Planting Churches Among the City's Poor - Volume 2

274 • P LANTING C HURCHES AMONG THE C ITY ’ S P OOR : V OLUME 2

5. Most leaders of local churches view these movements as interfering with the life of the church, which causes unnecessary tension between them, pp. 56-57.

6. Secrets of mini-movements

a. They work with people who prioritize their faith; they are hungry for change, p. 57.

b. They are a source for relationship-building, p. 58.

c. They create a “sense of exhilaration over the transformation,” p. 58.

d. They have clear group goals, p. 58.

e. They place the participant’s life in a “very narrow focus”: prayer, worship, worldview, musical expression, or whatever. (Is this fragmentation?) 7. “One artifact of the mini-movement phenomenon has been that millions of people who are growing as Christians and passionate about their faith have come to recognize that the local church is not – and need not be – the epicenter of their spiritual adventure. This is a mind-boggling realization for many since it conflicts with the teaching they have received, sometimes since their infancy,” p. 58.

8. New ways of doing church: the impact of the Revolution on the local church (four macro-models of church experience).

a. Congregational model : church as most know it today

b. House churches : “simple church” fellowships who meet in homes to fulfill the functions of the traditional congregation

c. Family faith experience : the family becomes the primary spiritual unit

d. Cyberchurch : the range of spiritual experiences delivered through media and the internet