I’ve spent a number of years doing “house church.” (I put this in quotes because we’ve also done church in a diner or at the park, etc. It’s not really about the place, and that’s part of the point.) Talking about house church, sometimes we use descriptions like simple church, organic church, micro church or a number of other terms depending on the cultural context. It’s a simple gathering of people learning to follow Jesus, support one another, and impact their community. There are a variety of reasons why someone begins to look into starting a house church. For many people, they recognize this approach in the bible, and yes, there is overwhelming evidence that the earliest Christians met together this way. Of course, sometimes the initial motive is due to a conflict at their old church. If that’s the case, while God might still be prompting you to plant a house church, first I would suggest making your best effort to reconcile and certainly forgive people at the church you left without causing division or more conflict. How we start is at least as important as what we start.
If you are planting a house church because you believe it is an effective approach for reaching others while also experiencing church as a family-like community, you are sharing the experience of literally millions of believers throughout the world. Disciple making movements or church planting movements often take place as house church movements once simple expressions of church begin to multiply organically.
How do you begin a house church? There are different strategies to consider. You might gather a few other believers as a core group to begin. If you take this approach, I suggest not making the team too large. If it starts as a large group of existing believers, it might lose the urgency to add members through outreach. Another way to begin is to open your own home, to practice hospitality, and invite others into conversations about Jesus around the table or in a living room. Another way to begin is to seek out a person who is receptive to the message about Jesus and who also may gather their own community of friends & family to learn alongside them. This is a grassroots approach often utilized by missionaries.
What do you do in house church? Well, it depends on the group as far as the details. However, you really want to base it in the bible (Acts 2:42-47; Hebrews 10:24-25). Sharing food together, praying, learning God’s word & seeking to imitate the teachings of Jesus, encouraging one another, and reaching out. Also, as people come to believe in Jesus, baptize them in water as new followers of Jesus. Share the Lord’s Supper together (1 Cor. 11:23-25), and develop worship that reflects the culture(s) and heart of your community.
We find that the experience of house church is most empowering and fruitful when everyone is able to get involved in some way. Many groups start with a discovery bible study. That is, an inductive bible discussion where the facilitator asks open ended questions as everyone engages the scripture and asks how it might lead them to obey God’s word — both as individuals and as a shared community.
One important thing to remember is to keep the gathering as simple as possible. That way, what others experience in the group represents a gathering that they could also reproduce. When a house church multiplies and plants a new house church from the first one, you have the beginnings of a house church network.
If you are exploring how to start a house church, we want to encourage you, and we hope we can help! Global City Mission will faciliate a community of practice to learn together in select cities, but you can start right now wherever you are through Disciple Maker Launchpad online. There are a series of short videos offering guidance on initiating evangelistic friendships, starting discovery groups, and reproducing your ministry in others. Launchpad begins with training modules on healthy, conversational evangelism. Then, it presents strategies for starting and facilitating discovery groups, which often represent the early stages of a house church. If you begin walking through Disciple Maker Launchpad online and begin a new discovery group or house church, we would love to hear from you! And we hope to continue to help as you move forward.
Learn more about Global City Mission at: www.globalcitymission.org/about.
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