NEW LEARNING GROUPS

This year (2011)saw the start of groups in a couple of churches in Gauteng Province, Natal, the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape.  There is also a small one developing in Malawi.

YOU CAN HELP

Some of our neighbouring countries find it difficult to afford the costs of enrolling, so we have had to offer the material for whatever is affordable in each case – sometimes situations have caused us to rather make it available gratis than to withhold valuable assistance.

You can assist us in two ways:

• When you enrol, please consider our Assistance Scheme where you willingly pay 50% more per Module.  This will mean that for a R150 Module you will assist us by paying R225!
• Send a donation stipulating that it is to assist struggling students.  Bank details are at the bottom of this page.

A NEW LEARNING CENTRE

In Port Elizabeth we have been approached by an existing training ministry for the Porterbrook syllabus to be used by them.  The result has been that this ministry may be offering Porterbrook Training as our first Learning Centre beyond Cape Town.  A Porterbrook Learning Centre is a place where folk from any Church may attend tutorials on a regular basis as they engage with the material.  The coordinators of the Learning Centre agree to run the learning in conformity with certain Porterbrook stipulations.

A NEW REGION

The seeds of a new region being supervised and coordinated in Kenya is in the process of negotiation.

If this becomes a reality, Porterbrook Kenya will the first in more possible partnerships between Porterbrook South Africa and the Kingfisher Mobilization Centre in Africa and Asian countries.

BANK DETAILS FOR SUPPORTING STUDENTS

Swift Code (international transfers): ABSAZAJJ

Thank you.

Total Church is a book co-authored by Steve Timmis and Tim Chester.  Steve and Tim are both responsible for creating the Porterbrook Training which

arose from their missional theology and church planting experiences with The Crowded House

see Book Summary & Comments at the end of this post from IVP

The Conference

Total Church Workbook

The Total Church Conference in Cape Town in March 2010 has come and gone!  The co author, Steve Timmis, was with us and opened with a Bible teaching session and five other sessions on topics stemming from the book.

Click on the workbook on the left for a PDF version.

Click on the conference talks below to hear the mp3 audio or right click and ‘Save link as …’ to download them.

• Talk 1 – Deut 19
• Talk 2 – Is your church Gospel centred?
• Talk 2 – Q&A
• Talk 3 – The call to be risk takers
• Talk 4 – How important is community in God’s purposes?
• Talk 4 – Q&A
• Talk 5 – Developing leaders on the road
• Talk 5 – Q&A
• Talk 6 – Life in a Gospel community
• Talk 6 – Q&A

Extras

• Intentional Encounters & Porterbrook
• Crowded House story
• Talk 4 Extract (The Gospel in Galatians)

IVP Book Summary and Comments

How does your church measure up?

Total Church pleads for two key principles for church and mission. First, the gospel as content: being word-centred (for the gospel is truth) and being mission-centred (for the gospel is truth to be proclaimed). Secondly, the community as context: sharing our lives as Christians and offering a place of belonging to unbelievers.

Authors Tim Chester and Steve Timmis apply these principles to church planting, evangelism, apologetics, social involvement, leadership, discipleship, pastoral care, world mission and notions of success. They critique current trends within the church, arguing that emerging church movements are strong on community but weak on truth, while conservative evangelicalism is strong on truth but weak on community. Their call is a call for the best of both.

This is a timely and provocative book which deserves to be read and applied in many contexts.

Comments

“In an age of ambiguity and apathy for the church, Total Church accurately and insightfully identifies the local church as a gospel community on mission with Jesus.”
—Mark Driscoll, Founding Pastor, Mars Hill Church, Seattle; President, the Resurgence; President, Acts 29 Church Planting Network

“Challenging, passionate and insightful. Here is a vision of a whole-life, whole-mission ‘Total Church’ that embraces both gospel and community.”
—Chris Stoddart, Director, Reaching The Unchurched Network

“Here is radical, punchy teaching that provokes, stimulates, challenges, and inspires.”
—Vaughan Roberts, Rector, St. Ebbe’s Church, Oxford, England; author, God’s Big Picture

“Total Church digs deep and provides a solid biblical foundation for what it advocates. The argument of the book is very compelling and at the same time very practical.”
—David W. Jones, Senior Minister, Cornerstone Church, Hobart, Tasmania

“Written not by armchair experts but by hands-on practitioners, Total Church explores what it means in practice to be both gospel-centered and community-centered. This would be an excellent book to give to your leaders, and to the wider church membership, to provoke discussion and prompt change.”
—Peter J. Grainger, Senior Minister, Charlotte Chapel, Edinburgh

“Reformed theology and new ways of being church are often regarded as incompatible notions. In this book Tim Chester and Steve Timmis aim to bring the two together in a way that they believe will help church leaders identify ways of relating a conservative theology to the culture, without compromising dearly held principles.”
—John Drane, Freelance Consultant to churches in the UK; Professor of Practical Theology, Fuller Seminary, California

Alan Hirsch: Overview of the DNA of Movements [VERGE video] from Verge Network on Vimeo.

With speakers: Tim Chester and Jeff Vanderstelt.