What is RON – Restoration Organic Network?

Restoration Organic Network (RON) is an international network of Christians and ministries dedicated to restoring our churches and our faith to the beliefs and organic practices of the original Church established by Jesus and his Apostles.

A church with the following distinctives we call a RON Church. Not only are we planting RON Churches but we are happy to serve the Body of Christ by helping Institutional Churches transition into RON Churches:

RESTORATION

Our first name, Restoration, reflects our mission: to return to the faith of Jesus and his Apostles. Over the past 2,000 years, Christianity has gone through countless changes—so much so that most believers today wouldn’t recognize its original form. Paul urged believers to “contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people” (Jude 3). Now, two millennia later, we must first rediscover that faith to return to it, contend for it, and restore it to its rightful place in our lives and in our churches.

Many of us—especially Protestants and Evangelicals—believe we are defenders of biblical Christianity because we base our beliefs on the Bible. But what we often fail to see is that we’re working with interpretations of Scripture, shaped by human traditions that go back even before the Bible was compiled in the 4th Century. It’s easy to assume our understanding matches what Jesus and his Apostles originally meant—especially if we’ve only ever been taught one perspective.

If we truly want to restore Christianity to what Jesus and his Apostles taught and practiced, we must be willing to examine and question everything—both what we’ve been taught and what we assume to be true. We must distinguish between human traditions and the original message of Christ.

This is a lifelong journey, not a destination. We should never assume we have fully arrived.

Many of us have moved beyond the traditions we have been taught and believed in one or more broad areas of biblical understanding, but still ascribe to human tradition – without even knowing it. RON, both online and in person, serves to bring people together to learn from each other about the areas of biblical understanding that are begging for scrutiny and a rethink.

Here’s an example of how I see that working in the Body of Christ: one person may have gotten past Trinitarianism in his Christology but still holds to Futurism in his or her Eschatology, who might engage with someone who ascribes to Preterism in his Eschatology, yet is still stuck behind the doors of an Institutional Church, not knowing any other way to “do church”. When these three get together, they can teach and encourage one another towards restoration of the “ology” that the Holy Spirit has led them to. My desire for RON is to facilitate this process.

This requires many things that seem to be in short supply in the Body of Christ: hard work in research, dialogue, and humility. We need mature Christians who can shepherd the flock toward the goal of Christlikeness. 

If you are a pastor in an Institutional Church, you might already be doing this. Your wisdom and experience is needed and welcome in our Organic Church environment.

Just know – the pay is downright lousy. Or even non-existent. In fact, you might find yourself sacrificing in ways you never would have done in the past, including financially.

As for me and my theological journey of Restoration during the last forty-seven years, the Holy Spirit has led me through numerous major paradigm shifts, sometimes due to major influence of others, at other times due to my own questions and research. In chronological order:

Christology: Trinitarianism > Unitarianism

Eschatology: Futurism > Preterism

Ecclesiology: Institutional Church > Organic Church

Bibliology: Biblical Inerrancy (Verbal Plenary Inspiration) > Inspiration with Mystery

Soteriology: Salvation by Faith > Solus Bonitas – Salvation by Goodness Alone

Since “Organic” is the only one of these “ologies” that is in our name RON, this reflects that we start with a common Ecclesiology known as Organic Church, and then seek unity on the other “ologies”, in time, as we are willing and able, by the grace of God. The next section, ORGANIC, goes into that in more detail.

Our middle name is Organic. We are an international network of Christians and ministries recognizing that the church Jesus and his Apostles planted as an expression of the Christian “faith that was once and for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3) was organic, not institutional.

 

Structure and Leadership

Organic Church:

  • Non-hierarchical and participatory.

  • Leadership is shared or rotates informally.

  • Emphasizes the priesthood of all believers—everyone contributes according to spiritual gifts.

Institutional Church:

  • Hierarchical and centralized.

  • Leadership is typically vested in pastors, elders, or clergy.

  • Congregants primarily receive teaching and direction from the leadership.

Gathering Style and Environment

Organic Church:

  • Meets in homes or informal settings.

  • Focus is on relationships, mutual edification, and discussion.

  • Worship is spontaneous, interactive, and Spirit-led.

Institutional Church:

  • Meets in dedicated buildings (churches).

  • Structured services with sermons, liturgy, and programmed worship.

  • The environment is often performance- or lecture-based.

Mission and Daily Life

Organic Church:

  • Mission is integrated into daily life.

  • Evangelism and discipleship happen naturally through community.

  • The church exists wherever believers are living out Christ together.

Institutional Church:

  • Mission is often program-driven.

  • Outreach is typically organized through events or ministries.

  • The church is usually seen as the Sunday gathering or building.

Our last name, Network, means we are not a denomination or an institution, though we may look like that at times. We are a network of like-minded Christians and ministries with the same purpose to restore an authentic biblical faith. We cross denominational barriers and serve where we can and allow others to serve us.

The word Network implies networking, and that implies communication and dialogue, something that is in short supply in the modern church. Rather than shun others because of our differences we would rather invite them to “let’s talk about that” so we can learn from each other.

We also work together with those who are willing and able rather than think we can do it all ourselves.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is RON just another denomination?

No, it’s not, but it will have similarities to a denomination. The word “denomination” means “a grouping having things in common.” Denominations have things in common by forcing uniformity as an institution, while we get there naturally, as in, organically, much like a big family.

What's the story behind creating RON?

Patrick Shilo was a part of an organic expression I was involved in. He did jail ministry in Kenya under the name Hope Project Africa. Many of the inmates in his ministry were starting churches when they got out of jail. Patrick invited me to help establish a foundation of biblical understanding for those churches.

After sharing my vision for Organic Church with them and a number of churches and student groups I was encouraged by how well the message resonated with Africans. They recognized that Western ways of doing church, imported by missionaries from America and Great Brittain, in their culture, left a lot to be desired.

Wanting to make use of modern technology to keep in touch with them and for the many ministers and others to keep in touch with each other I created a Whatsapp group called Restoration Organic Church. Patrick started calling the churches he was planting RON churches and the name stuck.