And why they are appealing to more and more believers
Elmer Towns, Ed Stetzer, and Warren Bird
Why do individuals leave the institutional church to join smaller house churches? What brings them to seek the face-to-face community of a Koinos church? Usually they do so in a desire to experience closer fellowship with other believers. Some have left the large megachurch or the urban downtown church; others have left the average neighborhood church. But one of the main reasons they leave is because ...
People are choosing to gather outside of the traditional church setting, and they're creating community in their homes.
Lyle Schaller
Back in the 1960s, when I first became acquainted with Christian communities that gathered at least once a week in a private home to worship God, most of them were found in the inner city. A relatively small proportion were located in rural communities, and most of those (apart from the African-American congregations) could be classified as sectarian. The vast majority of house churches in the larger ...
Why are cells replacing, not just augmenting many congregations?
Jeff Patton
I hear it everywhere. I read it in almost every church publication I see. "Denominations are declining" … "Denominational officials are worried". … "Worship attendance in established mainline congregations is dropping" … "and what are all those 'small groups' which are forming around us?" A Worship leader in Alabama explained it in a song. He wrote, "our castles reached to the ...
Showing hospitality in your home is one of the most strategic ministries you can have.
Dan Lentz
"This letter is to you and to the church that meets in your home." (Philemon 2)
Like most things, church history shows that some things tend to cycle. Bill Easum and Bill Tenny-Brittian have noted in their upcoming book, Under the Radar: Expression of the American Emerging Church:
"Before Constantine's proclamation in 312 A.D., there is no evidence that the church had a single building. According to ...
When you hear the word 'church,' what comes to mind? Due to the twistings and turnings of 1700 years of history, we usually picture a building in which people gather on a Sunday morning to hear a message from a clergyman or partake of a ritual. This is sometimes referred to as 'cathedral' church. It may come as a shock that Christian gatherings in the first century looked very different and that tens ...
Five ideas to keep in mind when you're planting something new
Larry Kreider and Floyd McClung
House churches are not organizations that require people with administrative skills or immense giftedness to coordinate and direct a group—they simply call for ordinary people who are in love with Jesus. Neil Cole, in Cultivating a Life for God, believes that simplicity is the key to fulfilling the Great Commission. He says, "The more complex the process, the greater the giftedness needed to ...
Here are several pitfalls that you'll want to avoid.
Larry Kreider and Floyd McClung
We are advocates of houses churches. We are completely convinced that God will lead thousands of people to start new house churches within the next few years. But that could be good, or it could be a disaster.
House church is not a panacea for all that ails the institutional Church, nor should it be an end in itself. Like any church, house churches can get off track—every church is made up of ...
Helpful advice from experienced leaders in the simple-church movement
Neil Cole, Bill Tenney-Brittian, Lee Dean, and others
When done right, house churches are a low-cost, high-impact way to spread the Gospel through authentic Christian communities. The problem is that they are often done wrong, and the majority of American house churches do not remain in existence for more than a year.
This training resource is designed to help those who want to learn more about house church as a viable option for ministry. The articles ...
What are we actually afraid of, and what can be done about it?
Neil Cole
When teaching about the organic church, a question I am asked more than any other is how we handle the threat of heresy. The common understanding is something like this: if we rely upon uneducated leaders and teachers, won't we allow heresy to run rampant in our churches? Of course this is a risk, but I believe there are simple ways to lower the risk of such an infection.
Have churches and small groups replaced the incomparable Christ with something safer and smaller?
Interview with Frank Viola
Frank Viola is a bestselling author and international conference speaker. He has authored numerous books, including From Eternity to Here and Reimagining Church. SmallGroups.com spoke to Frank regarding his newest book, The Jesus Manifesto, co-authored with Leonard Sweet.
SmallGroups.com: In a nutshell, what is the message of The Jesus Manifesto?
Frank Viola: I think the message of the book can be summarized ...
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