City Church – A Chain Blog
This is the first post of a “chain blog” concerning the topic of “city church”.
When we read Acts and the Epistles, we can’t help but notice that the church is usually designated by a location. Specifically, the church is primarily identified with a city: the church in Jerusalem, the church in Antioch, the church in Ephesus, the church in Colossae, the church in Philippi. In fact, “city churches” are identified in more than ten different cities in the New Testament.
However, we rarely hear of a “city church” today. You do not hear about the church in Raleigh (the nearest large city to me), or the church in Chicago, or the church in London, etc. (Yes, I know there are exceptions, and if you are familiar with those exceptions, I would encourage you to share that with us.)
For me, this raises the question: Is it valid for us to discount the “city church” in the New Testament and assume that it has no validity for us today? If the concept of a “city church” is valid today, then what would that look like? I’ve listed several categories below. What does the idea of “city church” look like in each category?
Meeting
Would a “city church” meet together? What would be the purpose of such a meeting? Who would organize the meeting? What activities should be part of a “city church” meeting?
Leadership
Would a “city church” have leaders? Would leaders within individual churches comprise the leadership of a “city church”? What would be the responsibilities of leaders toward a “city church”?
Activities
Besides meetings, what other types of activities would a “city church” be involved in? How would the activities of a “city church” differ from the activities of individual believers?
Cooperation
How would a “city church” interact with and cooperate with individual churches and individual believers?
Structure
Is it possible to have a “city church” with little to no defined structure? Does a “city church” require more strict or less strict structure and organization than individual churches?
A Start
When we read Scripture and we see the authors discuss the church in a particular city, these references to “city churches” seem strange. In our culture – even in our church culture – there is very little emphasis or discussion of “city church”. Instead, this important designation in Scripture is usually relegated to an embryonic church or a different culture. However, I think there is more to learn from Scripture concerning the “city church”. In particular, I believe that as we learn more about how the authors of Scripture refer to the church in a particular city, we may learn more about how we should relate and interact with many (or perhaps all) believers in our area. At this point, at least, it appears that early believers knew more about the other believers in their cities than many of us know today. In fact, these early believers seemingly spent time with and interacted with a larger section of the church than we tend to relate to today. Perhaps, by studying these city churches in Scripture, we can at least recognize the necessity of our own interdependence between different groups of believers.
If you have some ideas related to “city church”, then please share them with us. Perhaps you can think of other questions related to “city church”. Share those as well. I look forward to learning alot about “city church” through this chain blog, and I may even decide to write another link in the chain later.
—————————————————
Chain blog rules:
1) If you would like to write the next blog post (link) in this chain, leave a comment stating that you would like to do so. If someone else has already requested to write the next link, then please wait for that blog post and leave a comment there requesting to write the following link.
2) Feel free to leave comments here and discuss items in this blog post without taking part in the actual “chain”. Your comments and discussion are very important in this chain blog.
3) When you write a link in this chain, please reply in the comments of the previous link to let everyone know that your link is ready. Also, please try to keep an updated list of links in the chain at the bottom of your post, and please include these rules at the bottom of your post.
—————————————————
“City Church” Chain
Link 1: “City Church – A Chain Blog” by Alan Knox
Link 2: “City Church: Meeting” by Charlie Wallace
Link 3: “Roadblocks on the Path to City Church” by David Rogers
Link 4: “The Major Roadblock to a City Church” by Steve Sensenig
Link 5: “The Resurrection of the City Church: Who Will Move the Stone?” by Paul Grabill
Link 6: “A City Church Thought Experiment” by Jon Amos
Link 7: “The Restoration of the City or Locality Church and Apostolic Leadership” by James Goetz
Link 8: “Unity and the Church in a City” by Alan Knox
Link 9: ?
Thinking about "city church"
A few weeks ago, I proposed an idea that I called “Chain Blogging“. I plan to start my first “chain blog” on Monday, May 26 around the topic of “city church” – that is, the church in a city. We see this concept in Scripture (the church in Ephesus, the church in Colossae, the church in Jerusalem, the church in Antioch), but how do we apply this idea today? I’m announcing the chain blog now so that those who want to take part can begin thinking about and studying this topic.
To keep things simple this time, here are the rules:
- I will publish a blog post on Monday, May 26 on the topic of “city church”.
- The first person that leaves a comment requesting to write the next link in the chain will then be responsible for writing that post and letting us know here that you’ve written it (preferably within 3 or 4 days). The next link can be in response to my post, or a further discussion of the topic, or it can branch to a related topic.
- Discussion can continue in the comments on my post while the next link in the chain is being written.
- #1-#3 will continue as long as people have interest in this topic.
By the way, as I see it, anyone is welcome to take part, either by posting comments, or by requesting to write the next link post in the chain. You do not have to “sign up” to take part.
However, I would like to know who is interested in this topic, and who will consider writing one or more posts in the chain as their have opportunity. So, if you think this sounds interesting, please leave a comment here.
Chain Blog – A Proposal
I enjoy participating in synchroblogs. I’ve learned alot by studying topics with which I’m unfamiliar and by reading about topics from other people’s perspectives.
I have an idea that is similar to synchroblogs, but hopefully will allow for even more discussion and interaction. I’m calling this idea a “chain blog”, although I don’t know if that term is already used for something else. Also, this idea may not be new. Perhaps someone else has already developed this, but I have not heard about it.
This is the idea: One person write a blog post on a certain, agreed upon topic. Only that one blogger posts about the topic. The idea would be for another blogger to pick up on the first blogger’s post, and post in response while interacting with the first post. The “response” post could either be a rebuttal, or further definition or explanation, or a different perspective, or even carrying the idea into a new topic by showing a connection. From there, a third blogger would write a post interacting with the first two posts, while adding their own perspective, etc. Of course, there would continue to be discussion in the comments of each of the blog posts.
The rules would be as follows: One blogger writes a post on a certain topic. If another blogger wants to “chain” off of that blog post, that blogger would leave a comment saying that they will publish the next blog post in the “chain”. The “chain” blogger would then have two to three days to post the next chain blog post. When the “chain” blogger publishes a post, he or she will leave a comment on the previous link letting everyone know that the next link is ready. Each post can be as long or as short as the author desires. From there, the chain continues with the first person who comments on each link saying that they want to post the next link in the chain. Each successively blog post will contain a list of the previous “links” at the end of the post. Hopefully, each successively blog post would also be able to quote from the previous “links” to show the connection in the chain. Similarly, it would be good if all previous “links” are updated with successive links, but that is not neccesary. Also, discussion on each blog post could continue within the comments of that post. Finally, if someone takes part in the chain blog, they should wait until at least three other people had posted “links” before jumping in to write another blog post in the same chain. However, given that stipulation, the “chain” could continue as long as there is interest.
Here’s an example:
Alan starts a “chain blog” with link 1
Bob comments saying that he would like to write the next link in the chain
Bob publishes link 2 on his blog, links back to link 1, and comments in link 1 that his is ready
Christy comments that she would like to write the next link
Christy publishes link 3 on her blog, etc.
If this sounds interesting, or if you think you would like to take part in something like this, or if you have a suggestion for a chain blog topic, please let me know. If I decide to start a chain blog, I probably would not start it until May. But, I would like to know that at least a few people would take part before I start it.