A Cell-based church explained

Beginning this month of July, we are moving from a church-running cells church to a cell-based church. Cells cease to be a ministry along other ministries but a mega channel for other ministries, all weekly programs at church such as mid week and Friday worship services shall cease, and every activity shall consequently be done from our homes. It’s a process that has been carefully studied since April this year and definitely prayed over much earlier. But some questions may still need answers.

What will Full Gospel Church be as cell-based church?
We are going to have all programs of the church run through cells – cells are going to be a channel through which ALL ministries are run. One can also simply say that a cell-based church is church run through cells and not cells run by the church. In other words, the functioning of the church is based on (activities) of the cells.

But we have had cells before…
We are moving from an arrangement where cells existed as a ministry along other ministries, where one had an option to belong to a cell as a ministry or to other ministries as ‘called’. Now we are saying cells should define the functioning of our church. Everyone must minister as called by God, with his/her gifting and talent through cells. All ministries will function through cells. If it’s Marrieds Fellowship for example, the leader and the members should be concerned of how many Marrieds cells they have that form the fellowship. This basically brings two things to perspective: the geographical and homogenous cells. The latter is the primary core of our church where everyone who fellowships with us must belong to one, a 2-12 member people that meets regularly at least once a week. This must be in one’s geographical area of residence.

The homogenous cells on the other hand are those formed, along with geographical cells, with common interests of members for instance the Young Workers. For such interest groups, there shall be, for instance, the Young Workers cells in Ntinda, Bugoloobi or Nakulabye. A cell of this kind meets in a place convenient for its members. Later these cells converge once a month as a big fellowship/ministry or for a common event such as Women’s Sunday. Hence a cell-based church shall not kill other ministries but rather bring to life such ministries through small group meetings – talk about several individual verses in books and epistles that all together compose the mega Bible!

Are there unique advantages of a cell-based church?
The advantages that shall accrue from we functioning as a cell-based church stem from the way believers shall be reached out to and engaged in ministry. In the previous arrangement, not all people belonged to cells. Hence not all believers were ministered to and enjoyed the benefits of cells. With a cell-based church, however, we want to cement, more effectively, the indisputable and enormous benefits of cells. Now that every ministry one would want to do in the Kingdom shall be channeled through cells, everybody must belong to a geographical cell.

The benefits of cells such as for members to build and model one another, equip every believer to do the work of ministry and minister to others; total servanthood and stewardship shall be a reality. As a cell-based church, believers shall practically apply scripture to needs and relationships, regularly exercise spiritual gifts to build up others, and increase the kingdom through one to one evangelism.