Doing church differently
The principles & practices of The Way church in Manchester & Salford
What are the foundational principles & practices of The Way?
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Jesus was clear about what his followers would be like. They would love God and love their neighbour (believers and unbelievers) as themselves.
Jesus then commissioned his followers to go and make new disciples, teaching those disciples to obey everything that Jesus had commanded them!
At The Way, our central priority is to love, follow and obey Jesus, engaging the world as he did. This is reflected in our foundational principles & practices.
We aim to live these out on a day-to-day basis, empowered by the Spirit and partnering together in community, just as they did in the early church.
Foundational Principles
Love God: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength”
Love our neighbour: “Love your neighbour as yourself”; “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others”
Love one another: “As I have loved you, so you must love one another”; “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love”
Make disciples: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you”
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Foundational Practices
Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving: Loving God and celebrating His grace. Being devoted to prayer, praise, breaking bread, and God’s word, individually and together. Praying for the lost and for God to empower us through His Spirit and send us out as workers into the harvest.
Community & Partnership: Following Jesus in partnership together – in love, humility, commitment, friendship, generosity, diversity and unity. Discipling, supporting and caring for one another as we seek to obey Jesus, whatever culture, ethnicity, and background we represent.
Mission & Multiplication: Being disciples who make disciples who make disciples – engaging with people around us to introduce them to Jesus. Loving and serving our local communities, and providing support to those who are poor, marginalised, vulnerable, lonely or sick.
Biblical Basis
As we look at the book of Acts, the New Testament letters, and early sources, we see references to churches based in homes or households right from the beginning!
The believers met to eat together in their homes and devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, breaking bread, partnership in the gospel (translated fellowship) and prayer.
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In at least four of his letters, Paul indicates that believers met in the homes of people who served as hosts, and probably leaders, of church gatherings. In Acts 20 Paul went from home to home, providing instruction for believers, as well as in public. Romans 16 certainly suggests that this may have been the model in Rome.
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In his book ‘House Church and Mission: The Importance of Household Structures in Early Christianity’, Roger Gehring's research led him to the conclusion that cities with groups of household-based communities included Philippi, Thessalonica; Corinth, Cenchrae, Ephesus, Rome, Colossae, and Laodicea.
He wrote: “The house church served as a building block and building centre of the church at any given location, as a support base for missional outreach, as a gathering place for the Lord’s Supper, as a sanctuary for prayer, as a classroom for catechetic instruction, and as an opportunity to experience and exercise Christian brotherly love.”
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It seems that for the first few centuries all the believers in any town or city would have met in household communities and only met all together as a ‘whole church’ more occasionally.
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A paper titled 'The Model of the Early Church' provides much more detail on the biblical and historical evidence for the structure and practice of the early church.
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This paper, along with our 'Statement of Beliefs' can be found via the Helpful Resources page.
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