The following is taken from The Global House Church Movement by Rad Zdero. If you're curious about house church and would like to learn more, but not sure where to begin, this book would be a good place to start your journey.The Top 10 reasons for starting house churches...
1. Biblical – This was the normative New Testament pattern established by Jesus and the apostles and perpetuated by the early church of the first three centuries and in subsequent renewal, reform and revival movements throughout history. (Acts 2:46, 5:42, 20:20)
2. Exponential - To reach a growing world, we need to multiply, not just add. Current house church movements worldwide are outstripping more traditional church planting and church growth efforts.
3. Effective – The most effective method of evangelism is not growing existing churches, but planting new ones. House churches are the most easily reproducible form of church, and hence, are the most obvious choice for church planting.
4. Natural – House churches become part of the local community and easily tap into relationship connections, thereby more readily taking on an indigenous flavour.
5. People-Focused – They focus on relationships and the development of people spiritually, not on executing programs or projects.
6. Efficient – They are more mobile, flexible, and adaptable than conventional churches, especially in areas characterized by persecution and poverty.
7. Equal Opportunity – Because of their small, intimate and participatory nature, all believers have the opportunity to exercise their spiritual gifts during church meetings, and not just professional clergy or key leaders.
8. Unbounded – They are not limited by church buildings. Whatever use buildings may or may not have, history shows that they are not necessary for rapid church planting movements to start; in fact, they may be a hindrance. Although church buildings are not evil by any means, nor are homes in any way magical, the practical release of time, energy and money away from building maintenance, and into evangelism and discipleship, should cause us to rethink current practices.
9. Inexpensive – They are less expensive than traditional church, because no expensive buildings, programs, or professional clergy are required.
10. Immediate – It can start now, right in your living room. There is no need to wait for a gym to be rented or for a building program to be completed to begin a new church or for a full-time pastor to be hired.
Special thanks to Edgenet.org for reminding us of this list from the book.
9 comments:
Guy:
How have you tackled the issue of elders and the house church? Who appoints them? Is this part of the reproductive plan?
Mike,
The way we have approached leadership issues is to stress 1) everyone is a "minister of the Gospel" charged with fulfilling the Great Commission, 2) everyone is a servant.
Leaders naturally arise within the new works being planted. We seek to teach, train, disciple, and mentor these leaders.
We are far from having all the right answers on these important questions, but this is how we understand them to date.
Guy,
Thanks for this post. My wife and I are currently studying and are praying about starting a house church. This expands my list of reasons that I can give people when they ask about why we are thinking about house church. I plan to order this book too.
Harold,
Thanks for the visit and comment. How exciting about starting a house church! Just take it one step at a time relying upon the Holy Spirit to lead, guide and direct. Let us know how things develop and feel free to write us with any questions.
Guy this is my favorite book on house-church. Rad does a really excellent job of laying out the principles and plans without attacking traditional church. I recommend this book to anyone considering house-church.
Strider,
I agree. There are a lot of good house church books out there, but this is one of my personal favorites to share with people just warming up to the idea. He does a good job documenting with Scripture nearly every statement he makes. I like all the footnotes in the book.
I see alot of this material also in Neil Cole and organic church.
But what makes a house church a church and not just a small group?
What then are the marks of a church? Westminister Confession suggests a few: 1) right preaching of the word, 2) administration of the sacraments and 3) church discipline properly administered.
This was a question that I have not yet found an answer to in Cole's material.
Pastor Chris
EvangelismCoach.org
Evangelism Coach,
What then are the marks of a church? This is always a good question. What makes a church a church? Is it the size? Is it because they meet in a building? Is it a church because they have trained professional leaders?
We have long wrestled with these questions ourselves. A while back I posted our own response to this question When is a church a church? Feel free to share any observations with us, and thanks for stopping by!
Somehow the automated comment subsciption didn't work, so i didn't notice the reply.
I'll check the link. Because I hang out with the Presbyterians, we kind of stick within some of the traditional categories of church.
Pastor Chris
EvangelismCoach.org
Post a Comment