How to Start a House Church

Articles

Home > Articles > 2008 > How to Start a House Church

Five ideas to keep in mind when you're planting something new

Larry Kreider and Floyd McClung | posted 11/03/2008

Topics:	Connecting, Fellowship, House churches, Launching, Starting groups
Filters:	Apprentice, Group Leader, House churches, New leader, Start
Purpose:	Discipleship
References:	Acts 2:42-47
Date Added:	November 03, 2008

2 of 3

But we were not starting something new for the sake of starting something new! Since we had a mandate from the Lord to reach new believers, we asked inquiring Christians not to come to our meetings. Having too many older Christians in the group would make the pre-Christians feel uncomfortable.

Jim Petersen, in his book Church Without Walls, clearly describes what can happen if a "migratory flock from neighboring churches" invades a new church simply because they are curious:

I have a friend who was a part of a team that set out to start a church. The congregation was divided into house churches, each of which was assigned an elder who helped shepherd the members of that house church. Centralized activities were kept at a minimum for the sake of keeping people free to minister to their families and unbelieving friends.

The weekly meetings were dynamic. I will never forget the first one I visited. People of all sorts were there, from men in business suits to ponytails. Many were new believers. The Bible teaching was down to earth, aimed at people's needs. I loved it.

So did most everyone else who visited. The word got around and soon the migratory flock from neighboring churches came pouring in. Their needs consumed the energies of the leaders of this young church. Their wants gradually set the agenda. The inertia of the traditions of these migrants engulfed this very creative effort and shaped it accordingly.

So what's the problem, we ask? The problem is that the vision that original team had for taking the church into society through the efforts of every believer was frustrated.

My wife and I knew that the vision the Lord had given to us to reach a new generation had to be safeguarded in the early days of our new micro-church network, and the young leaders of our network wisely set clear perimeters. They asked God to bring pre-Christians, new believers, and laborers—and the Lord honored their request.

The Size of the House Church Matters

Quite soon, my wife and I had a second problem in our home-based micro-church. The pre-Christians attending invited their friends, and within 6 months of starting, we had 50 people in our living room on a given night. It was way too large!

It is wise to keep the number of people to between 6 and 12. From my experience, groups less than 6 strong tend to dwindle and be lackluster because of the decreased number of relationships and interactions possible. However, groups over 12 tend to lose intimacy and every-member participation. It is perhaps not surprising, then, that rapid church planting movements today reproduce small house churches numbering between 10 and 30 people.

Frequency of Meeting

House churches should meet at least once a week to maintain a sense of connectedness. Again, though, we must emphasize the importance of flexibility. Some micro-churches meet at the same location every week, while others move the meeting place by rotating turns in members' houses. Some groups meet more frequently, others less often. Some house churches meet during the week, others on weekends.

next page … |

2 of 3

USER REVIEWS

Average User Rating:

Displaying 1-3 of 18

See all

November 20, 2008 10:03 AM

Kelly Steffen (Registered User)

Great starter article. More people who love the church and who love unreached people need to grab hold of this philosophy in their neighborhoods. There is no need to fracture what local churches are doing in the area but neither are we called to sit back and watch our unsaved neighbors perish. How about a neighborhood partnership with local churches. One exciting story I heard of, was a family who (with permission of their local church) began a house church Sunday mornings to gather their neighborhood who were sitting at home every Sunday morning. They made some fresh pancakes, invited their neighbors over and began a study of the Bible and prayed for their neighbors concerns (no strings attached). Within six months, they were discipling their neighbors and had a house church! Praise God for this article- now let's read the book.

November 06, 2008 8:37 AM

Mark

I appreciate and agree with both Mario and John. I was inspired by the vision this article provided. Perhaps it is an issue of semantics. What is the difference between a small group Bible study and a house church as described in this article? There is no mention of financial support or non-profit tax status. As a pastor of an "ic", I would be thrilled if the members of this church would open up their homes to pre-Christians for fellowship and ministry. I will begin praying that the Lord would show me how to do the same.

December 11, 2008 10:15 PM

Cheryl