New Church or Not New Church

Here are a couple of examples where groups have formed out of evangelistic effort. These are real examples of real people in real groups.

1. A group formed out of an “evangelistic course”

A local church ran a small Christianity Explored course with five guests and four helpers. During the course, which ran for eight weeks, a degree of fellowship was formed and two of the guests became Christians. At the end of the course the group wanted to continue to meet because of the fellowship. Within a month the others in the group had also become Christians.

The group continues to meet and a couple of other people who were already Christians have joined the group. They pray, study the bible and fellowship together on a regular basis but the numbers attending fluctuate greatly. This group is still linked to the church which ran the original course.

Although this group has continued to meet and has grown it has, so far, not become anything more than a “house group”. It requires a lot of leadership to guide it, the members of the group are growing slowly and the bonds of fellowship are weak and require a lot of work to keep things together.


2. A group formed through a “man of peace” (see Luke 10)

A man going through a difficult time in his life, attends a Christian event that he is told about. At the event he becomes a Christian. It has a profound effect on him and he tells his partner and friends about this. They also attend the event and become Christians and a core group is formed out of these two families. God’s work is very evident in the lives of these people and they naturally tell others about what God has done and other members of the family and friends become Christians.

Like the first group they continue to meet and a few other people who were already Christians have joined the group. They pray, study the bible and fellowship together on a regular basis. This group is still linked to the church which ran the original event. Because most of the people are friends or family they also see each other at different times also.

Unlike the first group this group is more than just a collection of people who meet together in someone’s home. The family and friendship ties that were there before the group formed mean that it has stronger relationships. The new Christians are maturing faster and a leader is emerging (not the original “man of peace”), they are looking at ways they can reach the lost and reproduce themselves. They have become a “Church” in their own right.

Note: Both of these groups have been going for the same length of time.