A group of us just returned from a conference on Home Groups at Xenos Christian Fellowship in Columbus Ohio. It was the most useful conference I have ever attended. Most of the conferences I have been to in the past were put on by megachurches. A lot of times the sessions at these conferences are about new ideas that will bring a crowd to the church building. The Xenos conference was refreshing because it was more value based than technique based. Did I agree with everything they had to say? Not always, but they challenged us with a Scripture based value system and exposed us to things that broadened our way of thinking.
I am going to blog my notes on these sessions, but before I do, I should give some background to the Xenos model. This way there will be a context for the session notes.
Xenos was started in the 70's by a couple of hippies. It is amazing to see how this has developed into 5000 people. They are a House Church based fellowship. Each House Cchurch runs somewhere between 20-50 people (in Columbus, homes appear to be able to sustain those numbers). These House Churches - also called Home Groups - are their core structure.
They have also have a Central Teaching time on Sunday mornings. Groups of House Churches meet at different times on Sunday for their Central Teaching time.
Also within the House Churches are Cell Groups. The Central Teaching and Home Groups are open to anyone. The Cell Groups are men and women (divided by gender) who would like to move forward in discipleship. (So if you are from RVWC - the terms Home Groups and Cell Groups are used interchangeably by us, but not by Xenos - this caused some confusion when we were in the sessions and didn't know this).
So the basic flow is this:
Central Teaching - Home Groups- Cell Groups
The core value of Xenos is relational community. Everything is based on this value. Home Groups grow and multiply - thus the 5000 people attending.
Just one of my observations - I saw Dennis McCallum (the lead teacher of Xenos) walking around on many occasions. When he walked into a room it didn't seem like people really noticed - unlike in many of our fellowships where people flock to the pastor to make appointments etc. At Xenos, the people do the ministry. The leadership team equips them for this work - this includes marrying, burying, counseling, etc.
There are many more observations that I will mention as I blog these notes. I believe it is productive to be challenged and even rubbed the wrong way. When we become set in our ways and think that there is a set formula for advancing the Kingdom, we lose sight of the greater Christian community and the variety found within it. I hope you will be challenged to examine what the Scripture says, like I was, as you read the session notes.
2 comments:
Hi Shawna,
I'm so glad you enjoyed the conference. I like what I am reading especially where "we" should be able to take some of these tasks off of our Pastors backs. I've had so much experience in working with people as they went through the start of the grieving process, at the death of a loved one. I feel God speaking to me and suggesting that I should use my gifts. I feel ready to receive instruction in this area if is within your plans. I will be anxious to get your response.
That's great Jacques. We heard a lot about bridge building with our community this week and this may be a great bridge for you! I'll check some things out and get back to you very soon.
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