back to articles HOUSE CHURCHES (micro churches) by Jerry Steingard, revised June 2003, but originally written to the Gateway Harvest family in December of 2002 I am more convinced than ever that the house church model is a wineskin that God is commissioning again in our day. I not only believe it is a “God thing” globally (there’s more Christians in the world in house churches than in the traditional congregational model) but that the Lord is now raising up these portable, flexible, and easily multipliable home churches throughout North America, including with us here at Gateway Harvest Fellowship in Barrie, ON, Canada. Aside from the fact that God personally tapped me on the shoulder in the summer of 2001 and said this was the direction he wanted me to go (and I came kicking and screaming, thinking I had gone through all the “paradigm shifts” necessary this side of heaven!), I will briefly list some of the contributing factors that brought me to this conviction: 1) Biblical evidence: The Greek word for “church” in the New Testament is “ecclesia” which is (according to Jim Watt, a leader from the Latter Rain movement) found some 114 times. 15 times it refers to the Universal church, 81 times to the City church, 14 times to the House church. Eg. Rom.16:5 “greet the church that meets at their (Priscilla & Aquila) house” (also 1 Cor 16:9); Col. 4:15: “to Nympha & the church in her house”; Philemon vs. 2: “To Philemon…& to the church that meets in your home”. 1 Cor. 14:26 commands us that “when you come together, EVERYONE (not just the professionals) has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church…” It is very difficult, if not impossible to obey this command in our traditional congregational service format just due to large numbers in a limited timeframe. About 60 times the New Testament has given us “one another” commands that are best promoted in smaller and more intimate groups where informal, spontaneous, grace-based every member ministry can take place. In the last two decades, many churches have added cells to their church ministry which has helped immensely. The house church model simply takes it one step further. I liken the “cell based church” to an orange and the house church network to an apple. They are both fruit! But there are some differences. For instance, in the cell based church, many still see “real church” happening in the service on Sunday morning. The cell group is often seen as an option, an elective, a mere vitamin supplement. With the house church model, however, “real church”, the “meat and potatoes” is seen at the micro level, the house church. Our large gatherings, our celebrations, which at present are held twice a month, are viewed as the icing on the cake! This format can be useful in fighting the present dilemma of leadership burnout as well as laity rust out! 2) Historical evidence: For the first 3 centuries Christianity expanded throughout the Roman Empire, “turning the world upside down”. This apostolic expansion of the Christian church combined revival power of the manifest presence of God (new wine) with the flexible wineskins of mutual ministry in house churches and city wide churches. Add to this a little persecution (which separates the men from the boys!) and you have quite an explosive combination! But just after 300 AD, the church tragically turned from being a revolutionary band to a respectable establishment which defended the status quo. The Roman emperor, Constantine (who was converted in 312) ended the persecutions and allowed Christianity to be accepted (and decades later it actually became the state religion). Soon the church ceased being an interactive family and turned into a large and passive audience in big cathedrals watching the professional clergy put on “the show”. Gone were the days of the warm, intimate, interactive meetings in someone’s living room. The professional clergy performed the pomp and ceremony and the masses turned into “pew potatoes”. Church history also demonstrates that in many seasons of revival, the small group structure would be again dusted off and put into service for discipleship and “body life” purposes. John Wesley is probably the most well known leader who utilized this paradigm for extremely effective spiritual growth and accountability of his tens of thousands of new converts. Wesley was known as one who “organized to beat the devil” and his method of using small group structures came to be known as the “Methodist” movement. 3) respected and informed Christian leaders are observing this global house church phenomena and are recognizing God’s fingerprints all over it. Here’s a sampling: Larry Kreider (leader of an international network of churches called Dove): “It is happening again. A new species of church is emerging throughout North America…a unique kind of church life is peeking through like the fresh growth of new crops pressing through the surface of the soil. Hungry for community and relationship, people are learning the values of the kingdom by first-hand participation. They meet in small groups in homes, offices, boardrooms or restaurants. For them church has become a way of life where discipleship and growth occurs naturally as everyone develops their gifts and “learns by doing”, under the mentorship of spiritual fathers and mothers. I like to call this fledgling grassroots phenomenon “house church networks”. Within the next ten to fifteen years, I believe these new house church networks will dot the landscape of North America just as they already do in other nations of the world. Places like China, central Asia, Latin America, India and Cambodia have experienced tremendous growth through house churches that disciple and empower each member to “be the church”. They are called house churches because each one functions as a little church. They are networks because they work together to foster accountability and encouragement” (page 1, “House Church Networks, a church for a new generation”, Larry Kreider, 2001, House to House Pub.). Don Finto, (pastor of Belmont Church, Nashville, Tennessee): “For years I have been seeing this house church movement coming. I see groups of people who do not fit into church the way we are doing it” (part of his endorsement of Kreider‘s book). Mike Bickle, (director of International House of Prayer of Kansas City): “God is going to change the forms and expressions of church within one generation to a great degree. I believe the house church network is a vital ingredient in that change…” (part of his endorsement of Kreider’s book). C. Peter Wagner (world renowned church growth consultant): “They (house churches) are in the process of becoming a permanent and very visible feature on the landscape of faith these days…For growing numbers of the new generation, house churches, not the traditional church, will most likely draw them to God…I would like to suggest that the kinds of churches you will read about in this book (Kreider’s) may well turn out to be the most effective bases for evangelism in the years to come. I say this because, of all the different kinds of churches, house churches will be most closely attached to the marketplace” (Wagner’s forward in Larry Kreider’s book). Wolfgang Simson (global church planting consultant, advisor of DAWN International, Germany, and author of Houses That Change the World): “…Someone said during a pastors’ conference: “Friends, in 15 years, your own kids will not pastor churches-as-we-know-it, but lead networks of house churches.” I believe this statement to be wrong on the time-side-it will happen much, much earlier. It’s time to get ready, now…” (part of his endorsement of Kreider’s book) 4) simply the fact that many Christians instinctively know that something is fundamentally wrong with the congregational model as we know it. An alarming number of clergy are dropping out of ministry because of disillusionment and burnout from trying to maintain the machine. Furthermore, it has haunted me for years that close to one half of all who claim to be born again Christians in Canada are not connected to a church (I suspect many due to past hurts, offences, relational needs not being met, limited opportunity to participate, and sheer boredom. And yet, an “unchurched Christian” is a “New Testament Oxymoron“, Murray Moerman). 5) Many credible contemporary prophetic voices are declaring that there are still new wineskins yet to come that will be simple, organic, relational, easily adaptable, and multipliable which will be capable of more fully containing the new wine that is yet to be poured out as well as accommodate the great harvest yet to come in. Some examples: Rick Joyner: “There will be world-wide “house church” and “Christian community” movements which will help prepare the saints for both the persecution and the harvest. These actually were begun in the 1960’s, but often floundered and failed. The reason for many of the failures was the same as for the discipleship and other movements-they were built upon a doctrine instead of a commission…A great anointing will be upon these home meetings and some of the greatest visitations of the Lord will take place in them. Leaders and ministries will be raised up through them just as Stephen was in the first church. Some will even send out apostolic teams. Large congregations will be giving themselves to making home meetings the very centre of church life. Even without knowing it, most of these are being prepared for the time when all large meetings will be banned, or the targets of violence and persecution” (The Harvest, Morningstar Pub., 1989, pages 92-5). Mike Bickle: “I am going to change the forms and expressions of Christianity in the world in one generation” (Cairo, Egypt, Sept 1982) (as mentioned above, Bickle sees the house church model as a vital ingredient in these changes from the Lord in our generation) Robert Fitts Sr. In the Fall of 1990, the Lord spoke into his spirit, “house churches”. It was a sudden flash of revelation that exploded within his spirit (page 4, The Church in the House: A Return to Simplicity by Robert Fitts Sr). During a seminar in April 2002 at Gateway Harvest in Barrie, ON, Canada, Robert stated that he has felt like a lonely voice in the wilderness until the past year or two. Now there are others talking about the house church model as well. He is quite encouraged. Graham Cooke: In his book, The Divine Confrontation, Cooke is seeking to prepare the church for the major transitions God is now taking us through. God is raising up a prophetic and apostolic church that will learn to be dependent on God’s prophetic word and develop apostolic strategies to fulfill them. God is calling for flexible, simple, and multipliable wineskins, “prototype” churches verses “stereotype” churches, that will allow for spontaneity and creativity as well as the saints of God to rise up and be an equipped and mobilized kingdom army for these last days of harvesting. 6) studies have shown that our western culture is transitioning from a “modern” society to a “postmodern” society. Leonard Sweet, professor of Evangelism at Drew University, has written prolifically on this subject. In his book, Postmodern Pilgrims, he declares that we need “EPIC churches for this EPIC Time”. EPIC standing for: Experience, Participation, Image-driven, and Community. In this post-modern era, experience of the spiritual reality and power is highly valued verses intellectual pursuits (eg. The New Age movement, occult etc). Participation is also highly desired, not just being spectators. In our day of the television and computer screen, people are more drawn to images than word and print. Furthermore, this post-modern mindset highly values community and relationship. The house church model fits well with helping to meet these needs of this post-modern era that we are transitioning into. Of course wineskins are only secondary. What is primary in meeting the needs of the post-modern pilgrim is a personal encounter with a living and supernatural God through His Son, Jesus Christ. The church must learn “to listen prophetically and act apostolically” (Wolfgang Simson). Rick Warren, church planter in southern California has declared that we must measure our church success, not by our “seating capacity“, but by our “sending capacity“. On Friday Nov. 22nd, 2003, the Lord woke me up about 4 a.m. and downloaded some thoughts to me. Let me share them with you. 1) He reminded me of this term “prototype church” and spoke to me about the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, who invented the airplane. Their prototype was very crude and simple and required much experimentation over years to perfect it but it started with a paradigm shift. “They discovered that the key to flying lies in the shape of the wing. They found that wind rushing over a wing with a flat bottom and a curved top creates the physical dynamics required to lift a vehicle off the ground. Once the Wright brothers perceived reality in a different way, people began to fly, and the impossible became possible” (Ed Silvoso). And likewise with us, as we are fumbling along, trying to improve our new “paradigm shift”, our “prototype church” (the Lord spoke to Dave Atton in November 2001 those exact words), with the house church model, it too will be a bit crude and imperfect. It may be our children who will perfect this prototype to maximize its potential usefulness. We need to be patient through the process of transition. Speaking of transition, the Lord reminded me of the biblical analogy of the Israelites coming out of Egypt, but on their way to the promised land, the Lord had to get Egypt out of them (note: I am not advocating that all Christians must leave the traditional church model and transition to house churches. Each needs to seek the Lord as to what he has called them to). We too may be making the structural changes externally from the congregational model to the house church paradigm, but our minds need to be transformed as well. Times of transitions are awkward times. We are torn between running back to the safe, predictable, and familiar and moving forward to the new. Issues of integration of children, spontaneity, being real, discipleship, having fun, and having more of a mission focus, all need to be grappled with as we learn to think from a fresh new paradigm. The next generation will probably take the ball and run with it so much farther than we will! 2) The Lord also showed me the power of a magnifying glass when it is used to focus the sun rays upon an object. It can set fires! God was telling me that we need to get “intentional, purposeful, focused” and we will see amazing results! For example, now that we have streamlined our times of meeting as a church, we have more time available to do some purposeful things. For example, those of us who don’t have house church on a Sunday morning, we can have some quality time with the Lord, or our spouse and family, or have brunch with a neighbour, or go help out at the chapel service at the homeless shelter, or go visit and bless one of the other churches in your city. Pray about this and purposefully plan them into your calendar. 3) The day before I read in a book by James McDonald this thought: “God is looking for FAT Christians: Faithful, Available, and Teachable”! During the night the Lord reminded me of what I read but followed it up with: “I am also looking for TRIM Churches”! TRIM representing: TRUTH, RELATIONSHIP, IN MISSION (Mike Steele of Dawn Ministries in Colorado presented this insight to us at the Canadian House Church Leaders’ Consultation in Vancouver in June 2002 of the need for healthy DNA of a house church being :Truth, Relationship, & Mission). As in the natural, so in the spiritual. Businesses are streamlining and downsizing to be more effective and competitive. Rather than working harder, you work smarter. I believe the Lord is also streamlining the church. The Lord is TRIMMING the church back to the basics. It is also interesting that in our culture, there has been a trend in education to home school, in business to work out of the home, in the medical profession to do health care more in the home, and it seems the Lord is saying the same about the church “It’s time to come home”, to “living room Christianity” which is where the New Testament church was first birthed. It’s interesting that the new church office that our church, Gateway Harvest Fellowship, has just moved into downtown (110 Dunlop St. E., Suite 205) became vacant because the previous tenants were transitioning their business from the office to their employees’ homes. The church building we are renting twice a month for our church celebrations (North West United Church) was originally a stone house and they simply expanded and added unto the house. And my wife, Pam, just started a new nursing job, leaving the more stressful environment of the institution (hospital), and doing health care in people’s homes. We are on an interesting journey. It is an emotionally mixed bag to say the least! But it will be worth it all. We need both patience and courage. Our desire must be to “stand on the Word, embrace the Cross, and Keep in step with the Spirit”. We want to be God-pleasers! In these days of transition, it is advisable to heed the words of Joshua (Joshua 3:3-5): “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, who are Levites, carrying it, YOU ARE TO MOVE OUT FROM YOUR POSITIONS AND FOLLOW IT (HIS PRESENCE). THEN YOU WILL KNOW WHICH WAY TO GO, SINCE YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN THIS WAY BEFORE… Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you”! Do it again, Lord!!!