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.