Before we can debate buildings, budgets, or strategy, it’s probably important that we address a simpler question: what did Jesus and the apostles actually mean by “the church”? The New Testament presents the church not as a place but as a gathered people—living, mobile, and shaped to meet the needs of the world they were sent to. In this episode of The Postscript, we step into first-century Christianity to explore how believers met, why homes were so common, what their gatherings focused on, and which patterns were the result of circumstance and which were the result of biblical commands. The goal isn’t to copy the early church mechanically, but to understand the principles that free churches today to adapt faithfully—so that our spaces serve the mission instead of defining it.

Our guest today is Pastor Dan Reneau, faculty professor of Biblical Studies at the Living Faith Bible Institute. Dan has served on the front lines of church planting and now finds himself helping support and a new work in St. Louis, giving him both the perspective of a planter and the responsibility of helping church planters. Because of that experience, the question of meeting spaces is personal to how he understands the church's mission.

Visit http://lfbi.org/learnmore

Church planting involves people, prayer, and the teaching of God’s word—but sooner or later—every church planter runs headlong into a very practical question: where do we actually gather? In a city like London, that question isn’t a footnote—it’s a weekly dilemma. Do you invite strangers into your home, or relegate meetings to public spaces until trust is built? When does a Bible study become a church family, and what kind of space helps that happen? And what do you do when historic church buildings are closing, but you’ve been priced out? Today’s conversation is about that tension: staying faithful to evangelism and discipleship while navigating a city where “space” is scarce, expensive, but important.

Our guest is Brian Clark, an experienced church planter who previously planted a church in London in the Chislehurst area—and by God’s grace, that work is now healthy and autonomous. Brian and his family are now stepping out to plant a second church, but even with experience and a deep knowledge of the city, he’s facing fresh uncertainties: how to build fellowship, how to move from street evangelism to intimate community, and how to think creatively about meeting spaces when traditional options feel out of reach.

Visit https://lfbi.org/learnmore