In his Foreward to ‘Restoration in the Church‘ Terry Virgo recognises that many Christians in the UK have recently (late 70’s / early 80’s) come out of historic Christian denominations and started meeting in ‘house churches’. But he sees this phenomena as a symptom of something much bigger, and he doesn’t want Christians to stop prematurely:
“If the use of the home is but a branch of this tree, what is the root? In a word, it is a diligent attempt to restore the church to New Testament Christianity, both in principle and practice.”
That’s what ‘Restoration in the Church’ is going to be about: “I pray that God may use this book to cause many to face questions from which they might naturally shrink, such as ‘What is God saying to his people through these new churches that are emerging?’ and ‘What does he want us to do about it?’”
Chapter 1: Come and See
“Our devotion to Christ is rarely matched by a similar devotion to his church, but finds expression in other areas. And so we fail to share God’s heart and follow his strategy.” – these ‘other areas’ might well be good Christian things – dedicated mission or mercy organisations, for example – but a low-view of what the church actually is results in us annexing our personal faith and expecting little of the church.
This attitude is not what you see in the New Testament: “Paul did not work simply to win converts, but to plant churches. He did not view his evangelising work as complete until elders had been established and churches formed. It was through the local church that the Kingdom of God was to be manifested. From them the gospel would sound forth.”
The charismatic gifts are for the gathered local church and should not be squandered either by privatisation or para-church priority. The Baptism in the Spirit “whetted their appetites for more of God and his ways, and they are endeavouring to build churches where he is free to move.”
“Many evangelicals are rendered ineffective by a sense of personal rejection. The gospel has not yet freed them from their apparent insignificance.”
Conclusion – Various strands of the British New Church movement (of which NFI was one,) emphasised the importance of the primitive New Testament understanding of ‘Church’. Whilst this emphasis was subordinated to the individual / personal benefits of a revived spirituality in the other ‘new church streams’ / emerging denominations, Newfrontiers consistently championed the church / corporate / body aspect over the individual aspect. Whilst this, and many of Terry’s other books, focus on personal spiritual establishment and restoration, it’s always with a view to building the Church.