Meetings
According to Watchman Nee a local church should have at least four types of meetings: the Lord's Table meeting, the Bible study meeting, the gospel preaching meeting and the prayer meeting.
The local church meetings differ in some respects from typical Western denominational church meetings. Whilst most traditional denominational Christian churches typically consist of a theologically qualified leading person (e.g. pastor, priest) to deliver a message, teaching, or sermon to the congregation, the local churches also practice and encourage active participation from all who attend. The main form of participation encouraged is verbal speaking - e.g. sharing, prophesying, singing, praying, praising or calling on the name of Jesus in the meetings. Thus, people without theological designations are free to express themselves in the meetings hopefully for the benefit of others.
Local churches do not require membership and Christians from different faith traditions and non-Christians are welcome to join and participate in the meetings. For participating in the bread and wine the only requirement is to be a believer in Jesus Christ, and to be living in right relationship with God. Persons in known idolatrous or adulterous situations are typically refused communion to respect the holy nature of the sacraments. Although the practices within each local church sometimes differ based upon the culture, and nature of the city in which the local church resides, they teach that these differences are negative and encourage all the churches to practice the same so as to have the same look as did the seven lampstands in the book of Revelation. There is no top-down hierarchical structure or designations within the church (for example, bishop, priest, pastor, leader). Each local church is administrated by a plurality of male elders (typically appointed based upon spiritual maturity rather than theological qualification). Despite each local church being self-governed by male elders, each local church is encouraged to contact with other local churches via seven annual conferences and maintain regular communications in order to respect the universal nature and oneness of the church.
Read more about this topic: Local Churches (affiliation)
Famous quotes containing the word meetings:
“I have been reporting club meetings for four years and I am tired of hearing reviews of the books I was brought up on. I am tired of amateur performances at occasions announced to be for purposes either of enjoyment or improvement. I am tired of suffering under the pretense of acquiring culture. I am tired of hearing the word “culture” used so wantonly. I am tired of essays that let no guilty author escape quotation.”
—Josephine Woodward, U.S. author. As quoted in Everyone Was Brave, ch. 3, by William L. O’Neill (1969)
“I love meetings with suits. I live for meetings with suits. I love them because I know they had a really boring week and I walk in there with my orange velvet leggings and drop popcorn in my cleavage and then fish it out and eat it. I like that. I know I’m entertaining them and I know that they know. Obviously, the best meetings are with suits that are intelligent, because then things are operating on a whole other level.”
—Madonna [Madonna Louise Ciccione] (b. 1959)