Guest: Jeff Vanderstelt
Executive Director | Saturate
The microchurch conversation continues to gain traction as predominant model churches are asking new questions about form and as next generation leaders explore new expressions of the Church. A continual question that emerges in the conversation is, “How are microchurches really any different than small groups?” In this webinar, Rob Wegner and Jeff Vanderstelt, visionary leader of Saturate and the Soma Family of Churches, work through three distinctive differences to answer that question: ecclesiology, motivation, and leadership.
Leadership Podcast Series:
Return of the Microchurch
The missional conversation in the West has been snowballing for decades. Leslie Newbigin, who is considered by many to be the instigator of this conversation, posed the question in his book Foolishness to the Greeks, “What would be involved in a missionary encounter between the gospel and this whole way of perceiving, thinking, and living that we call ‘modern Western culture’?” We’ve been wrestling with that question for 40 years. Over the last two decades, pioneering efforts in the missional movement have been made with the mixed results expected of early experimentation. Now, mature forms of microchurch movements are emerging. COVID-19 has demonstrated the fragility of the predominant forms of Church, which has created a surging interest in simpler forms of the Church led by ordinary people.
Of course, microchurch is not a new form of the Church, but the most ancient one. A compelling case can be made that the microchurch is the original design within the pages of the New Testament. In addition, it is also the primary expression of the Church in the most significant disciple-making movements on the planet today, in places like India and China. Now is the time for us in the West to return to the microchurch for biblical, cultural, and missiological reasons.
Join Leadership Network this year for a series of catalytic conversations with leading practitioners. And follow this move of the Spirit that is bringing about the return of the microchurch.
To learn more at Leadership Network, visit leadnet.org and for more conversations on Microchurch NEXT click here.
To watch the conversation, visit https://mult-archive.em02.enthusiastinc.net/event/leadership-network-microchurch-next/
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