First off, much of what is defined as "Organic or Simple Church" cannot be engineered or mapped out without the same consequences of GMO seeds, by definition it is a growing organism much like what constitutes all of creation in that it starts with one cell, or in this case one person. When talking of a spiritual organism of which should be first priority the intents and purposes of the the first person should be to build friends, bonds, connections (not religious) with other individuals with a spiritual openness. This can but generally won't happen within existing western model churches or other places of worship where doctrines, traditions and budgets dictate a different agenda then the slow non spectacular money free mindset of the individual forming additional cells so as to see the organism grow "organically". The organic metaphor of how God grows the church or "Oikos" is appropriate in many ways, especially in the realm of cultivation, weed prevention and fertilization for growth. I view most of today's church growth strategies as warmed up versions of what business consultants have been doing for the fortune 500 for years (with diminishing returns). In fact these artificial fertilizers and pesticides have often been applied to churches by former business consultants with similar results. In general seed will reproduce after it's own "kind", and so for a healthy Organic fellowship to develop we personally need to start with good seed. That is deep communion with God, a thirst and hunger for righteous behavior, ego free, selfless, to the extent that each and every person we meet is seen by us through God's eyes of love and compassion, each word adds to the dignity and sense of well being of those we converse with, and and immediate net of inclusion is cast upon all we encounter. What folks will find is they want to be around this kind of person even though the can't describe why. Once this baseline is established we can intentionally make contact at this level with all God sends into our path, and my experience is that will be quite a few. The Organic fellowship develops upon the principle "Life begets Life", so we need to connected and willing to make friends with all kinds of people and views trusting that God directs people into our paths. Some of these folks will be more difficult to embrace but beyond the door of these folks lies the Grace we need to sustain the task at hand. So the normal thing we do to "hang with people" is what is needed to develop trust and confidence in each other. Finding opportunities to serve people we meet in any and all levels will start the bonding process. Food, rides, comfort encouragement, friendship, listening are a few of so many creative ways for you to express the fruit of the Spirit that each of manifest. Once that is underway conversations will naturally incorporate themes of true spirituality and not distractions of any side issues such as religion ad politics. In your case I would look for where these are developing already, 1 or 2 is a good start, never mentioning meetings or church . You may find that this difficult while being part of a Church that meets on Sunday and every other day all week because of the limitations this places upon making new acquaintances. When I used to travel and cast vision for traditional churches (every Sunday for several years) I would make a point of walking the neighborhoods around the church to always find hundreds of people on their patios, walking their dogs, watering, washing cars clustered in conversations, more conversations then were allowed to happen inside the church walls. This is how we begin to "connect" with this world full of people just not yet connected to God. We build multiple spheres or circles of friendships tha of which there will be first one, then two, then three that find their lives orbiting around and within each other trusting one another and sharing transparently their hopes and fears, joys and sadness, etc. This begins the genesis of a truly Organic fellowship or expression of part of the Church. It takes intention, time, and a willingness to take a "Sabbath" for a year or two from the crazy upside down world of religion. It took Wendy & I three years before we could see more clearly God's intent and purposes, and now we share that with a growing circle whom are sharing with their circle and behold we see genuine multiplication take place. In our lives and ministry this is in it's third generation now in about a dozen states. It seems slow, but it's the real thing.
So here is a a lot for you to ingest, process and start some dialogue over. Thanks for your sincere and earnest pursuit of discovery of the "Kingdom of God" within us and your desire to share! In a nutshell I'm suggesting you are the epicenter of what will be the Organic Church you are looking for!
Grace & Peace,
Harold
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