Jason Aldridge

In 2001 I became aware of two separate and very different ways of doing church. One was the old school way most Christians have grown up. Its the same system and order of doing things for the last 1600 years. A single priest (pastor) gives a oratory (sermon) from the scripture. There is some form of worship or sacraments and prayer. The layperson comes in, sits down, shuts up and off, and listens. One person or at most a few people do all the work of the ministry of the church. The laypersons only job is to obey God and do the ministry stuff “outside the four walls of the church”. that is the pattern we have all grown up with, change the lingo and the ritual but the essence of the whole deal is the same.

Yet in 2001 I saw a different way of doing church. It wasn’t a new model or postmodern method. It was in fact the first way of doing church. For the first 250-300 years of Christian history the church had one way of doing church. They would gather in homes or public places (if safe). Though leadership developed over the first few centuries it was vastly different than what we have today. The bulk of day to day minster was done by ordinary believers. Both men and women. The method of this ministry was the spontaneous spiritual manifestations of supernatural power from the Holy Spirit. The church functioned as each believer moved in supernatural power. On the practical side they would share huge meal together that were celebrations of Christ’s raising and soon return. These AGAPE (love) feasts are what we have reduced to a wafer and swig of wine.

Clearly the question was which was right? Were both right or were both wrong? The next 8 years of my life would be trying to discover that.