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Like many here, I grew up in the institutional church setting, but have grown increasingly disillusioned with it. I started making some paradigm shifts a number of years ago.

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I have seen growing evidence that there are a smattering of conventional churches that are becoming responsive to our discontent, but they are few and far between. If they are responsive then they will adopt a more covenantal form of worship, teaching, sharing and fellowship. For example, they won't sequester children away from their parents in their own "classes." "Programs" and "activities" will be de-emphasized, and a strong emphasis will be placed upon fellowship and friendship development. These are things that many believers crave (and desperately need).

The need is clearly there. The question is what can one do to help facilitate the process of planting more house assemblies? Is there anything that I can do?

Yes, I believe that there is something that I can personally offer, but I'm not exactly sure how (or where) to offer it. Maybe some folks here will have some suggestions for me.

I've been in part-time ministry for over ten years. My background is law (no, I'm not an attorney. Attorneys are part of the problem).

I've spent a number of years analyzing many of the legal problems that the institutional church has been subject to. Many of its current problems began as a result of adopting the industrial-age (and now an information-age) ethos.

Just one example of this is what happened to the mainline denominations immediately after the turn of the twentieth century -- they incorporated as "non-profit religious organizations." Unlike the excuses we hear today, the so-called "benefit" touted back then was that the corporation, being a business infrastructure that focused on efficiency and productivity, would better serve the needs of member churches.

All mainline denominations ask wealthy and influential men to serve on their board of directors. Money, influence and success are the prerequisites, not whether or not one is a committed bible-believing Christian. Andrew Carnegie convinced the Methodists (1903) to incorporate. Cleveland Dodge convinced the Lutherans. Other corporate giants convinced the other mainline denominations on whose boards they served. Member local churches started following the example of their denominations shortly thereafter.

Jesus taught that we can "know" the tree by analyzing the fruit it produces. Has incorporation produced good fruit for Christ's Kingdom? I'll leave that to you to determine.

Incorporation, and its ugly stepsisters (501c3, EIN, FICA, employee withholding taxes, etc. etc. ad nauseum) have, in my humble opinion, produced a bumper crop of rancid fruit. I am disturbed to see (upon a cursory scan of this forum) that there are folks here who, after they have already left the entanglements of the institutional church, feel they need to adopt some of the very same trappings of the institutional church. God forbid!

This cannot be deliberate. Surely it is not malicious. I can only surmise that it is rooted in ignorance. Perhaps that is how I can help the most -- by explaining the legal, theological, and historical ramifications of what happens when any church incorporates and/or takes the 501c3 status. I assure everyone here that the ramifications are not insignificant, they are huge.

Any who would wish to pursue this further with me should first review my web site at http://hushmoney.org

I very much welcome your comments and suggestions. I'm here to serve.