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/88\/revisions\/1736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
The idea of the seed growing by itself is illustrated in this story from Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel:<\/p>\n
<\/iframe><\/p>\n<h3>Going Deeper<\/h3>\n<p>If you would like to read more about organic, missional church, we recommend books by <a title=\"Books by Alan Hirsch at Amazon\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Alan-Hirsch\/e\/B001JPANCK\">Alan Hirsch<\/a>, <a title=\"Books by Michael Frost at Amazon\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Michael-Frost\/e\/B001JOYQ2E\">Michael Frost<\/a> and <a title=\"Books by Frank Viola at Amazon\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Frank-Viola\/e\/B001IGSJX0\">Frank Viola<\/a> .<\/p>\n<h3>Grace Missions and Organic Church<\/h3>\n<p>We believe that the concepts of organic church can be applied in any culture, in any place. The Director of Grace Missions, Rev Ross Rennie, is putting these ideas into practice where he lives in Oswestry, England. His vision is to start a simple church on organic principles in his home. He is not trying to compete with existing churches or steal their members. He believes there is a vast pool of people who need Jesus but who would not darken the door of a church building. Ross’s heart’s desire is to welcome some of these people into his home, share the gospel of grace with them, see them established as disciples of Jesus, and then encourage them to start simple churches in their own homes: a multiplication of ‘<strong>churches without walls<\/strong>‘.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">If you live in the Oswestry area and would like to join them in this venture, please <a title=\"Contact Us\" href=\"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/contact\/\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">contact<\/span><\/a> Rev Ross.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Read All About It<\/h3>\n<p><a title=\"View this book at Amazon\" href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/Tz2epd\"><em>Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens<\/em><\/a> by Neil Cole<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-96\" src=\"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/organicchurchbookcover.jpg\" alt=\"Organic Church book cover\" width=\"140\" height=\"209\" \/>Churches have tried all kinds of ways to attract new and younger members \u2014 revised vision state\u00adments, hipp\u00ader wor\u00adship, con\u00adtemp\u00adorary music, livelier ser\u00admons, big\u00adger and better audit\u00adoriums. But there are still so many people who aren’t being reached, who don’t want to come to church. And the truth is that attendance at church on Sundays does not necessarily transform lives; God’s presence in our hearts is what changes us. Leaders and laypeople everywhere are realizing that they need new and more powerful ways to help them spread God’s Word.<\/p>\n<p>According to international church starter and pastor Neil Cole, if we want to connect with young people and those who are not coming to church, we must go where people congregate. Cole shows readers how to plant the seeds of the Kingdom of God in the places where life happens and where culture is formed \u2014 restaurants, bars, coffeehouses, parks, locker rooms, and neighbourhoods. Organic Church offers a hands-on guide for demystifying this new model of church and shows the practical aspects of implementing it.<\/p>\n<p>While it may seem revolutionary, this model of church \u2014 bringing God’s message where people are rather than expecting them to show up at church \u2014 is in keeping with the message of Jesus, who lived among the people of his time. Organic Church shows how we can return to those ancient roots by letting the church be alive, organic, growing, spreading in the most likely and unlikely places.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What Is Organic Church? Neil Cole is seen by many to be one of the key founders of what is known as the organic or simple-church movement. Neil wrote this in his article A Dangerous Question and Organic Church (read the full article here): I have come to understand church as this: the presence of Jesus among His people called<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-88","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/88","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/88\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1736,"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/88\/revisions\/1736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracemissions.org.uk\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}