Let Go Of The Ring: The Hope Chapel Story by Ralph Moore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I had never heard of Hope Chapel before reading this book; now, I don't believe I'll ever forget about Hope Chapel, or, more accurately, the hundreds of Hope Chapels that have been planted across the US (big in Hawaii) and internationally. It was fascinating to read how has God used Ralph Moore & his wife & family-beginning with a small, struggling church started in the wake of the California Jesus Movement--to begin a movement of disciples & church leaders/planters that literally spans the globe. So interesting to see how their idea of "Minichurches" was so key to the identifying & training of leaders who then often became church planters for new works in new areas. Basically these minichurches were house churches within the Hope Chapel churches--training grounds in the midst of real body life taking place in a larger congregation.

A great image--"letting go of the ring" (of power/control)--for capturing the empowering of the members of each fellowship for the work of ministry/outreach/growth that took churches from addition to multiplication. A great countercultural trend against the megachurch--where "the bigger the better" and we will "build it and they will come" (to our multi-million dollar facility), with parking for a sports stadium. So healthy; so impactful. What "church growth" should really be all about. Disciples making disciples and grouping/growing together--for the purpose of being a transformation that has transforming impact on the communities & cultures around us.

Ralph Moore now works with https://exponential.org/ which has a lot of good resources. I really liked the fact that Moore--whose significant church planting work was done with the Foursquare Church denomination--never made it about Foursquare and never sought to especially highlight any kind of Pentecostal theology/theological tenets. He kept things focused on The Bible--and on ordinary, saved people. Bought the ebook cheap; read on my iPad.


View all my reviews