Unlike a Church with a Small Group program, Dwelling Places are the Church. Our main focus is where the Church lives. We want our spiritual practices to be natural, authentic and a true reflection of relationship with Jesus. Everything in our spiritual life has to be worked out in relationships: marriage, family, friends, neighbors, bosses, employees, co-workers, enemies and the list goes on. Life is about relationship with God and people.
Dwelling Places are where this happens. They are homes, coffee shops, pubs, and anywhere we dwell and invest in relationships. We believe the simplest and most dynamic expression of the Church and Jesus mission begins in these places. The most vulnerable and intimate place in our lives is in our own homes and neighborhoods. This is where we live, grow, care for each other, share our stories and make friends.
Jesus was born and moved into the neighborhood. He lived in a home, interacted with people and shared his life with them. He related to them naturally, where they were as he encountered them on his way. This is what it means to be missional and incarnational. In the same way we bear witness to the word made flesh through our lives, naturally as we seek to know those around us. This takes intentionality.
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The Dwelling Place Church is a network of Dwelling Places being the Church in their neighborhoods and to their neighbors. They gather weekly to share their lives with each other. They grow in community, focused on going deeper in relationship with God and one another through prayer, fellowship, communion, and sharing their stories: building the church up in love. They make disciples through intentional relationships then reach out to neighbors and serve their surrounding community: loving their neighbor.
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