Frequently Asked Questions About Simple Churches
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A Simple Church is a gathering of believers that is either face-to-face or online. Unlike Small Groups, more people can participate in a Simple Church. It is simple to organize. It does not need a lot of planning and logistics. The gathering has a fixed schedule and location. There is synchronous teaching and learning, whether online or on-site. There is also a time for worship, which can also be online or on-site. There is a time for interaction or small group discussion. There is also a time for mutual prayer. All these can be done in the context of fellowship or eating together, if at all possible. Simple Churches are places of grace where people can know and experience God together with others wherever they are.
It's simple. Just look at the List of Simple Churches. Know the details and then just attend. If you need help, just reach out to our Support Team using the link below. We'll be glad to assist you.
Of course not! Joining a Simple Church is free for all. Our desire is to help you experience real life in Christ together with others. This is why we have Simple Churches so that people can have access to various places of grace regardless of their situation in life, location, or time zone.
A Small Group is composed of 5 to 8 people, sometimes more but not more than 10 ideally. The goal is for real spiritual friendships or companionship to develop over time. A Simple Church, on the other hand, is a larger group, a medium-sized community. The goal is to experience the body of Christ on a bigger scale (but not as big as a congregation) as well as to meet other members of the church besides your Small Group. So, it's up to you, if you want to be part of both since they fulfill different purposes in our spiritual lives. Both of them, however, are considered places of grace in RLCC.
Those who are already part of Core Teams (i.e. current Facilitators, Coordinators, and Core Team Members) can form or start a new Simple Church. They can transition their Small Group type into a Task Group to oversee a Simple Church. Or, they can form a new Core Team and a new Task Group to oversee a new Simple Church. The members of the Task Group will come from those who are already members of various Small Groups. The steps for creating a Simple Church are as follows: S - Start a Core Team and pray for God's guidance I - Invite others to join the Core Team M - Meet to plan, discuss, and work out your strategy P - Prepare for your first gathering L - Learn as you go E - Evaluate and improve always
A Small Group has 5 to 10 members. Therefore, a Simple Church must have more than 10 people. But it must not become too large such that it will become complicated for the Task Group to plan and execute. Usually, this is about 20 to 30 people. The key is simplicity. Even if there are many members, for as long as it is simple to plan and execute, it will continue to be called a Simple Church. Later, it can transition to a Startup Church (i.e., a Church Plant) and then later into a Sattelite Church.
A member of the Pastoral Staff will be assigned to supervise a Simple Church. He or she will see to it that the Simple Church is functioning well and that the Task Group who is leading it are also doing well. In other words, he or she will always come alongside to help this ministry succeed.
As a place of grace, the Simple Church has open membership. Anyone can join and anyone can leave. Therefore, there is no problem if someone cannot attend regularly. It would be good if one can participate regularly, but this is not required. Those who attend must do so voluntarily because they believe it will be helpful to them spiritually.
No one will be forced to do anything they don't want to do. Even the spiritual practice of giving is not required to join a Simple Church. Although we encourage everyone to grow in the grace of giving, it is not mandatory. Giving is by faith and is intended to help us grow in our trust in God who richly provides everything for our enjoyment and also to help us to minister to others. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
A Simple Church is open to everyone and anyone. However, in case a person is a committed member of another local church, it would be better if they will ask permission first from their pastor, especially if that is required. We respect the authority of pastors to shepherd their own people. We do not believe in "sheep stealing" and we will never practice it.
