1^st August 2012

ACC's youngest member
The Branches was formed in 1992 with a small band of believers and co-workers starting out to plant a church. Commissioned by Tea Tree Gully Uniting where we had been members and leaders at first unrecognised by Presbytery but later received as ‘a new model' congregation'. Our aim was to help folk re-access church in its Biblical simplicity. And that has happened. Over the years young families, old and young, alone or lonely, educated or not, churched and unchurched, various skin colours, diversities of all sorts- precious individuals have come back into the Body of Christ. Some have remained and become core leaders for future ministry others have been bridged back to regular churches.
We've been variously described, most commonly ‘this is real' and ‘I look forward to Sundays-its a taste of reality'-all comments from men. The last from a GMH assemby worker who came to Christ through Branches community and read the whole Bible over a couple of years during the ninety seconds break before the next Commodore rolled up to have its fender fitted! The Bible is our food, guide and life giving signpost. We wont give it up for anything.
Ours has been a stimulating role. We want to stimulate the reseedeing of Christian faith and congregations where they have receeeded . Our people helped stir interest in another suburban church which led to them planting a congregation. For several years we ran a branch congregation in an old suburb with a lot of boarding houses, another group has linked with us.
We value ACC and HopeNet membership . They give solidarity with witnessing Bible nourished congregations, and a common voice on community and national issues that affect the wellbeing of society.
Denominational connection is pragmatic, as it should be, one medium for sharing ministry ideas and modelling church planting ideas to others. Being independent with funding, property and ministry brings out the best in a denominational relationship. Especially in a day where resources and relationships connect across many movements and churches
So what distinctive ideas have shaped us, given us continuity and I hope some Kingdom usefulness?
We don't own any property and our leadership is grass-roots and bi-vocational. That is, leadership emerges from within the fellowship and has a measure of self support.
Our goal is the formation of Christ in His people. We call it ‘Christomorphia'. An amazing promise, the work of the New Covenant. We are to take seriously the disciplines of Christ's grace specially forgotten ones like; talk we wouldn't say to a persons face. Zero tolerance here. Hard to follow but has been a huge strength and saved us from unnecessary troubles. The Bible speaks very clearly and strongly about speech as an instrument that can bless, or curse. We seek to practice a discipline that excludes gossip, or any comment which would bring down the dignity of another in the eyes of those with whom we are talking. We also accept the discipline of not using the Name of God to strengthen or endorse what we say, even when we think we are speaking in harmony with His will . We should leave such judgments to be made by our hearers instead.

Children learn best from watching adults worship, listening sincerely to the Word and hearing parents speak well of everyone else in the fellowship. They learn by rote , example and from other adults taking an interest in them. Law points to grace. Our children are taught the Ten Commandments plus selected texts and creeds.
We try to be clear thinking, rejecting unevidenced hearsay and over-trusting our hunches. We seek to exercise sound minds, so important for many things including faith sharing. No jumping to conclusions about persons or issues in the church, thus prejudice is rejected. We seek to be critical of our own intuitions and accept the labour of assessing evidence
We own no property and while this isn't a doctrinaire thing, it has served us well. At one stage we won the cleaning contract on the council hall so were paid to clean up our own mess.
Leadership is functional before it is official. An insight gained from Icthus in UK was the value of under fifty membership allowing for governance which suits a concrete rather than abstract culture. This has worked for us.
Baptism is administered in various forms for both adults and infants. We hold to unity in primaries and freedom in secondaries. The creeds disregard such things as baptisms, church government, and style of church meetings from primary doctrine, so we seek to make applications into our daily lives from the primary doctrines of Scripture and respect the varying traditions expressed in our church.
The grace of God is the context of life. God delights in voluntary response. This means that the organisation of a church is different from clubs, societies or associations, in that the response to its laws and its Head, is a response of the heart evoked by the love of God. The actions of the people in the church are a voluntary response to this grace. This means that we must wait for God to work in His people and refuse to be quarrelsome, complaining, or impatien with each other.

The Communion of Saints: We reject distinctions based on worldly status, encouraging in our people, young and old, a resistance to being awed by those roles and images presenting false values of humanhood. The Communion of Saints, based in the call of Christ, is the high status of human worth.

Because the Word is Spirit empowered and is played out through priesthood of all believers, there is a sermon but also body-building where members speak the Word , prepared (preferable) or spontaneous . Plus The Lord's Table objectifying the Word amongst us and celebrated with joy every Sunday. Children are included because learning is by participation.
Amidst a ‘now-instant' culture we keep our 4D glasses handy to see that which lasts, shared with those called through all generations living both on earth and in Heaven. Christ defines everything for us and gives us all we need and all that we need to know. We love Him and wait to enjoy His Kingdom to the fullest.

Ian Clarkson (First published in ACCatalyst February 2011)