Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
A house church is a group of Jesus followers who have decided to meet in homes, parks, businesses, etc. in place of a traditional building in order to be more sensitive to God than the traditions we have built; who wish to divert escalating building expenses and staff salaries for actual ministry and meeting people’s needs; and, those who deeply desire for their faith to be an active part of their everyday, ordinary lives rather than a once-a-week activity.
Absolutely nothing, but we also need not overlook house churches. Houses churches are a biblical model and are “real” churches with numerous advantages. As a result, we need both the traditional model and the house church model. We recognize the house church may not appeal to everyone; however, the house church can be an excellent alternative to reach and disciple new generations who, in the words of Reggie McNeal, are people “leaving the institutional church in order to “preserve their faith” and because they find church-based activities “poor substitutes for genuine spiritual vitality.”
Absolutely not! We believe God uses both the house church and the traditional church to reach various people…and we praise God for the traditional church since that’s where we learned to love God and where we came from. We have simply reached a point where we want more than the traditional church is able to provide for various reasons. Therefore, we believe, in order to deepen our faith and grow our spiritual maturity, we needed to walk away from the brick and mortar church to launch this new journey of faith.
In a word, “Yes.” Through out the New Testament, we can find mentions of churches meeting in homes. For example: Romans 16:15; 1 Corinthians 16:19; Colossians 4:5; Philemon 2 all address churches gathering in homes. In fact, the church met in homes for the first 300 years of its existence, but then began meeting in “church” buildings in 313 AD after Constantine legalized Christianity and built beautiful, ornate structures.
We love them…and they are welcome. Individual churches determine how children are incorporated into the gathering. We believe, however, it is best for children to be apart of the gathering, seeing their parents and other adults worshipping God rather than leading them away to hear a “child’s lesson.”
What’s a “typical” gathering like?
Reading Acts 2:42-47 gives us glimpse into the life of the early church. It shows us their understanding of what they learned from walking with Christ. While not specifically commanded by Christ to serve as a pattern, we have adopted to follow their model. In the early church’s gatherings, they devoted themselves to:
- Reading, studying, and discussing God’s Word.
- Enjoying each other’s company and encouraging one another.
- Sharing meals (including Communion) together.
- Praying for each other and their community to see God’s kingdom advanced.
- Unified in their generosity and sacrificing to meet each other’s needs.
- Culminating in worshipful lives, praising and glorifying God.
Close, but not really.
Ed Stetzer, Executive Director of the Billy Graham Center, Dean of the Wheaton College School of Mission, Ministry, and Leadership, and author, recently wrote, “…every church in the Bible was what we would consider a small group. There were no buildings; they were functionally house churches.”
Church small groups currently provide the closest New Testament glimpse of a biblical church, but that doesn’t mean we must settle for less just so we can claim to be part of a bigger audience. The Bible points out New Testament house churches cared for one another, fed one another, prayed for one another, and served one another…all components of today’s small groups. BUT, the biblical house church also baptized new disciples, ate communion together, focused on God’s teaching together, worshipped together, and brought their tithes and offerings to the “small group”…these are not all components reflected in today’s church small group program. In fact, most traditional churches we have gathered with had significant problems recruiting the majority of weekly attendees to participate in the church’s small group program.
Great question! You should expect to enjoy a pitch-in dinner, surrounded by people who genuinely care for and are interested in one another, including you. After dinner, we spend time singing, praying, and discussing God’s Word and it’s applicability for our lives. We have a predetermined weekly reading which we all read and then discuss. It is a time of personal reflection, challenges, and, at times, moments of accountability as we allow the weekly Bible reading to serve as our sermon. Most of all, you should expect to see people who deeply desire to grow in their faith, reflect Jesus in their lives, and developing strong relationships that exceed normal friendships.
This is our goal, as we want to see God’s kingdom expanded. This effort has always been about growing the kingdom of God and never about growing a church. We have never felt as though we wanted to stop with just one house church. In fact, we are praying for, and working toward, developing a network of house churches throughout St Augustine neighborhoods and around the world. We take Jesus’ command to “make disciples” seriously. A house might hold an average group of about 20 people. As the house church grows to that point, we have also been growing leaders (pastors and elders). So, we plan for house churches to remain less than 20 and to start new churches in new neighborhoods in other homes.