House churches are natural, simple, inexpensive, reproducible, relational, and afford interactive meetings where everyone can participate and use their skills and spiritual gifts to benefit others. This kind of environment strongly fosters discipleship and leadership development. No one falls through the cracks. It is no wonder then that New Testament believers, the early church of the first three centuries, subsequent renewal/reform/revival movements, and the most rapidly growing church planting efforts around the globe today utilize house-sized churches of 10-30 people.
WHAT ARE HOUSE CHURCHES AND HOW ARE THEY DIFFERENT?
Traditional Churches Conventional churches can be pictured as cathedral churches where the home prayer or Bible study group is merely an optional appendage. These home groups usually involve only people who are members of the mother congregation and are not outreach focused. There are usually a few of these small groups floating around, but they are not the main program offered by the congregation. The main thing is the large group Sunday morning service. This is like a bicycle wheel hub (Sunday morning large group) with the odd spoke (home group) protruding out. It can be described as a church WITH small groups.
CELL-GROUP CHURCHES
Although there is much in common between them, a house church is not even a cell group, which belongs to a pyramid structure with a senior minister at the top. In cell churches, there is an equal emphasis on home cell group meetings and traditional Sunday morning worship services in a building. This can be pictured as a hub with many spokes jutting outward from it. This arrangement can be described as a church OF small groups.
NEW TESTAMENT-STYLE HOUSE CHURCHES
This clustering of people is different from both traditional congregations and cell-group churches dotting our Western landscape. House churches are an attempt to get back to the basics of apostolic churches. Stated positively, each house church is a fully functioning church in itself, with the freedom to partake of the Lord's Supper as a full-meal, baptize new believers, marry, bury, exercise discipline, and chart its own course. Usually, each house church has between 10 and 30 people involved. Consequently, house churches can be explained using the principle that church IS small groups. No buildings, one-man leadership, expensive programs, or highly polished services are required. They are typically characterized by the following:
- Open meetings where everyone can participate (1 Cor 14:26, Eph 5:19, Col 3:16, Heb 10:25).
- Meet primarily in homes (Acts 16:14-15, 29-34, 20:20; Rom 16:3-5; 1 Cor 16:19; Col 4:15-16; Philem 1:2)
- Networks of house churches (Acts 8:1, 9:31, 11:26, 20:17-20; 1 Cor 1:2; 2 Cor 1:1; 1 Thess 1:1; 2 Thess 1:1)
- Local house churches led by unpaid leaders (Acts 14:23, 20:17,28-30; Titus 1:5-9; James 5:14, 1 Pet 5:1-3)
- Traveling apostolic leaders who are financially supported when needed (Luke 10:1-11; 1 Cor 9:1-5)
HOUSE CHURCH NETWORKS
House churches should become part of citywide or regional networks for health, stability, growth, leadership training, and accountability, like a spider web of interlocking strands. We, therefore, advocate tightly working house church networks rather than stand alone, isolated, independent groups. The network functions this way: monthly house church leaders/elders meetings, occasional large group events, and circuit riders that flow from house church to house church.
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