Introducing household church +
Here the notes for my presentation on household church for the ReachGlobal church planting conference I attended in Hungary last week.They may not make total sense without my commentary, but here they are for what they’re worth.
Household Church
Similar to ‘organic church’, ‘simple church’, ‘missional communities’.
I’ve realised ‘household church’ has negative connotations for some people because their experience. So to clarify in The Crowded House we are:
NOT ‘restorationist’ (we are not trying perfectly to reproduce a first-century standard)
NOT ‘reactionary’ (we are not defined by opposition to ‘traditional church’)
NOT ‘a different venue’ (we are merely changing venue; not trying to replicate traditional church in a home)
Gospel-Centred
Ordinary people living ordinary life with gospel intentionality.
Pastoring one another with the gospel.
Focused on the task of mission.
Everyone seeing themselves as a missionary.
Community-Centred
Community as the context for Christian life and mission.
Living as an extended family with mutual obligations.
A persuasive apologetic for the gospel (John 13:34-35; 17:20-23).
Why Household Church?
1. A great context for discipleship
Discipling one another in the context of shared lives.
Participative (there is no ‘front’ from which to lead).
2. A great context for mission
From maintenance to mission.
The majority of Europeans won’t go to traditional church.
3. Reproducible
A which is reproducible, sustainable, transferable, flexible.
4. Apostolic
Household church is not a new !
Putting It Into Practice
Shared lives.
Ordinary life with gospel intentionality.
Evangelism = (1) building relationships, (2) sharing the gospel and (3) introducing people to the Christian community (to our shared life, not necessarily first off our Sunday gatherings).
Warnings
It’s messy.
There’s no programme from creating a programme-less church. A leader’s role is culture creation.
Further Reading
Tim Chester and Steve Timmis, Total Church (IVP)
Steve Timmis and Tim Chester, The Gospel-Centred Church (The Good Book Co.)
Neil Cole, Organic Church (Jossey-Bass)
Robert Banks, Going to Church in the First Century (Hexagon)
