Paradigms - VineLife Communities

One of the issues we face when people from traditional church backgrounds are drawn to our home gatherings is that they will often have a lot of baggage and will want to bring that baggage with them. Some insist on forcing their woundedness on those in the home church. This can cause some very stressful situations when the body gathers. Are there some ways we can help them transition from the traditional church paradigm to the home church paradigm? I think so.

Julie Ross, of LifePlace (An organization which coaches emerging missional communities), shared some ideas on how to help people make the transition from traditional church through a debriefing process. The following questions and comments are adapted from what she shared in a recent House2House Magazine article.

All of us who have made the transition have experienced some pain in doing so. From my perspective, it has been worth the pain, but a lot of that hurt and frustration could have been avoided if I had known someone who could have walked me through a healthy debriefing process. These questions are designed to help a person objectively resolve some of the issues.

If it’s true that the glory of God is man fully alive, how would you describe your heart right now?
What do you do with your pain and how do you process it?
How do you feel about your transition from traditional church to simple (home) church? Use adjectives.
How are you cooperating with God’s process of making you into a new wineskin? What is a wineskin? (A wineskin is simply a receptacle – DLS) What is new wine? (Mt. 9:16-17)
In your previous seasons of growth, what have you enjoyed most and what have you endured?
What losses are you grieving? What are you celebrating?
Is anything left undone as you conclude the most recent season?
What baggage do you still need to let go of to keep things simple, authentic, and easily reproducible?
What are your expectations of simple (home) church?

Additional thoughts: Is the person an inward or outward processor? It is often in talking things through that verbal processors discover what they really think, while inward processors may prefer to contemplate and journal. In either case it is most beneficial when things are discussed with trusted brothers and sisters. Everyone needs an attentive listener at some time or another and you can help the process along by encouraging them to share their feelings and thoughts in four areas: Inward, Upward, Outward and Forward.

Inward is what’s happened/happening inside you. What are you feeling?
Upward is what has happened/is happening in your relationship with God.
Outward is how what has happened/is happening affects those around you.
Forward is expressing your expectations on what is next.

As you encounter people who are in transition from traditional church to home church, this “debriefing” approach may be useful in helping them in their journey.