Home Churches

This is a bit like asking, What is a family? There are no two that are exactly alike. House churches come in all sizes and shapes. A house church can be six people, or it can be forty. It can be made up of young families, grandparents, college students or a collection of everybody.

The essence of what makes a gathering of people a house church is about their vision and commitment to doing life together. A house church is a place for people to know and be known, to love and be loved. It is not a collection of perfect people who have life all figured out. A house church is for those of us who still need to grow, who need a place to ask questions and who need others to help us when we mess things up.

A house church is a place to learn together what it means to follow Christ. It.s a place to study the Scriptures together, to figure out together what it means to love our neighbors and care for the poor. A house church is a group of people that work together on figuring out what it means to carry each other’s burdens, confess sins to one another, and perhaps even share possessions. It’s a place to eat, play and rest.

A lot of people ask How often should house churches meet? Again, there is no formula for this. A house church meeting could just be a set time to study, pray and fellowship, it could be at a cafe or on a college campus. It could be painting someone’s house or watching a movie together. The healthiest communities find a rhythm that incorporates the realities of our complicated lives with the commitment to being true followers of Jesus together. A house church is not utopia, in fact, they tend to be a bit messy. No one has yet figured out how to do it all perfectly. The beauty of a house church is that as we do the journey together, we find the community that we long for, even when it’s not perfect.

So, what is a house church? You tell us. We can’t wait to hear the stories.