International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume II, Issue XII, December 2018 | ISSN 2454–6186

Cell Based Strategy as a Viable Method for Church Growth

Rev. Dr. Manya Wandefu Stephen

Alupe University College, Kenya

I. INTRODUCTION

The term “cell” is used because it is a basic building block and part of the larger whole i.e. the local church. Thus, a cell group is part and parcel of the church congregation; however it is incomplete by itself.Cell groups are frequently intended to grow by way of members bringing along friends who may start attending regularly and become part of the group at some point (Cho, 1997). When the group has grown too large, it splits to form two separate and smaller groups. The reason for the small size is that it is designed to promote relationship and discussion.

The phenomenon of cell groups is based upon the perception that the New Testament church in the book of Acts did not meet in formal structures or buildings like the synagogues of the Jews but in houses or homes of its converts. For example, in his letter to the Corinthians (1Cor:16:19), St. Paul addresses the church in the home of Aquila and Priscilla, and also greets the church as a whole (1Cor:1:2). Acts: 2:46 states that from earliest times, the believers met both in homes and in the temple. Thus, the church benefited from the larger church and from the small groups where many new believers were added daily.

II. HISTORICAL EVIDENCE OF SMALL GROUP MULTIPLICATION

Along with the Biblical evidence for the existence of cell groups in the Early Church, there is also a lot of archaeological evidence in support of the same. For example Tan (2011), gives analysis of archaeological discoveries in the city of Capernaum in Galilee which indicate that a cell group used to meet in what appeared to be the house of Peter the Apostle. Moreover, from the descriptions of Clement of Alexandria in Egypt, it appears that a cell group used to meet in the home of a wealthy member of the congregation (Tan, 2011).