1. devotion to Scripture

“More than anything we want people to be lovers of the person of Jesus. Far too often we are lovers of sermons, lovers of ministry, lovers of good books, lovers of community. But are we primarily in love with God Himself? A church cannot be successful or healthy if the people are not personally meeting with and enjoying God consistently. The greatest command is to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, so this must be our greatest priority as leaders.” - Francis Chan

We place a large emphasis on reading scripture on a consistent basis. Most Christians rely heavily on getting everything they need from a 40 minute message every other Sunday, but we believe that as believers we have a much larger part to play. As a group, we read the same passages every day so that when we do gather, when we are doing life together, we can discuss what we’ve been reading and what the Holy Spirit has revealed to us. Instead of coming to consume when we gather, there is an expectation to bring with us what the Holy Spirit has shown us in our time with God.

2. Meeting in Homes

We noticed something when we started looking at scripture with our preconceived ideas removed. Once a “church” is established, they start meeting in homes. Not only that, but the way they are described, it’s almost as if they are a family. They truly know one another, they spur one another on, they laugh together, they cry together, they break bread together, they worship together, they pray together, and they love one another. In short - they do life together. We’ve found it’s hard to accomplish that in a church of 5,000, 500, or even 50. Once you get over 20, it’s nearly impossible to know one another well. Many churches’ answer to this problem is offering “small groups,” but to most families this is an optional program. We believe that the “small group” portion of the modern day church should be the primary form of the church gathering so that you can truly do life with one another. Because of this, we do our best to keep our normal gatherings between 10-20 people that make up a spiritual family.

Our secondary reason for meeting in homes is that we no longer need buildings. This means three things… One: When the church grows, our budget doesn’t have to. Two: We are quick and nimble, allowing us to multiply rapidly. Three: Not having to pay for buildings allows nearly all giving to go back to people (learn more about this here).

3. every member functioning

We believe 1 Corinthians 12 to be true. We have all been baptized into one body, the body of Christ, and just as the human body has many parts that make up one body, so it is with the body of Christ. The Spirit gives each of us gifts “to help each other.” We are not a one man show. There is not a “Global Worship Pastor” or “Senior Pastor” that speaks for 40 minutes every weekend. There is a pastor in each home that is guiding and facilitating conversation but not preaching on a regular basis. If they feel that they have something to share on occasion, they can do so, but this should take up a very small portion of the gathering. The idea is that the Spirit of God lives on the inside of each of us as believers, and we can be used by Him. We each have gifts to contribute, so everyone contributes.

Secondly, everyone in the church is a disciple maker. There is a tendency in church to leave that up to the “pastors,” and in many instances as a church grows, so does the number of programs to help out their people. In most cases though, people don’t need another program or book to read - they need someone to walk alongside them. This is one reason we meet in homes and don’t exceed 20 individuals in a home, so there is no room to hide. There never should be someone who is doing life alone.

Realistically, the pastor should be deeply discipling 2-3 people in his or her home, and each of those 2-3 people should be discipling 2-3 people within that spiritual family and so on. This being said, no one, no matter who they are, is ever too busy for another person. This is not a hierarchy but a way to assure that all people are cared for well.

4. Regular Multiplication

We believe our God is a God of multiplication, so we multiply. We multiply instead of grow within our current homes to maintain our healthy 10-20 person ratio in a home. From the experiences of other churches that have similar models, we know that if we don’t have a target date for multiplication, we typically won’t do it because we get comfortable. Surround Church looks to multiply once a year - when we do, we are looking at homes that have 12-20 people and also for someone in that home who is ready to pastor.

5. Simple Gatherings

We are not going to rely on the world’s wisdom but on the wisdom of our almighty God. That means we aren’t chasing the next fad or trend to attract people to our church. We put Jesus on display because the reality is we don’t want to attract people for any other reason than Jesus. We don’t have impressive sermons or a well known leader preaching. We just have Jesus and His people. If you want more of God and to be a part of a community that is fixated on our God, then this is the church for you. While there are podcasts, blogs, and conferences galore promoting new ways to grow a church numerically, we choose instead to simply present Jesus and His church to the World. It worked for Jesus and Paul, so why do anything differently?

6. Radical Giving

Scripture has a lot to say about money, finances, and giving. In fact, there are over 2,000 verses about money, and roughly 40% of Jesus’ parables deal with money. One thing is clear throughout all of scripture - giving is a big deal and is a good indicator of where our hearts lie. That’s why it’s a big deal to us. We give so that we can show Christ’s character through generosity, love on people who are in need, and support Kingdom expansion. We call it radical giving because as individuals we choose to go above and beyond in every aspect of giving.

As a ministry, we want to lead the way in radical giving. That’s why we’re breaking tradition. Surround Church gives back 90% of every dollar to those in need and operates on the remaining 10%. Not only that, but we release a financial report every year detailing what every dollar given went to so that we can celebrate what God is doing through His church.