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Cell UK exists to promote a vision. This vision, we believe, comes from the heart of God and will help bring about a church that is contemporary to our culture but Biblical and radical in its nature.
Jesus was asked, "what is the most important" and he gave us the great commandment, "you shall love the lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength and you shall love your neighbour as yourself." This commandment is for every member of the church from the youngest through to the oldest.
Cell Church believes that for this to be a reality we need a church where we worship together, have teaching and do all the things that are familiar to us when that word 'church' comes into our minds, but we also believe that church should be a community where we meet in our cells - a dynamic small group - and this small group will empower us. It holds us accountable to live out the vision of loving God, loving one another and loving a lost world.
The following is the DNA of a Cell Group. If we are in a group where we just look at the word, that is a Bible study group. It is a good thing but we believe God's vision is for something more. If we meet in a group where we love God and love one another this is perhaps a house group or a dynamic small group of the past. This is also good but God wants more. If we are in a group where we also love our lost world, both relationally and institutionally, where Christians are empowered to be missional and make a difference, this is a cell and a cell church is where the corporate and the community are the two wings of the church, of equal importance. Both are church and with these two wings we can fly and do the will and purpose of God.
Cell Church is also about participation. It is every member in ministry. We have had 1700 years where leaders have been the building block of church, the key figures, the heroes. We believe that leaders are still very important but if leaders were going to change the world it would already have happened. We believe God's vision is to release his body, that every Christian is a hero and every Christian can be a full-time Christian worker. Every one of us empowered to love God, to love one another and to love a lost world.
- Cell UK exists to encourage and promote the development of these radical cell churches that work in the corporate and the community. To this end Cell UK provides a range of resources for those interested in cell church, in the process of transitioning to the cell church model or planting a new cell church.
- Cell UK runs training conferences for church leaders, cell supervisors and cell leaders.
- Cell UK has been particularly innovative in promoting youth cells in the UK and runs youth cell training courses and conferences and has a range of youth cell materials available.
- Cell UK’s online bookshop carries all the latest cell books from the UK and around the world and has audio cassettes of cell conference speakers available.
- Cell UK Magazine contains articles on the latest developments in cell church in the UK and around the world, provides practical help for cell leaders and gives up-to-date details of cell events in the UK.
Our Background...
In the mid-90s, Laurence Singlehurst, then Director of Youth With A Mission, England heard Ralph Neighbour speak on cell church during a trip to India. Laurence was profoundly affected by the vision and values of cell church and consequently invited Ralph to speak in the UK. In 1995, the first British National Cell Conference took place in Harpenden and was attended by 250 church leaders from different church backgrounds. This enthusiastic beginning and the need to provide those church leaders with resources gave birth to Cell UK, as an organisation to serve the cell church movement. Originally a department of Youth With A Mission, Cell UK is now an independent organisation and charity in its own right. |
