Nomadic Churches

Nomadic Chruches are churches that for any number of reasons do not have a permanent home. They may meet in schools, community cetners, warehouses, movie theaters or any place where worship can happen "in spirit and truth." Bill Easum and Pete Theodore provide an excellent survey of the special challenges faced by nomadic churches as well as the many benefits the nomadic church has over the established church. As more and more churches are started in areas where land is way too expensive to purchase and build upon and where mission trumps structures we will see more nomadic churches. These churches will be nomadic not for a time, but for their life. Here are some highlights from Easum and Theodore's work some with my comments.

p. 3 Possible things don’t need God.

A mantra here at New Season these days. If it can be done without God it is not worth doing. That's been said numerous times by many but still worth repeating.

p. 16 To fulfill the Great Commission, the number of new churches that must be planted requires a method that demands less capital than in the past.
We’ve learned that it costs between 500,000 and 1 million to plant a church the traditional way.

We can't keep doing parachute drops if we want to plant 250 new churches in the next 30 years in Virginia.

p. 17 ...having their own buildings may encourage churches to operate with a centripial (come) rather than a centrifugal (go) mentality in mission, inviting non-members to church rather than going into society to meet people on neutral territory, reversing the apparent thrust of mission in the New Testament.

Gone are the days when you could say "hey, here we are y'all come now" and expect people to show up. We need to get the hell out of the church both literally and figuratively.

p. 21 An advantage to the nomadic church is it keeps away some Christians who only want a comfortable church experience.

What a great benefit this is.

p. 123 “My goal was for it to be impossible for anyone in our city to be unaware of our church.”

This is the worthy goal of one leader of a nomadic church and one that is a worthy goal for every church.

p. 139 Simple core value- Christ first, people second, buildings last.

For those who have already built I would add, "Never put up a building until everyone understands we will tear it down in a New York minute if it means reaching more people for Christ."

p. 156 There is much we can do after we pray; but there is nothing worth doing until we pray.

p. 162 Luther- Pray as if everything depends on God. Then work as if everything depends on you.