House Church Week 1

                Last night was the first night of our new house church.  The nine of us gathered together to pray and discuss what we thought we wanted our house church to look like.  The conversation amongst us was incredible.  We settled potential issues very easily, we discussed difficult theological questions about the church, and we shared and prayed as a group. 

Many people have asked me what a house church is, what it looks like, and what our group will be doing together.  Let me first say that I think 'house church' is a less than ideal term.  We are going to be in a church that meets in an intentionally small group (small enough that it could be in someone’s home) and have chosen to meet most regularly in homes; however, as a group we will also have times when we meet outside in public places.  It seems that by calling it a 'house church' it somehow makes it seem as though it is not a complete church or that it is somehow lacking in validity.  Most churches around the world are less than 20 people.  In fact, China went from 1 million Christians to approximately 100 million through the growth of house church movements.  We believe that all the things a church is supposed to be and do can be accomplished with this small group of people outside a typical church building. 

What our church will look like is a little harder to express.  House churches each have their own feel and methods.  Some are structured in such a way that they feel like 'micro-traditional' (what people think when they think church in North America) churches; having an order of worship and a message.  We have chosen a more organic route.  Each week we will have a guide to move us into prayer collectively, accountability (maybe as a whole group, maybe by gender, maybe in pairs, it’s up to what that person thinks the spirit is leading them into) and some time in God’s word.  There is not a leader in the traditional sense, and we have chosen not to follow a curriculum but to be intentional about sharing what God is saying out of our individual times in communion with the Trinity.

Each week I plan on telling what we did and why.  Many of the things will seem odd at first and not part of what is normally done in church.  I will seek to explain in the best way I can why we did certain things.

This week I plan on blogging about Ward’s service on Sunday.  Scott is in week two of the book of James and I think it will be incredible for our congregation to hear.  Also, I'll have a post about being a leader versus being a servant.  Next Saturday, Reggie McNeal will be at Ward and I am sure a post will come out of that...