Interview with Bill Ellis

Bill Ellis is the lead pastor of Riverside Community Church. His church meets in two locations near Pittsburgh.
A year after his church plant his church went from 30 to 31. He learned much in trial and error. In his christian life, he has always felt like an outside looking in. He therefore connects well with the outsiders. In his ministry, he has learned to be the man God made him to be not try to fit someone else's model. His church and his people are intentionally welcoming to people.
He believes that everyone needs to get "saved." Everyone both the Christians and non-belivers need to get more of Jesus. I firmly believe this. Even the professor of this class seems, at times, to be part of the evangelism-only mentality. Once someone has raised their hand and said the prayer they are not done, they are still a sinner in need of salvation, they are redeemed now. I agree with him greatly. The church is for both evangelism and discipleship.
He spoke on the difference between the kingdom and an empire. He spoke of the new revolutionary church that is rising up. Many are afraid of these changes calling it the fall of the church, but it is simply the next wave of the church. Being part of this new wave, I agree that we are not part of the downfall of the church, we are the new church.
Everything in his church is based on small-groups. Everything from the baseball team to the board are small groups. The church's expectation is both to have people there on Sunday and be involved in a small group.
The church must be more active in the world of politics in terms of things that Jesus cared about. He does not promote the republican Jesus. He says that the church has a responsibility to help the poor and the widows and the weak. The church must set the captives free and lift up the downtrodden. He said that Christians should care about Darfur, and AIDS, and things of that nature.
On the one year aniversary of the Katrina tragedy, there was a news report about how many displaced people have gone to Houston. The largest church in Houston is Joel Olstein's. Joel Olstein, on this day, preached on how we should lose 5 pounds and get to the ideal weight that God wants us to be. He was showing how the church of America is focused on themselves, especially the big popular churches. I despise Joel Olstein's Bible-less, self-help preaching.