Getting a Credo House in your area will take some leg work and networking. The main thing we need, obviously, is support. This can and should come by way of two avenues: 1) local church support and 2) building a local constituency.

1) Local church support: Churches need to be sold on and excited about what a Credo House can bring to their community. They need to first realize that we are not there to compete with them in any way, but only to serve. First and foremost, having a Credo House creates and facilitates an atmosphere of taking truth seriously. Far from looking over the shoulder of the local churches, the Credo House comes along side churches to help theologically establish, develop, maintenance, and/or, repair when in need.

 a. For those churches whose leadership lacks theological education, we provide solid Evangelical theological training. We are not a seminary, but we do serve as a representative of seminary-type training. Our hope is that pastors and church leaders see the need to get formal theological training that seminaries provide. But we understand that not only is it difficult and expensive to get the degrees needed, but it is even harder to keep up with the latest developments in theology. That is why the Credo House “Fellow” serves as a local professor/pastor of theology, not only facilitating ongoing and affordable theological training themselves, but also introducing them to scholars from all over the world through special events and seminars.

b. As well, Credo Houses serve as a place that pastors can send their people to when there are issues of theology and apologetics that they don’t feel qualified to answer. Pastors can set up a time with the Credo House fellow where those who have the question can come sip on a latte and discuss difficult issues in an irenic way.

c. Finally, Credo Houses present a “neutral” and fun environment for networking meetings with other church leaders, coffee with a member of the congregation, or evangelistic opportunities with members of the community.

2) Building a local constituency: Credo Houses will need local support to exist. Having a Credo House in your city will bring a sense of dignity to your city. Its presence communicates that the historic truths of the Christian faith are taken seriously as God has called on us to love him with all our hearts, souls, and minds. Local people and Christian business owners need to be sold on the unique vision of the Credo House. This insures that much of the networking infrastructure that the future Credo House Fellow will be responsible for will be already established by the time a Credo House is planted.

Of course, the more these two elements are present the more a particular city will be considered for a Credo House plant. Since these are not “franchises”, everything will be under the umbrella of Credo House Ministries. But it cannot function without a large constituency of churches and people take ownership in the concept. As a general rule, each Credo House will have to be fully supported by the local city in which it resides.

Here are some good ways to get started:

-Go to your pastor and let him know about Credo House Ministries and the Credo House Coffee concept.

-Begin using some of the theological training material produced by Credo House Ministries such as The Theology Program, The Discipleship Program, or a Boot Camp.

-Get a planning committee together to start holding regular meetings. Look for possible locations.

-Get a group of interested kingdom investors to either come visit the Credo House here in Edmond or have Tim Kimberley or Michael Patton come there and speak about the Credo House vision.

-Buy 10,000 t-shirts that say this: ”If You Build it, They Will Come: Credo House, (insert the name of your city or town)”. Then hand them out on street corners.

In an increasingly skeptical and church shy culture, a Credo House presents unique avenues of evangelism and discipleship that our day is yearning for. By this time next year, we plan on having our plans for the next Credo House (probably in a college town) ready to go. But our board has wisely said that we need to have the Credo House in Edmond, OK fully functional and financially stable. The more financially stable we can become here through donor “buy in”, the more we will be confident moving forward with future Credo Houses. Please be in prayer for us. As Dr. Luke would say, “this is no small adventure that we are on”.

Find out more about our vision.Similar Posts:

• Credo House Fever!
• What is a Credo House “Fellow”?
• The Future of the Credo House
• The Credo House Open for Business
• Tim Kimberley on the Credo House

Donate to the mission of Credo House MinistriesSimilar Posts:

• Tim Kimberley on the Credo House
• The Credo House Open for Business
• Credo House Dallas
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It is very easy to find agreement on so many points that you have made. I think you have given me a better understanding and perspective about how the gifts of the Spirit are to be viewed. Your view about the gifts being an extension of God himself is not only a point where both of us have fellowship of the mind, but also one that energizes my excitement about this issue. As you said in your latest contribution to this discussion, this issue is not an academic debate that has little bearing on the Christian life, but is one that affects the way we carry ourselves as Christians as well as the way we view our mission during our short stay here on earth.

As you are well aware, I teach quite a bit. I teach theology and the Bible. I teach about God. I teach about God! Are you kidding me? This scares me to death. How can a finite being hope to represent an infinite God? How presumptuous we can be in this task! I used to hate this fear of teaching about God. I could not wait until the time when my nerves were not on fire before I taught. However, as the years have gone by, I have learned to love my fear. Don’t get me wrong. There have been many times when the fear was not present. You would think this was a good thing, but is was during these times that I felt alone. It was during these times that I did not feel as if I was effective. When I am scared, I have nobody to turn to but the Lord. When I am not scared, I am full of self-confidence. I want to be scared now because it reminds me of the seriousness of my task and it drives me to my knees. I have this prayer taped on the inside cover of my Bible:

Let your hand be heavy upon me. Never let me be comfortable with my ability to teach. I am not adequate to guide your people. Please let the fear of this wonderful yet dangerous task ever be before me. Let me always understand this. James:1-3.

All of this is to say that I agree with you. You said, “Spiritual gifts must never be viewed deistically.” What a great statement and reminder for me. You know what? I think I will add that to the front of my Bible as well. Why? Because I can go there. Spiritual gifts are God’s presence working through us! A good way to put it is that,  ”The gifts are not his presents working through us, but his presence working through us.” That captures your point.

As I think through a response here, I have to remind myself over and over that I am a learner. I am not in this conversation to debate or to hold the fort on any position. I am willing to change, adjust, or even solidify myself in my present position of tentativeness. It is with this in mind that I bring up a few things in response to your wonderful explanation of what Spiritual gifts are.

First, you have labeled nine gifts as the controversial ones. Obviously you have included word of wisdom, word of knowledge, faith, and discernment to the list. We may have to talk about those in the future, as some would say they are not among the controversial “supernatural” gifts. I don’t really know what these gifts are, so it is hard for me to have a position, yay or nay, on the matter.

The main thing that stood out in your definition of the gifts was that you said that we should not expect these gifts to be as effective as they were through the Apostles. Therefore, when people object to the gifts by comparing the types of events we experience today with the type of events recorded in the New Testament, you argue that we have brought an unfair assumption to the table. You said, “Who would claim to be as effective a teacher as Paul? . . . It is hard to think of anything we today do as well as Jesus or the Apostles, but that shouldn’t lead to an abandonment . . .” I have two problems with this.

First, if it is the same Spirit working through us and the Apostles, why shouldn’t we think we can be as effective as them? That may sound blasphemous to some, but isn’t my question just a rephrasing of your argument: that these gifts are God working through us, not us with a little God on the side? If the gift of prophecy is a manifestation of the Spirit, isn’t it a bit of (to use your deism reference) quasi-deism to say that it is not going to be as effective? Paul’s humanity was no more powerful than ours. I think Paul and all the Apostles would agree that they were nothing special apart from God’s power in them. They were but undeserving sinners.  If they had to set themselves aside to fully utilize the gifts (as I talked about with myself and teaching above), isn’t it only the power of the Spirit working through them? Isn’t this the same Spirit we have access to? If so, why wouldn’t we think God’s Spirit would be as effective in us as them?

Second, didn’t Christ say that we will do greater things than him? (John 14:12). I have heard Charismatics use this verse quite often in defense of the continued presence of these nine gifts, yet your argument seems to suggest that we cannot expect to have even an equal allotment of the Spirit in our lives, much less a greater one.

Because of this, when we get to talking about the viability of modern-day manifestations of God’s presence through these gifts, I am going to find it hard to settle for less powerful, less evident, or less accurate manifestations. I would think that the biblical examples are the standard that these gifts must live up to, since it is the same Spirit, working through the same type of people (e.g., fallen and sinful). Call me a doubting Thomas, but I am going to have a hard time being convinced that the types of things I see today are from the same Spirit that worked through the Apostles. I want to see the dead raised, not lower back pain healed. I want to see paralyzed people walk, not small lumps disappear.

Again, I just want to reiterate how much I appreciate you taking the time to discuss this with me. But most of all, I want to let you know how much I look up to you as a mentor. While we may, at present, have differences about how we view this important issue, it becomes transparent as I see the character that God has wrought in you. (Plus, I was just looking for a place to use the word “wrought.” It makes this all sound more biblical).Similar Posts:

• Why I Am/Not Charismatic: What Are Spiritual Gifts? – Sam Storms
• Why I Am/Not Charismatic: What Does it Mean to Be Charismatic? Response – C Michael Patton
• Why I Am/Not Charismatic: Why I Believe the Gifts Have Continued Response – C Michael Patton
• Why I Am/Not Charismatic: What Are Spiritual Gifts? – C Michael Patton
• Why I Am/Not Charismatic: What Does it Mean to Be Charismatic? – C Michael Patton

It might help to provide you a list of what the Credo House Fellow will do.

Teaching and Events

The Fellow will be responsible for all theological and biblical education which happens at his Credo House. This would include his regular teaching but also include scheduling of seminars, special events (like open houses), and scholars appearing as special guest teachers, seminars, special events (like open houses), as well as approval of regular bible studies, book studies, etc. He would also give tours of the Credo House and make a Luther Latte from time to time!

Local Church/Ministry Networking

As well, he would be in charge of networking with local churches and providing pastors with fellowships and continuing education. In this, he would be heavily involved with local church leadership, facilitating church colloquies for those intent on reaching their community with the Gospel. While discussions are ongoing right now about exactly what this looks like, our desire is for local churches to have “ownership” in the Credo House; therefore, we hope to have church liaisons who form a local Credo House board and aid the Fellow in the ministry and direction of the local Credo Houses.

For Credo Houses planted in college towns, networking responsibilities will also include making the Credo House known and available to college ministries such as Young Life, Campus Crusade for Christ, Baptist Student Union, etc.

Contributing to the Fellowship

The designation of “Fellow” represents not only the local leader’s status at his Credo House, but his relationship among other Credo House fellows. We will have a Fellowship of Fellows whose work is representative of the larger Credo House Network, which together contributes to scholarship intent on reaching our communities with the truth of Jesus Christ. Involved in this will be contributions to the main Credo House Ministries site, providing articles, blogs, and podcasts, as well as contributions to the Credo House Magazine (more someday!), etc. We will hold an annual meeting of Credo House Fellows (and “Associate Fellows” – more below) where we will fellowship, pray together, hug, and discuss relevant topics of theology. These meeting will rotate yearly from town to town with Credo House representation.

Expansion of the Fellowship

Certain Credo Houses will serve as training grounds for future Fellows. While in training, they will be called “Associate Fellows.” Not only will their theology, passion, and teaching be under the watchful shaping eye of the Fellow but, just as important, their attitude and disposition in dealing with controversial theological issues will be studied as well. Once the Associate Fellow has successfully finished his “residency,” he will be a prime candidate to become a Fellow at the next Credo House.

Fundraising

Finally, the Fellow would be responsible for raising awareness of his local Credo House’s financial support needs. This amounts to fundraising for the continued sustainability of the local Credo Houses. While we expect the Coffee, books, and (fun) merchandise to provide support for the Monks (and under-monks!) as well as the building, lights, and store, every Credo House will be under the umbrella of Credo House Ministries’ 501(c)3 not-for-profit status (FYI: while we understand the strength of this idea, we have no desire to turn this into a for-profit business or franchise this idea – too many problems to speak of for our ministry vision). Therefore, funding for all the local events, well-being of the Fellow, as well as the planting of future Credo Houses will need to be raised. Fundraising will often be as simple as letting people know after a lesson or special event that the Credo House needs support to exist. But it will also include special “Getting to Know Your Credo House” events and lunches with interested parties.

Who is the Next Fellow?

My desire is that many of the first ten to twenty Fellows will be among those who are already well known in the Evangelical community, have written extensively, and/or are already established because of their scholarship and grace. I have some in mind, but I ain’t tellin’ you now!

The qualifications of a Fellow:

1. Evangelical in confession: contrary to what some may believe, this will not be an issue of Reformed/Arminian, Dispensational/Covenant, Cessationist/Continuationist, Young Earth/Old Earth, etc. In fact, the more diversity we can get in these areas, the more I feel we will represent our evangelistic mission of majoring in the majors. The person and work of Jesus Christ, salvation by faith alone, and the final authority of the Scriptures will be nonnegotiable.

2. ThM or better from a qualified seminary: I realize there are a lot of people who don’t have their Th.M. who might be qualified, but this is going to be a standard.

3. Well-established and highly regarded for his ability to communicate. It is not simply about how much you know, but how well you communicate it.

4. A passion for truth in the areas of Biblical studies, theology, apologetics, and Christian philosophy. The Fellow does not need to be an expert in ALL of these, just well-grounded and informed and able to keep up and look back at the same time!

5. Pastoral. The Fellow must be patient, understanding, gentle, and have a passion for people (i.e. not just truth), desiring their faith to grow deeper everyday. A Fellow on his knees says so much.

6. Irenic. He cannot have a reputation for misrepresenting or belittling the faith of others, but through his calm, kind, understanding, and informed demeanor, he represents the truth of the Gospel with a peaceable and unflustered spirit. Think 007 of Theology. Okay, maybe that is not the best, but you get the picture. Irenic, not polemic.

7. All of the qualifications outlined in 1 Tim and Titus. Kaboom. That covers a lot.

There you have it: The Credo House Fellow in a nutshell. I may have missed a thing or two, but this is only the second draft to be written down.

I get so excited writing this I can hardly stand it!Similar Posts:

• The Future of the Credo House
• Credo House Fever!
• Want a Credo House in Your Tomorrow? What You Can Do Today
• The Credo House Open for Business
• Credo House Dallas