3 Unique Churches and the Lessons They Teach Us
Discover unique churches that are redefining ministry and learn valuable lessons from their unconventional approaches to faith and community.
Churches come in all shapes, sizes, and traditions. Those of you who have been in ministry for many years have probably discovered this: There’s no one “right way” to do church, although you may have strong opinions about what’s effective. The expression of ecclesia can be as dynamic as the writings of the Bible itself.
That being said, it sometimes pays to look at unique churches–churches that are doing ministry differently than their contemporary peers–to get church leaders thinking outside the box. In this article, we look at a few examples of unconventional churches and what we can learn from their missions and methods.
What is “Ecclesia?”
For 2,000 years, followers of Christ have been joining together corporately all over the planet, in different languages, cultural contexts, and understandings of Christian orthodoxy. Ask any given Christian what “church” looks like for them, and they will have vastly different answers.
What constitutes the “church,” exactly? The word used to describe an assembly of believers in the New Testament is ecclesia.
Jesus uses the word in Matthew 16:18: And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church (ecclesia), and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
The word is also used in Matthew 18, the book of Acts, as well as the Epistles, including 1 Corinthians 1:2:To the church (ecclesia) of God in Corinth…
The word “ecclesia” was not exclusive to the teachings of Christianity. During the first century, it also referred to a political assembly. We might conclude that the word “ecclesia” is used instead of the word “oikos” (family) specifically for this reason: The church is an assembly, a gathering of like-minded believers–not just family members–that are seeking God together.
Of course, the New Testament also outlines many other guidelines for the ecclesia. But still, there is much room for interpretation on how these guidelines might be met specifically. Does the ecclesia meet in a public space, or a home? How many people are in an ecclesia? What does the leadership structure look like?
Again, you may have opinions on what makes a church successful in your specific context. But leaving the questions above open-ended can also lead to creative interpretations that challenge us to think differently (and perhaps better) about the way we run church, disciple our congregations, and express the mission of Jesus.
3 Unique Churches + Lessons for Church Leaders
Let’s take a look at three creative expressions of ecclesia that challenge, inspire, and teach us to follow the mission of Jesus in our own communities.
Enough Ministries: Barre City, Vermont
At 65, Chuck Clark may not be your typical church planter. Clark also has a history of drug addiction. But that’s exactly the point. Now clean, Clark has committed his life to serving the marginalized and the addicted of Barre City, VT where an opioid crisis has hit hard. His vision is taken from Acts 5:42:
Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
Proclaiming the good news to the homeless, poor, and destitute of the community, Clark’s church isn’t destined to become large, organized, and glitzy. Many of his congregants are without homes, and many are still addicted to drugs. But they are hearing the Gospel, and Chuck’s easy-to-remember acronym C-O-F-F-E-E says it all: Christ offers forgiveness for everyone everywhere. Indeed.
Lesson: Focusing on the marginalized doesn’t always look glamorous. But serving the poor is a core tenet of the teachings of Jesus (Mark 10:21).
We Are Church: International
Francis Chan has been a prominent figure in mainstream Christianity for decades. But in recent years, he has shifted his focus from the more conventional American church to church planting via small house churches. We Are Church has locations all over the United States and two locations in Mexico. What sets We Are Church apart is that their churches have no buildings and no sermons.
The impetus for We Are Church’s grassroots approach began with Chan’s desire to make church less of a consumer experience and more of a participatory experience. He explains:
“It’s not about having a killer sermon with a great worship set. It’s about us loving each other well, loving Jesus well, praying together well, studying the Scriptures together well…our gatherings are excellent, not because there was a ton of prep work done into it. But because people are spending time with Jesus, people are being led by the Spirit, people are loving each other deeply. That’s what’s gonna make our gatherings great.”
Lesson: While it’s certainly not wrong to have a building or to preach a Sunday morning sermon, remember to keep discipleship to Jesus at the heart of church gatherings.
The Bar Church: Montgomery, Alabama
Grace Life Bar Church, or The Bar Church as it’s nicknamed, began with a simple but revolutionary idea from planting church Grace Life Church: Why not meet people where they’re at?
Like Enough Ministries, The Bar Church aims to show people that God meets them with love, grace, and forgiveness even in the midst of their pain and struggle. By meeting in a bar–aptly named Rock Bottom American Pub–they can reach people who have either felt hurt by the Church or who might feel uncomfortable stepping inside a church.
"One dose of love changes your whole outlook on life," lead pastor and former drug addict Phil Bevilacqua says. “[God] thinks I'm awesome, so I'm going to live like that. That's really a spiritual way to live.”
Lesson: Think outside of the box when it comes to satellite campuses and outreach. How can you build a bridge to people who may not respond to a traditional church?
Over to You
How you run your church will depend on many things: your denomination or tradition, culture, community, leadership structure, and so much more. But there is always room to be creative in the way we think about reaching the lost and making disciples of Christ. Looking at unconventional churches can help inspire us to live more radically and creatively to follow Jesus’ simple command: Feed my sheep (John 21:17).
Sign Up for Product Updates
Churches come in all shapes, sizes, and traditions. Those of you who have been in ministry for many years have probably discovered this: There’s no one “right way” to do church, although you may have strong opinions about what’s effective. The expression of ecclesia can be as dynamic as the writings of the Bible itself.
That being said, it sometimes pays to look at unique churches–churches that are doing ministry differently than their contemporary peers–to get church leaders thinking outside the box. In this article, we look at a few examples of unconventional churches and what we can learn from their missions and methods.
What is “Ecclesia?”
For 2,000 years, followers of Christ have been joining together corporately all over the planet, in different languages, cultural contexts, and understandings of Christian orthodoxy. Ask any given Christian what “church” looks like for them, and they will have vastly different answers.
What constitutes the “church,” exactly? The word used to describe an assembly of believers in the New Testament is ecclesia.
Jesus uses the word in Matthew 16:18: And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church (ecclesia), and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
The word is also used in Matthew 18, the book of Acts, as well as the Epistles, including 1 Corinthians 1:2:To the church (ecclesia) of God in Corinth…
The word “ecclesia” was not exclusive to the teachings of Christianity. During the first century, it also referred to a political assembly. We might conclude that the word “ecclesia” is used instead of the word “oikos” (family) specifically for this reason: The church is an assembly, a gathering of like-minded believers–not just family members–that are seeking God together.
Of course, the New Testament also outlines many other guidelines for the ecclesia. But still, there is much room for interpretation on how these guidelines might be met specifically. Does the ecclesia meet in a public space, or a home? How many people are in an ecclesia? What does the leadership structure look like?
Again, you may have opinions on what makes a church successful in your specific context. But leaving the questions above open-ended can also lead to creative interpretations that challenge us to think differently (and perhaps better) about the way we run church, disciple our congregations, and express the mission of Jesus.
3 Unique Churches + Lessons for Church Leaders
Let’s take a look at three creative expressions of ecclesia that challenge, inspire, and teach us to follow the mission of Jesus in our own communities.
Enough Ministries: Barre City, Vermont
At 65, Chuck Clark may not be your typical church planter. Clark also has a history of drug addiction. But that’s exactly the point. Now clean, Clark has committed his life to serving the marginalized and the addicted of Barre City, VT where an opioid crisis has hit hard. His vision is taken from Acts 5:42:
Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
Proclaiming the good news to the homeless, poor, and destitute of the community, Clark’s church isn’t destined to become large, organized, and glitzy. Many of his congregants are without homes, and many are still addicted to drugs. But they are hearing the Gospel, and Chuck’s easy-to-remember acronym C-O-F-F-E-E says it all: Christ offers forgiveness for everyone everywhere. Indeed.
Lesson: Focusing on the marginalized doesn’t always look glamorous. But serving the poor is a core tenet of the teachings of Jesus (Mark 10:21).
We Are Church: International
Francis Chan has been a prominent figure in mainstream Christianity for decades. But in recent years, he has shifted his focus from the more conventional American church to church planting via small house churches. We Are Church has locations all over the United States and two locations in Mexico. What sets We Are Church apart is that their churches have no buildings and no sermons.
The impetus for We Are Church’s grassroots approach began with Chan’s desire to make church less of a consumer experience and more of a participatory experience. He explains:
“It’s not about having a killer sermon with a great worship set. It’s about us loving each other well, loving Jesus well, praying together well, studying the Scriptures together well…our gatherings are excellent, not because there was a ton of prep work done into it. But because people are spending time with Jesus, people are being led by the Spirit, people are loving each other deeply. That’s what’s gonna make our gatherings great.”
Lesson: While it’s certainly not wrong to have a building or to preach a Sunday morning sermon, remember to keep discipleship to Jesus at the heart of church gatherings.
The Bar Church: Montgomery, Alabama
Grace Life Bar Church, or The Bar Church as it’s nicknamed, began with a simple but revolutionary idea from planting church Grace Life Church: Why not meet people where they’re at?
Like Enough Ministries, The Bar Church aims to show people that God meets them with love, grace, and forgiveness even in the midst of their pain and struggle. By meeting in a bar–aptly named Rock Bottom American Pub–they can reach people who have either felt hurt by the Church or who might feel uncomfortable stepping inside a church.
"One dose of love changes your whole outlook on life," lead pastor and former drug addict Phil Bevilacqua says. “[God] thinks I'm awesome, so I'm going to live like that. That's really a spiritual way to live.”
Lesson: Think outside of the box when it comes to satellite campuses and outreach. How can you build a bridge to people who may not respond to a traditional church?
Over to You
How you run your church will depend on many things: your denomination or tradition, culture, community, leadership structure, and so much more. But there is always room to be creative in the way we think about reaching the lost and making disciples of Christ. Looking at unconventional churches can help inspire us to live more radically and creatively to follow Jesus’ simple command: Feed my sheep (John 21:17).
podcast transcript
Churches come in all shapes, sizes, and traditions. Those of you who have been in ministry for many years have probably discovered this: There’s no one “right way” to do church, although you may have strong opinions about what’s effective. The expression of ecclesia can be as dynamic as the writings of the Bible itself.
That being said, it sometimes pays to look at unique churches–churches that are doing ministry differently than their contemporary peers–to get church leaders thinking outside the box. In this article, we look at a few examples of unconventional churches and what we can learn from their missions and methods.
What is “Ecclesia?”
For 2,000 years, followers of Christ have been joining together corporately all over the planet, in different languages, cultural contexts, and understandings of Christian orthodoxy. Ask any given Christian what “church” looks like for them, and they will have vastly different answers.
What constitutes the “church,” exactly? The word used to describe an assembly of believers in the New Testament is ecclesia.
Jesus uses the word in Matthew 16:18: And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church (ecclesia), and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
The word is also used in Matthew 18, the book of Acts, as well as the Epistles, including 1 Corinthians 1:2:To the church (ecclesia) of God in Corinth…
The word “ecclesia” was not exclusive to the teachings of Christianity. During the first century, it also referred to a political assembly. We might conclude that the word “ecclesia” is used instead of the word “oikos” (family) specifically for this reason: The church is an assembly, a gathering of like-minded believers–not just family members–that are seeking God together.
Of course, the New Testament also outlines many other guidelines for the ecclesia. But still, there is much room for interpretation on how these guidelines might be met specifically. Does the ecclesia meet in a public space, or a home? How many people are in an ecclesia? What does the leadership structure look like?
Again, you may have opinions on what makes a church successful in your specific context. But leaving the questions above open-ended can also lead to creative interpretations that challenge us to think differently (and perhaps better) about the way we run church, disciple our congregations, and express the mission of Jesus.
3 Unique Churches + Lessons for Church Leaders
Let’s take a look at three creative expressions of ecclesia that challenge, inspire, and teach us to follow the mission of Jesus in our own communities.
Enough Ministries: Barre City, Vermont
At 65, Chuck Clark may not be your typical church planter. Clark also has a history of drug addiction. But that’s exactly the point. Now clean, Clark has committed his life to serving the marginalized and the addicted of Barre City, VT where an opioid crisis has hit hard. His vision is taken from Acts 5:42:
Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
Proclaiming the good news to the homeless, poor, and destitute of the community, Clark’s church isn’t destined to become large, organized, and glitzy. Many of his congregants are without homes, and many are still addicted to drugs. But they are hearing the Gospel, and Chuck’s easy-to-remember acronym C-O-F-F-E-E says it all: Christ offers forgiveness for everyone everywhere. Indeed.
Lesson: Focusing on the marginalized doesn’t always look glamorous. But serving the poor is a core tenet of the teachings of Jesus (Mark 10:21).
We Are Church: International
Francis Chan has been a prominent figure in mainstream Christianity for decades. But in recent years, he has shifted his focus from the more conventional American church to church planting via small house churches. We Are Church has locations all over the United States and two locations in Mexico. What sets We Are Church apart is that their churches have no buildings and no sermons.
The impetus for We Are Church’s grassroots approach began with Chan’s desire to make church less of a consumer experience and more of a participatory experience. He explains:
“It’s not about having a killer sermon with a great worship set. It’s about us loving each other well, loving Jesus well, praying together well, studying the Scriptures together well…our gatherings are excellent, not because there was a ton of prep work done into it. But because people are spending time with Jesus, people are being led by the Spirit, people are loving each other deeply. That’s what’s gonna make our gatherings great.”
Lesson: While it’s certainly not wrong to have a building or to preach a Sunday morning sermon, remember to keep discipleship to Jesus at the heart of church gatherings.
The Bar Church: Montgomery, Alabama
Grace Life Bar Church, or The Bar Church as it’s nicknamed, began with a simple but revolutionary idea from planting church Grace Life Church: Why not meet people where they’re at?
Like Enough Ministries, The Bar Church aims to show people that God meets them with love, grace, and forgiveness even in the midst of their pain and struggle. By meeting in a bar–aptly named Rock Bottom American Pub–they can reach people who have either felt hurt by the Church or who might feel uncomfortable stepping inside a church.
"One dose of love changes your whole outlook on life," lead pastor and former drug addict Phil Bevilacqua says. “[God] thinks I'm awesome, so I'm going to live like that. That's really a spiritual way to live.”
Lesson: Think outside of the box when it comes to satellite campuses and outreach. How can you build a bridge to people who may not respond to a traditional church?
Over to You
How you run your church will depend on many things: your denomination or tradition, culture, community, leadership structure, and so much more. But there is always room to be creative in the way we think about reaching the lost and making disciples of Christ. Looking at unconventional churches can help inspire us to live more radically and creatively to follow Jesus’ simple command: Feed my sheep (John 21:17).
VIDEO transcript
Churches come in all shapes, sizes, and traditions. Those of you who have been in ministry for many years have probably discovered this: There’s no one “right way” to do church, although you may have strong opinions about what’s effective. The expression of ecclesia can be as dynamic as the writings of the Bible itself.
That being said, it sometimes pays to look at unique churches–churches that are doing ministry differently than their contemporary peers–to get church leaders thinking outside the box. In this article, we look at a few examples of unconventional churches and what we can learn from their missions and methods.
What is “Ecclesia?”
For 2,000 years, followers of Christ have been joining together corporately all over the planet, in different languages, cultural contexts, and understandings of Christian orthodoxy. Ask any given Christian what “church” looks like for them, and they will have vastly different answers.
What constitutes the “church,” exactly? The word used to describe an assembly of believers in the New Testament is ecclesia.
Jesus uses the word in Matthew 16:18: And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church (ecclesia), and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
The word is also used in Matthew 18, the book of Acts, as well as the Epistles, including 1 Corinthians 1:2:To the church (ecclesia) of God in Corinth…
The word “ecclesia” was not exclusive to the teachings of Christianity. During the first century, it also referred to a political assembly. We might conclude that the word “ecclesia” is used instead of the word “oikos” (family) specifically for this reason: The church is an assembly, a gathering of like-minded believers–not just family members–that are seeking God together.
Of course, the New Testament also outlines many other guidelines for the ecclesia. But still, there is much room for interpretation on how these guidelines might be met specifically. Does the ecclesia meet in a public space, or a home? How many people are in an ecclesia? What does the leadership structure look like?
Again, you may have opinions on what makes a church successful in your specific context. But leaving the questions above open-ended can also lead to creative interpretations that challenge us to think differently (and perhaps better) about the way we run church, disciple our congregations, and express the mission of Jesus.
3 Unique Churches + Lessons for Church Leaders
Let’s take a look at three creative expressions of ecclesia that challenge, inspire, and teach us to follow the mission of Jesus in our own communities.
Enough Ministries: Barre City, Vermont
At 65, Chuck Clark may not be your typical church planter. Clark also has a history of drug addiction. But that’s exactly the point. Now clean, Clark has committed his life to serving the marginalized and the addicted of Barre City, VT where an opioid crisis has hit hard. His vision is taken from Acts 5:42:
Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
Proclaiming the good news to the homeless, poor, and destitute of the community, Clark’s church isn’t destined to become large, organized, and glitzy. Many of his congregants are without homes, and many are still addicted to drugs. But they are hearing the Gospel, and Chuck’s easy-to-remember acronym C-O-F-F-E-E says it all: Christ offers forgiveness for everyone everywhere. Indeed.
Lesson: Focusing on the marginalized doesn’t always look glamorous. But serving the poor is a core tenet of the teachings of Jesus (Mark 10:21).
We Are Church: International
Francis Chan has been a prominent figure in mainstream Christianity for decades. But in recent years, he has shifted his focus from the more conventional American church to church planting via small house churches. We Are Church has locations all over the United States and two locations in Mexico. What sets We Are Church apart is that their churches have no buildings and no sermons.
The impetus for We Are Church’s grassroots approach began with Chan’s desire to make church less of a consumer experience and more of a participatory experience. He explains:
“It’s not about having a killer sermon with a great worship set. It’s about us loving each other well, loving Jesus well, praying together well, studying the Scriptures together well…our gatherings are excellent, not because there was a ton of prep work done into it. But because people are spending time with Jesus, people are being led by the Spirit, people are loving each other deeply. That’s what’s gonna make our gatherings great.”
Lesson: While it’s certainly not wrong to have a building or to preach a Sunday morning sermon, remember to keep discipleship to Jesus at the heart of church gatherings.
The Bar Church: Montgomery, Alabama
Grace Life Bar Church, or The Bar Church as it’s nicknamed, began with a simple but revolutionary idea from planting church Grace Life Church: Why not meet people where they’re at?
Like Enough Ministries, The Bar Church aims to show people that God meets them with love, grace, and forgiveness even in the midst of their pain and struggle. By meeting in a bar–aptly named Rock Bottom American Pub–they can reach people who have either felt hurt by the Church or who might feel uncomfortable stepping inside a church.
"One dose of love changes your whole outlook on life," lead pastor and former drug addict Phil Bevilacqua says. “[God] thinks I'm awesome, so I'm going to live like that. That's really a spiritual way to live.”
Lesson: Think outside of the box when it comes to satellite campuses and outreach. How can you build a bridge to people who may not respond to a traditional church?
Over to You
How you run your church will depend on many things: your denomination or tradition, culture, community, leadership structure, and so much more. But there is always room to be creative in the way we think about reaching the lost and making disciples of Christ. Looking at unconventional churches can help inspire us to live more radically and creatively to follow Jesus’ simple command: Feed my sheep (John 21:17).
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