Models of Boiler Room Communities

There are various expressions of Boiler Room community and all three models are recognised by 24-7 as equally legitimate according to context. The choice of model fundamentally affects important organisational issues such as the way in which the Boiler Room is funded, the way its leaders are appointed, supported and held accountable and the level of ongoing connection with 24-7.

·    A ‘renewal’ model.  24-7 is often deployed as a catalyst for prayerful ‘renewal’ in denominations and organisations. Whenever such established bodies take on the model of Boiler Rooms we recognise that they become the ‘primary carer’ for the new community e.g. the newly opened Salvation Army Boiler Room in Wandsworth, London.
·    A ‘citywide’ model.  These are Boiler Rooms established across a town or city and ‘owned’ by various churches rather than a single one. In these situations, cross-church unity is used as an effective tool to galvanise support for prayer, mission and justice through a Boiler Room.  Generally these Boiler Rooms are born out of a number of previous citywide 24-7prayer weeks. Citywide Boiler Rooms report to a committee representing local churches and they are accountable to them.  The primary motivation of such Citywide Boiler Rooms is missional rather than ecumenical. We regard Christian unity as a vital and blessed bi-product of prayerful mission. We also note that the reverse is very rarely true. E.g. Reading Boiler Room and West London Boiler Room.
·    A Boiler Room ‘Plant’. In some circumstances a Boiler Room is used as a church-planting mission model in cultures and contexts where the gospel is not being heard. In these situations 24-7 may partner with a church or group working on the ground e.g. Tommy Nauman in the Balkans, Metro All Nations in Kansas City. These could also be projects that develop from ongoing mission teams e.g. the Heasleys working in Ibiza.

24-7 Communities

Sustained prayer often galvanises fresh vision and deep friendships. As a result, in some scenarios, 24-7 prayer rooms have evolved into ongoing expressions of community, gathered around the broader 24-7 vision and values.   Similarly, in certain pioneering missionary situations, teams may deliberately establish small 24-7 communities, perhaps with a vision to grow the team eventually into a Boiler Room.  We would want to be open and supportive towards such models, recognising that in many ways these groups are similar to, and may indeed develop into Boiler Rooms.  However, at this formative stage, somewhere between a one-off prayer room and a licensed Boiler Room, we will refer to these ‘in-between’ groups as 24-7 Communities. These communities seek to pursue the purposes and principles outlined in this paper, even if they cannot (yet) realistically pursue all six of the activities according to the requirements of the Customary for a licensed Boiler Room.

19 Apr 2005