Licensing and Commissioning

Leaders of prayer communities inspired in some way by the principles and practices in this document may sometimes decide that they do not wish their project to become a 24-7 Boiler Room.  We recognise that this may be part of the process and would want to affirm that choice, recognising that all Christian prayer is good, regardless of it’s model. However, we would encourage such groups to establish external frameworks for input and accountability, even if it is not with 24-7.  

Wherever there is a long term vision to establish a 24-7 Boiler Room, we work with others assess the viability and compatibility of the situation and to suggest a development strategy towards that goal.  Once a situation is considered eligible for a license according to the criteria outlined in this document it will then:

o    Be launched locally with representatives of the appropriate national and the International 24-7 Bases attending to help commission the team and it’s Abbot/Abbess.
o    Be licensed as a Boiler Room by 24-7 in the form of a written agreement that will be reviewed annually.
o    Be profiled internationally as an official 24-7 Boiler Room.
o    Be given ongoing support from the Boiler Room team.
o    Be encouraged to contribute a pre-agreed amount financially to 24-7 and to share its resources with the wider Boiler Room Network.
o    Be invited to send its leaders to 24-7’s annual International Leaders Gathering. 

Is a Boiler Room a church?

Many people ask whether a Boiler Room is a church.  The answer to this question is very much dependant on your ecclesiology. All Boiler Rooms are communities committed to prayer, mission and justice. As such they may be considered churches in the sense of ‘ekklēsia’ (ek – ‘out of’, klēsis – ‘calling’), which is the predominant New Testament word for church, and simply describes a purposeful assembly of Christians.  However the traditional understanding of the word church tends to add a great deal to this simple definition. 

24-7 is a mission and justice movement that prays a lot and expresses this in many denominational and geographical contexts. It’s often not possible (or necessary) to clarify what various parties understand the word ‘church’ to mean. To describe a Boiler Room as a church would therefore, in many situations,  be misleading or confusing for some situations. Instead we will continue to use the term Boiler Room for these communities. It should also be noted that a 24-7 Boiler Room is a generic term that we would use for these communities.  In their own localities many Boiler Rooms will call themselves different names, often dependant on their culture (e.g. Re:aktor in Sweden, Urban Monastery in Canada).
 
 

19 Apr 2005