We often refer to the church where I serve as a "two-chop stick church." Other people would call us a cell church, but I prefer the picture that comes from identifying ourselves as a two-chop stick church. What we mean by that is that we have two equal aspects that work together to designate how we do "church." They are the aspects of celebration and cell. In celebration, we assemble weekly in a large group for the purpose of worshiping God and hearing the Scriptures taught in a manner that is relevant and practical to the living out of our lives. Likewise, we also assemble weekly in small groups for the purpose of ministry, accountability and prayer, and for the purpose of working together to pray for and reach our friends, neighbors and co-workers who don't yet know Christ.
The beauty of being a two-chop stick church is that we understand both of these aspects are essential. It is not that one overpowers the other, but that in the working together of the two equal elements, the ministry happens: worship, teaching, ministry, prayer, discipleship and evangelism. Through the two chop sticks working in tandem with one another, all the aspects of the work of the church occur.
This ministry philosophy permeates throughout who we are. So when it came to understanding how we do ministry for youth and children, it only made sense that they would be two-chop stick focused as well! We believe that our youth and children are NOT the church of tomorrow, but rather part of the church today. So, though their particular needs might require different approaches in order to fit their needs, the structure would be the same.
Our youth meets on Tuesday evenings at our church building. There they have a huge youth celebration service where they ...
