One Assembly
Author: Jonathan Leeman
Date: 2020
“Adding a second site or service, by the standards of Scripture, gives you two churches not one. Two assemblies, separated by geography or numbers on a clock, give you two churches.”
Hello Ordinary Readers,
Jonathan Leeman’s book One Assembly is just that, a biblical case for a church being one assembly. This goes against a very popular model of the church today of multi-service and multi-site churches. Leeman simply put says, “Two assemblies, separated by geography or numbers on a clock, give you two churches” (p. 17). He seeks to understand what church structure is supported by scripture. Leeman interacts with other pastors and friends of his that are multi-site pastors that would disagree with Leeman’s conclusions. I think this book is a good read for all believers to aid them in thinking biblically about how we structure our church.
Happy Reading!
Quotes
“For a church, likewise, a physical togetherness, an assembly, is an essential part of the formula.”
“Multisite and multiservice churches repudiate the Bible’s definition of a church, redefine what a church is, and so reshape the church morally.”
“Jesus publically identifies himself with us in the gatherings: ‘I am there among them,’ he said.”
“The gathered, assembled, congregated church is the kingdom of heaven made visible on planet earth.”
“Working with other churches is perhaps the most crucial, promising, natural, and biblical alternative to the multiple-site-or-service-model.”
“Church leader, are you as interested in promoting the kingdom of Christ as you are your own church’s program?”
“But moving to a second service or site removes a good pressure on the church to look outward, to work harder at planting, to work harder at raising up more leaders, to work harder at partnering with other churches, to work harder at trusting other churches and God’s work in them.”