Brazil Visit 5, Post 11

During this last weekend I attended a conference. The speaker was a man who with another brother planted what is now a very large church in the city of Salvador, Bahia. They now have many other churches in their association. Despite having thousands ofcommitted people they meet almost exclusively in homes. This was the thrust of his messages, three each on Friday and Saturday, and one on Sunday. The church that i am visiting of about two thousand people has always had home groups but also regular Sunday meetings for the whole church. Recently they decided to give up their building and rent another one Sunday a month for whole church gatherings. This is possible because of the strong, healthy bonds of discipleship that most people have. Although Mario shared on many things several points stuck out to me. One was a repeated statement about depending on the Holy Spirit rather than personal abilities, and the second, somewhat surprisingly given the reputation of the church in Bahia, was an acknowledgement that disciplers must not exercise undue control over the lives of those whom they disciple. He also tackled such difficult subjects as head coverings ( individual conviction), women silent ( cannot teach the Word in mixed groups) and the role of men as heads of families. The principal passages covered were Acts 2\42-47 and 1 Corinthians chapters 11 thru 14. I was told that approximately 1300 attended. Children from 3 to 9 were ministered to separately with those younger or older remaining with their parents. On Sunday we shared communion together. Everything was well organized.