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Frequently Asked Questions

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Q: What is a Home Church?
A: Simply, a home church is a church, and it meets in the home. It may or may not hold to the essentials of Biblical Christianity. It may or may not be ingrown. It may or may not be large. It may or may not have paid staff. It may or may not have traditional services. It may or may not be suffering terrible persecution.

Some groups using the words "home church" reject the essentials of Biblical Christianity or strangle their members with legalism. In this web-site, though, the words "home church" honor those holding to the essentials and love of Biblical Christianity. Let us hope that the others will either mature or go away.

Q: What is better: the traditional church or the home church?
A: The Church operates like a human body [1 Corinthians 12:12-27.] This is true whether we speak of individuals in the Church or groups of individuals in the Church.

Each individual has a particular gift or gifts that is uniquely his or her own. This or these are awakened within the Christian upon his or her coming to Christ. Each group of individuals, too, has its particular gift or gifts to offer the greater Body of Christ.

An individual within a local congregation may be its foot or eye. A group of individuals—a local church—within the larger Body of Christ may be a foot or an eye.

Therefore, true believers in Catholicism may be a hand. True believers in Pentecostalism may be an ear. True believers in the Presbyterian churches may be a lung. True believers in the Methodist churches may be a foot. True believers in home churches may be a liver.

God makes us one: one Body. And each part is essential. Traditional churches, therefore, should not fear or dismiss home churches. Neither should home churches disdain traditional churches. We are one Body. We need each other.

Q: Are There Different Kinds of Home Churches?
A: There are different models of home churches, yes. Three primary ones are described here.

The Big Church:

This church will continue to grow until too big to fit within four walls. The big church usually has no intention of changing leadership. Very often, this church model will lead to a traditional church as it gains the financial base to rent or to purchase a building.

The Cell Church:

This church has a stated goal of reaching a particular size. If the stated goal is sixteen members, the church divides when that number is reached. Often, a cell church is given only a stated time window to reach the number or will dissolve. There is usually a pastor and a pastor-in-training. Both leaders seek from those joining them a pair to wait in the wings for the dividing of the cell. When the cell church reaches the stated number, the pastor takes half and the pastor-in-training takes half. Those waiting in the wings become their pastors-in-training. The process continues until the stated number is again reached.

The Sending Church:

This church grows much the same as the large church. It has no stated number to reach. It has no time window for growth. This church, though, seeks to mature its believers into leadership teams. A team may be two or more single persons or two or more couples [or a combination] committed to a common vision. A team may contain leaders of the original sending church. When the team is ready, the sending church lays hands upon them and commits them to a new work. If the sending church is healthy, this body of believers does not develop into a large church.

Q: Why Home Churches?
A: A primary reason that home churches develop is because of persecution. Those who could die for being Christians cannot openly meet under a steeple.

Another reason is because of poverty. If people are scarcely able to build homes, they may not have the resources to build large buildings to honor their Lord. They may see that they are not fulfilling the Great Commission by waiting for missionaries or foreign dollars to build churches in their areas.

Others embrace the home church because it seems consistent with the account of church life in Acts, where Christians met and broke bread in homes.

Q: What are the benefits of healthy home churches?
A: 
Protection from persecution:
In areas of the world that are hostile to Christianity, believers quietly survive if not thrive in smaller groups. Discovery and surveillance of these home churches takes effort. In hostile environments, traditional churches may become political targets or be forced into compromise.

Resources:
Home churches often provide a better use of resources. With no building or staff to maintain, the church can use its resources to meet needs within the local congregation and the neighboring community.

Kids:
Placement of children exclusively with their own age in school and church classrooms runs counter to God’s design of the family. Home churches provide the age integration of a family, whereas many traditional churches segregate the ages. Benefits of age integration for children are a striving to gain the approval of the more mature and working towards becoming more like those older.

Some home churches have special programs for children. This is especially true for the very young. Many home churches, though, expect active participation of their younger members: reading Scriptures, worshiping, praying, sharing insights and actively serving.

Work conflicts:
Most healthy house churches esteem the individual above a schedule. Home churches have the freedom to change their nights or days or times around in order to accommodate those with scheduling conflicts.

Needs met:
A person’s need takes precedence over the program. If a counseling situation develops that is appropriate for children, it can provide a teaching moment. Or, some serious time might be given to prayer. At such times, the planned teaching may be set aside. Also, because of the interconnectedness of the individuals in a home church, brainstorming often occurs to meet an individual’s need.

A workday may substitute for a church service, too, in some home churches. Fellowship, then, occurs while moving furniture or helping an elderly person with yard care.

If someone is out of work, it is not a benevolence fund that might provide a few bags of groceries. Rather, it is an entire church network stepping in to help meet needs. One person might provide financial counseling; another might provide resumé services; another two or three might share job leads or actively promote the person to their employers; and others step in with financial help.

Neighborhood emphasis:
The target group for many home churches is not the sheep of another’s congregation but those who have little or no interest in the traditional church.

Stretching:
In a healthy home church, shy people are drawn into the life of the church. Lay-people, too, begin doing the work of the ministry. This includes leading people to Christ, baptizing, serving communion, teaching, using spiritual gifts, ministering to the sick, etc. Leaders are stretched to train lay-people to do these things.

In a "sending church," the senior leaders may be those sent, stretching junior leaders to step into senior leadership.

Instead of a few involved in meeting needs such as meals for new parents, many home churches involve everyone, including singles in serving.

Increased participation / Coming prepared:
"What then, brethren? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification." [1 Corinthians 14:26.] Time constraints would make it virtually impossible for most traditional churches to obey this word. A healthy home church, though, should expect this as its norm.

Dynamic interchange:
A home church lends itself well to the Socratic method of learning, which is a dynamic exchange of ideas, questioning, and suggestions of practical application. Some people learn better in this environment than where only preaching occurs. A home fellowship, Bible study, or Sunday school may provide the same in a traditional church, if this is provided.

Q: What are the negatives of home churches?
A:
Lack of elders:
Perhaps the greatest weakness in western home churches is the lack of mature believers. Too many older saints are unwilling to venture from traditional churches which seems more like "church" to them. This creates a poverty in western home churches since older saints are amongst the Church’s greatest assets. This can be remedied in part by strong relationships with traditional churches.

Small size and small influence:
Unless working in a larger home church network, the individual home church hasn’t the financial or population base for large projects and hasn't likely the ability to wield great influence in an area. This can be remedied by home churches networking and by joining traditional churches in projects. Also, by lobbying local political bodies, etc. together.

Being ingrown:
Home churches can become ingrown. A serious problem of any church is for its members to become too comfortable and to stop looking outside themselves. An ingrown church loses its urgency for the lost. An ingrown church can become exclusive and can refuse corrective insight from the larger Body of Christ. This is remedied by an active participation in outreaches to the lost. Also, it is wisdom to have an active involvement with Christians outside the home church or connected home churches.

Doctrinal error:
Home churches can dive into doctrinal error. One of the big mistakes that a home church can make is to divide from the greater Body of Christ. Error can breed in a church that has no accountability outside of itself. This is remedied by close attention to the Word of God, maintaining a teachable spirit, and receiving the counsel of believers outside the home church.

Sin in the Camp:
Home churches can fear to bring correction to a member. The church being small, there may be a fear of losing members. Serious error could, then, be accommodated. This is remedied by developing a greater respect for God and a greater fear of accommodating error.

Fellowship first:
Making disciples can bow to building relationships. Home churches are often relation-based, which is not bad except when fellowship shoves out Bible and character training. This is remedied by an active choice of the church to obey the Great Commission when together and apart.

Maintaining a personal devotional time in order to have something to share, too, will deepen the level of relationships.

It, also, is critical for leaders to pull things back to order when things seriously drift.

Informality:
The informality of a home church setting can lead to a lack of respect for the Lord and for others. Clothing standards might seriously deteriorate, and manners including punctuality might disappear. This is remedied by the church [with the help of leadership] understanding that immodesty, unchaste behavior, unkind or coarse words, disrespect for leadership, contempt for others’ time, and disruptive behavior reveal an unacceptable lack of love.

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