We welcome you to check out an exciting pioneering adventure:

The purpose of this document is to explain what Great Oaks is all about as we launch a new type of church that is considered by many to be the next wave and future of Christianity. Our prayer is that God will move your heart to consider joining us.

Our mission: connect unchurched people with Christ more effectively:

 As a congregation that seeks to honor and facilitate the work of the Holy Spirit, we are dedicated to reaching people who don’t attend church, and nurturing all people toward maturity in Christ. To this end we’ve embraced a church model that creates a more personal, needs-sensitive environment that enhances this transformation process.

We are an updated version of the original Acts 2:42 church model:

The primary distinctive that sets Great Oaks Church apart from other churches is that, like the early Acts 2:42 church, the foundation of our model is also small Home Churches that meet weekly.

Further, in the early model all the Home Churches would periodically meet in a city or area for a combined celebration service that no doubt gave them an opportunity to listen to deeper preaching by one of the apostles or their successors.

Similarly, Great Oaks Home Churches also gather in a second type of service on weekends. It also features deeper preaching. In its day the Acts 2:42 model produced the most rapid growth rate in the history of Christianity, and we believe it can do it again.

Why Home Churches are growing in popularity in the United States:

Although Home Churches have been popular in many countries for quite some time, according to researchers they are just starting to catch on in the U.S. There are presently over 10 million Americans that are attending Home Churches.

The consensus on what is driving this growing popularity is that small Home Churches uniquely fulfill a need in each of us to have close personal relationships with people we can trust. And this need is met and flourishes in a small church service setting attended by only 15 to 20 people.

Most churches try to satisfy this relationship need by promoting membership in small groups. And with certain types of people, they have succeeded.

But churches that are trying to reach the unchurched also encourage people to attend midweek services that have greater worship content and deeper expository teaching, things that are vital to continuing spiritual growth.

To attend all three calls for time commitments three days per week, and for most people today, two days is max. So attendance at midweek service suffers, and so does small group meeting frequency. Most important, the spiritual health of those that desire both activities also suffers.

The midweek Home Church service solves this problem by combining the small group meeting and midweek service benefits in a one-day time commitment. It also offers additional benefits as we’ll see as we examine a typical Great Oaks Home Church service:

6:00 pm: 
Potluck sit-down dinner 

15 to 20 people, including children of all ages, gather at the host home and share what’s going on in their lives as they enjoy a meal together.

7:00 - 7:15 pm: 
Worship 

The entire group, including children, sing and praise God, accompanied by prerecorded music or an instrument. People are free to sing along or just listen. Communion is served at the end of worship time.

7:15 - 7:45 pm: 
No-Sermon teaching style employs an open Q 

The church Leader introduces the subject, reads related scripture, and opens the discussion. The Q&A interaction drives the session from that point on. Older children are encouraged to participate. Activities are provided for younger children in another room.

7:45 - 8:00 pm: 
Life needs sharing and open Prayer Time 

Praying style allows optional participation. Older children are encouraged to participate. This ends the service.

It’s important to note that each Home Church is free to alter the service times and format to suit the needs and preferences of the group.

Unique Home Church benefits:

As you can see, the Home Church service experience offers some very unusual benefits that are not found in a typical Small Group meeting, and a large-audience midweek service combined:

1. The Home Church creates a small, highly informal type of church service environment that is less threatening to many unchurched people. Thus, it becomes another entry point to which you can easily invite your unchurched friends and neighbors.

2. The worship segment is simple, includes children, and is formatted to allow optional singing participation.

3. The Q&A teaching format not only recognizes the limited Bible knowledge of the unchurched, but the discussion provides a much richer learning experience for everyone, both Christians and unchurched alike.

4. The inclusion of children in the service allows them to learn a lot about the world of Mom and Dad: the troubles they face, how they rely on God for help, how God answers prayer, and how Christian adults love and care for each other — things that they may never learn any other way at a young age.

Our Weekend service also features unchurched-friendly attributes:

We intend to retain the basic service attributes that have proven successful in bringing untold hundreds of thousands of people to dedicating their lives to Christ.

Our music is upbeat and played by a band, song lyrics are contemporary, the arts — particularly video — will be used for emphasize thematic points and add interest to the sermon and other service elements.

Our sermons will address real life issues and demonstrate how the Bible has the solutions and answers. Here again, the sermons will recognize the limited scriptural knowledge of the unchurched and be presented in structure and language that is easily understood.

Great Oaks organizational structure and leadership qualifications:

Our structure consists of a Central Church organized and operating like most contemporary Christian churches today, but the backbone of our structure is Home Churches.

The Central church will be led by a largely seminary-trained staff that will focus on producing the Sunday service, coordinating ministry activities, and providing oversight to the Home Churches.

Home Church Leaders may not have seminary training, but must qualify as Elders in accordance with the standards set forth in 1Timothy 3. The Home Church leaders will appoint others in their group to assist in various internal ministry functions as required.

Initially, weekend services will be held in a rented facility. We plan to acquire a permanent facility when growth and finances permit.