Reggie McNeal, author of The Present Future, weighs in on this issue of youth ministry...We typically hire children's and student ministers to run programs for children and young people. In fact, this approach by the church may do more to decimate the home as a spiritual center than anything coming into the home on television or the Internet.
Reggie hasn't quite gotten to the house church concept (home = church) yet but he's headed in the right direction. Here's more from Reggie...
From Classroom to Living Room
In the new world the place of learning has shifted from the classroom (academic model) to the living room (life learning)...
This shift raises the question of why churches spend millions of dollars building file cabinets to put people in for an hour or two each week (we call it "educational space") when the most effective spiritual formation does not occur in these settings...
This issue in spiritual formation is bigger than just location. It involves a philosophy of where spiritual formation is centered. In the modern world spiritual instruction was owned and operated by the institution of the church. In premodern and postmodern cultures the home was and is the center for spiritual formation...
The typical church family leaves spiritual stuff to what happens at the church thereby delegating spiritual formation to the institution. And the institution encourages it! ... I'm amazed a how our best church families have no clue as to how to have conversations at home about spiritual subjects. p. 88
The good news is - there is a revolution underway. More and more Christians are rising up and saying "No!" to this institution-centered model. They are returning to the New Testament model of the home as "the center for spiritual formation".
And, LK10 is a "community of practice" for these revolutionaries. Here are some ways you can connect with this community:
Two Foundations Courses are starting in January. For more information on what this is an how to register go here: http://storiesfromtherevolution.blogspot.com/2011/09/foundations-course.html
Also coming in January: "The Family Blessing: Reclaiming the Home as the Center for Spiritual Training". More information to come.
After being a pastor in big church youth ministry for more than a decade, and being a part of a "house church" for more than a decade afterwards.....there is no comparison....his conclusions are accurate.
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