Graham and Ailsa Ure have had simple church in their home each Saturday for 18 months now – but, simple church is not a one hour worship service. A number of factors motivated their move from long involvement in established conventional churches, including – none of the many friends they invited to church (over many years) found a spiritual home there; the ‘preaching’ did not relate to the lives of those they invited; and, their reading of the New Testament and books about first century churches alerted them to something fresh, different and vital. Graham heard of Milton Adams and contacted him. He found the idea consistent with what he had been learning. ‘But,’ Ailsa says, ‘I wasn’t ready for it then. Graham was ahead of me, but patient – and after another year of reading, praying and discussing, I was also convinced!’ They say –
* It wasn’t easy finding a core team of 4 – two others to join them. But they prayed separately and came up with the same names, Joy and Robert – who make an enormous contribution to the fellowship.
* They do not invite churched Christians to join them – in fact they discourage churched Christians from attending. They can only attend to learn – to then go to start their own simple church.
* SimpleChurch is life! They meet to share, discuss, read the Bible, eat and relax together, sharing about 4 hours together each Saturday – but they are in touch and relating all week.
* If there are needs, Graham says, ‘We can respond quickly. We have a lot of fun helping people financially – with rent, servicing of their cars, etc when they find themselves in a difficult spot!’
* All participate – whether broken, shy, atheists, addicted! The gathering, discussions and support systems don’t depend upon Ailsa, Graham, Joy or Robert.
Both Ailsa and Graham say, ‘Every week is different. We are just amazed at what God is doing in people’s lives. It is full time, but we are so energized and renewed by God’s activity and our fellowship with unchurched people.
They agree that they could never imagine going back to church as they did it for so many years!