render_component alternatives

I am not sure if I am the only one, but I really like the idea of render_component. Too bad it is depricated now. Currently I am using components so that I can have custom view functions with their own rhtml files in one folder. That way, I can and drop that folder into any of my projects and I have that component instantly available. Is there a better way of doing this?

For example,

how about a helper?

app/views/shared/_foobar.rhtml