I am writing an article about the house church movement. Here are some thoughts from today.
House churches are the cookie dough of the new ecclesiology. They are tasty and soft and very tempting. But they have not yet hardened into something permanent. We might be 5 years away from seeing a complete ecosystem of organic ministries that work together to enable a healthy, reproducing, movement of house churches. The movement in USA and Europe is not ready for franchising or exporting, It is not looking for entreprenuers to multiply it but rather for pioneers to beta test it. For engineers who can tinker with it while it is moving. To make it workable and efficient. To get the bugs out of the system. To see what missing elements need to be included.
Perhaps God is not allowing recognition from the mainstream so that there can be a window of time to create the protoypes away from the spotlight. If this is correct, someone needs to get busy working on a decent support system.
There is not a whole lot of support for the movement right now. Not enough, perhaps, for most pastors to seriously consider a leap of faith into a new and way-more-organic paradigm. A few good books have appeared. Some helpful conferences started up in 2001. House 2 House mag is a good addition. But the house church movement in Western countries is still a few tuna cassaroles short of the Pot-Luck. The five-fold ministry teams are not yet in place. City-wide gatherings are still in the idea phase. The apostles and prophets are still learning how to put up with each other, let alone minister together. Travelling teams are more novelty than staple. The heroes of house church planting are somewhere in Asia.
What about resources from the mainstream church?
Sorry. Wrong number. Their conference speakers have not written any books on how to ignite house church movements of the Spirit. Seminaries are not training students to plant house churches, lest they graduate years early and create a financial strain on the institution. Churches train their youth for "finding" a church when they leave for college rather than "starting" a church. There is a tragic seperation between traditional church and house church.
House churches are the cookie dough of the new ecclesiology. They are tasty and soft and very tempting. But they have not yet hardened into something permanent. We might be 5 years away from seeing a complete ecosystem of organic ministries that work together to enable a healthy, reproducing, movement of house churches. The movement in USA and Europe is not ready for franchising or exporting, It is not looking for entreprenuers to multiply it but rather for pioneers to beta test it. For engineers who can tinker with it while it is moving. To make it workable and efficient. To get the bugs out of the system. To see what missing elements need to be included.
Perhaps God is not allowing recognition from the mainstream so that there can be a window of time to create the protoypes away from the spotlight. If this is correct, someone needs to get busy working on a decent support system.
There is not a whole lot of support for the movement right now. Not enough, perhaps, for most pastors to seriously consider a leap of faith into a new and way-more-organic paradigm. A few good books have appeared. Some helpful conferences started up in 2001. House 2 House mag is a good addition. But the house church movement in Western countries is still a few tuna cassaroles short of the Pot-Luck. The five-fold ministry teams are not yet in place. City-wide gatherings are still in the idea phase. The apostles and prophets are still learning how to put up with each other, let alone minister together. Travelling teams are more novelty than staple. The heroes of house church planting are somewhere in Asia.
What about resources from the mainstream church?
Sorry. Wrong number. Their conference speakers have not written any books on how to ignite house church movements of the Spirit. Seminaries are not training students to plant house churches, lest they graduate years early and create a financial strain on the institution. Churches train their youth for "finding" a church when they leave for college rather than "starting" a church. There is a tragic seperation between traditional church and house church.
