Cole, Organic Church

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Neil Cole, Organic Church: Growing Faith Where Life Happens. Jossey-Bass, 2005.

Sequels:

Referenced in: Missional Communties – Organic Church

LifeandLeadership.com Summary

This was the first volume by Neil Cole to describe the Organic Church. Cole addresses the hard reality that in the postmodern era, people remain attracted to Jesus but repelled by the institutional church, which many have come to see as merely the place to get married and buried (hitched and ditched). Others are leaving the church, not because they have lost faith, but in order to preserve their faith. Many churches realize this, and try frantically to stay ahead of the curve by crafting “music, message, and drama” experiences and other attractive programs, but to no avail. He says, “We have made church nothing more than a religious show that takes place on Sunday, and after it’s done, we all go home, until church starts again next week, same time, same place.” (xxv) Over against this, Cole proposes:

“Instead of bringing people to church so that we can bring them to Christ, let’s bring Christ to people where they live. We may find that a new church will grow out of such an enterprise, a church that is more centered in life and the workplace, where the Gospel is supposed to make a difference.

What will happen if we plant the seed of the Kingdom of God in the places where life happens and where society is formed? Is this not what Jesus intended for His Church? What would it be like if churches emerged organically, like small spiritual families born out of the soil of lostness, because the seed of God’s kingdom was planted there? These churches could reproduce just as all living and organic things do.

We have seen such churches meeting in restaurants, offices, homes, university campuses, high school facilities, and beaches. We’ve had churches meeting in bars, coffeehouses, parks, and locker rooms. One of our church networks has as its purpose statement “To have a church within walking distance of every person living in Las Vegas.” Another claims, “Every Christian is a church planter, every home is a church, and every church building is a training centre.” This is a whole new way of seeing Christ’s church, and it is happening today all across the Western world…. We must take Christ into people’s lives, and it must be in the context of relationships.”

The heart of our message is that God didn’t expect us to come to Him in heaven. He came to us. He lived life on our terms and on our turf. …When Jesus came, He didn’t wear brightly colored robes and keep his distance, singing songs to the public. He came naked through a birth canal, just like the reast of us. …He was poor and lived among us. He got his hands dirty and served the people. Jesus is still incarnate; we are now His feet, His hands, His eyes, and His mouth.” (xxvi-xxviii)

From here, Cole lays out the widespread ineffectiveness of the institutional church, alongside his prescriptions for a more “organic” church that meets in smaller groups and homes, thus being a more natural and agile witness for Christ in the world. There is also a very strong emphasis on using this nimble structure and supportive environment to equip people for gift-based ministry, encourage deeper spiritual accountability (see Cole’s books on Life Transformation Groups), and allow people with gifts of leadership to actually help others mature in Christ vs. manage the institutional system. Part of the organic church’s essence is to “”lower the bar of how church is done and raise the bar of what it means to be a disciple” (26) meaning not a disparaging of the church, but conducting church in a way that does not coddle immaturity but actually engages people in kingdom growth on a more transformational level.

There is indeed a growing organic movement, and proponents of this model such as Neil Cole and Frank Viola, are at the forefront. In this genre, Cole’s Organic Church is the equivalent to Viola’s Pagan Christianity and Reimagining Church, as descriptions of the biblical and philosophical roots of the organic model.

Most readers will rightly sense something “grassroots” and biblical about this approach. Both writers offer convincing proof that organic churches are a meaningful alternative to the current institutional church. On the other hand, the critics deserve a good hearing as well on issues such as advancing believers too quickly into leadership roles, devaluing the role of qualified teachers and preachers thus making the church more vulnerable to false teaching, disparaging structures that facilitate mobilization of larger groups and institutional resources toward kingdom efforts, etc. Cole deals with some of these criticisms in the sequel, Church 3.0. I suggest reading material on the organic model as a helpful and impassioned corrective, and perhaps even a guide, but not necessarily as the guide or the hope of the future. Missional churches may take many forms. Organic is one, and Cole and Viola present it beautifully.

From the Publisher

Churches have tried all kinds of ways to attract new and younger members – revised vision statements, hipper worship, contemporary music, livelier sermons, bigger and better auditoriums. But there are still so many people who aren’t being reached, who don’t want to come to church. And the truth is that attendance at church on Sundays does not necessarily transform lives; God’s presence in our hearts is what changes us. Leaders and laypeople everywhere are realizing that they need new and more powerful ways to help them spread God’s Word.

According to international church starter and pastor Neil Cole, if we want to connect with young people and those who are not coming to church, we must go where people congregate. Cole shows readers how to plant the seeds of the Kingdom of God in the places where life happens and where culture is formed – restaurants, bars, coffeehouses, parks, locker rooms,and neighborhoods. Organic Church offers a hands-on guide for demystifying this new model of church and shows the practical aspects of implementing it.

While it may seem revolutionary, this model of church—bringing God’s message where people are rather than expecting them to show up at church—is in keeping with the message of Jesus, who lived among the people of his time. Organic Church shows how we can return to those ancient roots by letting the church be alive, organic, growing, spreading in the most likely and unlikely places.

About the Author

Neil Cole is a church starter and pastor, and founder and executive director of Church Multiplication Associates, which has helped start over seven hundred churches in thirty-two states and twenty-three nations in six years. He is an international speaker and the author of Cultivating a Life for God. Visit the Leadership Network Website, www.leadnet.org, for more innovative resources and information. You can find more resources on organic church planting at www.cmaresources.org.

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