For a couple of decades or so, there has been a growing revolution around the world in the ways that churches are structured. In the same period that so-called mega-churches have grown along with the "seeker friendly" approach to structuring worship services, many churches are re-discovering the value of small home groups (often called cell groups) in helping believers to grow in their faith. The cell church movement has been particularly powerful in evangelism in developing nations in South America, Africa and Asia where they have recorded spectacular growth rates.

The distinctive practice of cell churches is that they emphasise both the large group "celebration" meeting and the small cell group meeting as equally vital expressions of the church.

There have been many books written about cell churches from a pragmatic and methodological approach but very few, if any, from a theological perspective. Cell group practitioners have argued that the Bible teaches the "two-winged church" and pointed to isolated passages to justify their claim. Others have just known that the programme approach of traditional churches is not adequate to produce mature disciples.

Joel Comiskey's book "Biblical Foundations For The Cell-Based Church" attempts to provide a more systematic theological and Biblical underpinning for cell church.

Comiskey starts at the place all good theology starts- with God. The nature of God as Trinity indicates that His plan for His people is community. If we are made in the image of God, then we are made for community. The fundamental unit of human community is the family or household- it's where we learn to love others, to share and to forgive. Jesus' ministry centred on households to model a church that was called to be family not institution.

The second part of the book looks closely at how the New Testament describes the early church. While there was a variety of practice in every place, the family home was the basic meeting place. The word "church" described with equal validity a house church, a gathering of the entire church in one city or locality and the world-wide church. Evangelism, ministry and leadership were primarily focussed on the house church, but each church enjoyed fellowship with the other house churches in the city.

The final chapter seeks to translate the practices and principles of early christianity into the 21st Century. Comiskey makes this important point here:

A foundation that will carry you through the ups and downs of cell groups is not based on a theology that you have. It’s based on a theology that has you. If you are doing cell groups because they work, or because your people need community, or because they can close the back door, your foundation will crumble when groups aren’t working well, when conflict arises, or when people become too busy to participate

In other words, it is a mistake to think that by getting our ecclesiology correct we can go and do cell church. This has to be a passion, a foundational vision for what church is meant to be about. The passion has to be communicated to the whole church and held on to because there will be problems. We can advance by believing strongly in church as family, in team leadership and mutual accountability.

Joel Comiskey always writes clearly and simply. Although this book is different in content to his usual "How To" books about cell church, he still writes in a way that most people can understand readily.

It's interesting that this book starts with the community in the Trinity as the justification for community in the church and moves on to cell church. The apostolic movement is also calling for community in the church based on the unity in the Trinity- see for example John Alley: "Holy Community: Experiencing the Grace and Power of Pentecost." We are starting to realise that individualism in our culture is the opposite of what God intends for the church.

The strength of this book is that it gives pastors and other leaders the words and reasons to encourage churches in the reasons for transitioning to, or persevering in, the cell church paradigm. At last here is the Biblical reason for doing what we do.

As I reflect about what I read, I have the feeling that perhaps it doesn't go far enough. It is rather a short book and I feel there is a lot more that needs to be said about the nature of God, about salvation and sanctification, about the nature of worship and how we relate to God and to one another. At the end, I felt like I had eaten a regular sized meal but should have ordered the large serving.

For anyone interested in the cell church movement I would recommend "Biblical Foundations" alongside Ralph Neighbour's blockbuster "Where Do We Go From Here?" as the two essential books to get started.

I scored the book as 5/5. I think in the long term it will be seen as an essential contribution to our understanding of cell church. It is a must-read for all cell church leaders. I know I will be drawing on it for my cell leaders' meetings, and for my preaching.