Mark Holloway

This book has nothing to do with church structures, so it could be said I'm cheating by putting it here. But I heard Mark speak and it revolutionised my thinking, and more importantly my hearing from God. The subtitle is "God speaks back". I was sceptical at first - but I'm not alone. Mark was also sceptical at first. For me, the crunch came at the end of his second session. We were then asked to start a conversation with God.

I did as we were told, even though I didn't expect anything to happen. I was amazed when the sky was filled with angels and ... no - I'm exaggerating a little - but he got us to write our conversation, starting God's reply with a suitable general introduction and then .... 

Roger Thoman

This book is available without cost in electronic form as well as paper. I strongly recommend it to all who are looking for more - although maybe I should say less. The following extract will give an idea of the book:

Wolfgang Simson

Hearing Wolfgang speak at a local house church conference was like having someone tear off blindfolds and let the light in. As he described a journey from frustrated believer to entering the promised land, we could hear the amazing ripple of awareness going around the room - it wasn't just us.

I could launch into a treatise on each of the points covered - but Wolfgang does it so much better than I ever could so read this book - one of the classics on simple churches. Highly recommended.

Felicity Dale

We were privileged to hear Tony and Felicity (English doctors now living in Texas) speak at a local simple church gathering the year after Wolfgang spoke. I was impressed by their willingness to let us learn from their failures, as well as their successes. Shortly afterwards this book was published by Felicity. Subtitle: Real stories of ordinary people advancing God's Kingdom.

As I read these stories of "house churches", I started to see just how JB Phillips had many years earlier said, "Your God is too small". I am still having my images of church shattered - they obviously run deeper than I had appreciated. The stories here tell how God moves when people allow Him without preconceived expectations. Encouraging.

Frank Viola

OK - I'm cheating. This author hasn't spoken in NZ - but just as Wolfgang's book turned the lights on, so too this book makes sense of house church in a way that has been missing. I was browsing in a book store and read one of the questions in the middle: Surely anyone can start a house church? The obvious answer is yes - but Frank Viola challenges us to redefine the question. If by house church we mean a meeting that we know as church, then the answer is yes. But after reading this book through I have a new appreciation of the idea of church - one that God modelled before creation.

The concept of a church being planted by a church planter (and if you're like me you probably have preconceived ideas of these people) is both exciting and scary. It's scary because of the scarcity of church planters who will let go (Frank suggests after about six months) and let the church grow. Far too often so-called apostles don't emulate those in Acts and hold on tightly to their new baby.

And it's exciting because one thing I came away with is a better appreciation of an often-overlooked ministry in the New Testament. I won't spoil it by going into detail - that's what the book does. But there are things to do in preparation for the coming of a church planter. And one of these is getting rid of false ideas - something that is still an issue for me after the best part of a decade.

So this book has really got me excited. Come back in a year's time to see how it has worked out as we try and implement it - personally, I can't wait to see where it takes us.

Restoring the church to our covenant roots!

Dr Robert D Heidler

This book isn't directly connected to the issue of church structure - house church, simple church, organic church. But I was blown away by the 2012 Jubilee summer school at which the author spoke. For some time I've been aware that our view of church has been seriously distorted by our Western / Greek way of thinking. But I've seen attempts by different groups to "Judaise" the church - and it hasn't always rung true. Much against my expectations, Robert took us through some of the issues, opening my eyes to just what we were missing - while avoiding the legalism that all too easily creeps in.

In his section on what the church lost when it was cut off from its roots, the first two points were the attitudes toward God and toward scripture. I hadn't really appreciated just how much our attitudes to these things have fallen. But the third point was the Judaic emphasis on the home. It was this that made the Judaic culture such a survivor. It didn't depend on outside \"experts\" or programmes. Every Jew is trained to take part and lead in their own families.

There is a lot more than this - it really filled in many gaps in my understanding. One interesting point that I hadn't appreciated is that the early church started dying when Constantine started removing its Jewish roots. But the Celtic church lasted for longer. And although it's not included in any modern "histories", Patrick (as in the "Saint") was a Jew. Apparently, his family arrived in Britain escaping from persecution in Judah. It adds a fascinating (and sad) dimension to the story of the Celtic church - and how they met the Catholic church a bit later - in England.

So I encourage people to investigate this as an aspect of the journey we're on.