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Secret 2 - Eat Talk Pray

Mini Church

Hope Chapel has their small group model refined so that it is simple and reproducible. It based on three words - Eat talk Pray

Mini Church is the next layer of the model. It is their biggest value; everything is centred around this model. This is a highly relational gathering that is based around these three elements.

1. Food. Most of human relationship happens around food. Their goal is to ‘Hang out and eat together’.

2. Talking. Each member has to answer two questions: ‘What is God saying to you?’ Usually this is based on the Sunday sermon; however this also can be through Bible reading or going through a book. Or this can be from life situations. The second question is ‘What are you going to do about it?’ Mini Church should cover: head (reading), heart (what did God say to you?) and hands (what will you do?).

3. Prayer is the third element. This is vital. Praying together about what God is saying.

Check out their web page on mini-church

As a result of the emphasis of ministry, discipleship and pastoral care happening within the Mini Church, Ralph’s Church runs on a minimal staffing.

It sounds easy doesn’t it... Eat, Talk Pray

Secret 1 - Discipleship

Discipleship

Ralph Moore oozes discipleship!

‘All we know how to do is make disciples, but now we have 700 churches.’

‘Don’t start with a movement of churches, but rather start with one life at a time. A church planting movement will come out of this.’

‘Jesus made disciples and then gathered a crowd. We reverse this by gathering a crowd and then try to make disciples’. RM

At the core of Moore’s secret of success is a focus on discipleship. And it is not simply rhetoric. Moore structures his whole church and ministry model around making disciples.  Moore spends about 6 hours per week in office related work, the rest of his time is spent investing relationally in others lives. Hope Chapel is based around this core DNA of discipleship. Mainly through the small group structure which he calls ‘Mini Church’.

Big church model or small Church? Ralph Moore says this is the wrong question. Excellence in discipleship is the goal.

What do you think?

Ralph Moore - What's the Secret?

Ralph Moore - What's the Secret?

Late in 2007 I had the privilege of visiting Ralph Moore in Hawaii. I know, it's tough but somebody has to suffer for the gospel!

Ralph Moore is a Four Square pastor. He is not a charismatic personality, softly spoken, appears disorganised and highly unstructured. He is refreshingly transparent and honest. His Church is about 1700 people and most likely will never grow over 2000. They keep sending leaders and teams out to plant churches. Planting churches is the priority above building a big church.

He has planted the ‘Hope Chapel’ movement within the Four Square movement. This movement has planted over 700 churches representing over 70 000 people. Some of these churches are large (some are larger than the mother church). Some are small. In the last three years, for example, they have planted 19 churches in Japan. They have also planted in the Philippines and other Asian nations such as Mongolia. There are many ‘Hope Chapels’ throughout the US. They have a global vision and a local vision.

In the US, the population is growing faster than church growth. Despite the advent of the mega church, the Church is in decline in the US. Hawaii however, is the only State in the US bucking the trend, where churches are growing faster than the population. This could largely be credited to church planting by Ralph Moore and others.

So what's his secret? The unusual thing about Ralph Moore's movement is that you usually only hear stories like this in the third world... where church planting movements are exploding. I am sure if Ralph was pastoring a Church of 10 or 15 thousand we all would have heard of him. He is a well kept secret, not featuring on the dial of significant Christian leaders in the west, but few have done what he has manged to do.  The next series of posts will mention a number of Ralph's secrets...

Welcome!

Hey welcome to my Blog! As I learn how to figure all this technology out I will be discussing stuff that I think has power to change the world! It will be about Jesus, Church planting and Church planting movements. Love to have your comments and feedback. Dave