Since we started New Life back in 1996, we have believed in the cell church vision. In this model of the church, both large group celebration and smaller home-based cells are considered equally essential to christian growth. This is the pattern that was adopted by the early church. In Acts 2, for example, we read:

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.

43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshipped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity— 47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-48

They "met together in one place" and "met in homes."

In his book "Reap The Harvest" Joel Comiskey describes how cell churches operate and he presents the results of his research into the fastest growing and biggest cell churches in the world. It's an excellent book and I really recommend it to everyone involved in ministry. Comiskey says there are 16 practices that are common to these churches:

1. Dependence on Jesus Christ Through Prayer

2. Motivation for Cell Ministry is Evangelism and Church Growth

3. Multiplication: The Goal of Each Cell Group

4. Designed for Reproducible Quality Control

5. Emphasis on Goal-Setting

6. Cell Ministry Is the Church’s Backbone

7. Importance of Both Cell and Celebration

8. Senior Pastor’s Strong, Visionary Leadership

9. Established Leadership Requirements

10. Required Leadership Training

11. Leadership Developed Within the Church

12. A “Jethro Model” Care Structure

13. Leadership Promotion Based on Success

14. Cell Groups Meet in Homes

15. Cells Follow-up with Visitors, New Converts

16. Cell Lessons Based on Pastor’s Sermon

Some of these terms, such as "Jethro Model" are not commonly understood, but Joel explains the concepts well in his books.

Tonight at our Cell Leaders' meeting I ran quickly through these 16 qualities, with a little explanation on each one. I asked them to rate our church on each one on a scale of 1 to 5.

As you would expect, we excel at some and need to do some work on others. The overall pattern was that we need to develop our prayer life and our ability and desire to evangelise.

It was great to get these priorities so clearly delineated for our leaders.

Now we just have to act on these insights!

The book is "Reap THe Harvest" by Joel Comiskey, published by TOUCH Publications. It's available as an e-book through Amazon