House Church Talk - Yet another newspaper article, this one from Oregon

[David Anderson]

Holding church at Home Helps some Christians Connect

       Smaller groups shun megachurches, discuss gospel on their own

CRYSTAL BOLNER, Statesman Journal   November 6, 2004

[names withheld by request] say they don't need a building with steeples to 
encounter God and grow in their Christian faith. All they need are 
friends.

Church convenes at their South Salem home each Sunday at 5:30 p.m.

There are no pastors, no choirs and no missals. An average home church 
meeting usually includes a simple meal, Bible study and discussion.

"We've been to a lot of churches in our lives," said [name withheld], who 
grew up in the Lutheran church. "Not that those churches were lacking 
anything, but when you have church at home I've found that you can share 
your faith and experience God in a more personal way."

His wife, [withheld], who grew up with the Episcopal Church, agreed.

"At a lot of big churches, usually they are so big, many people don't 
take time to stop and listen to the Lord," she said.

The [names withheld] have been holding church at their home for the past month. 
Nate and Joanne Krupp share that celebration with them.

At a recent church meeting, the two couples started by sharing a meal, 
where they prayed and broke bread, then proceeded to study the Bible and 
discuss the teachings of Jesus.

It was informal, relaxed, personal and deeply spiritual -- everything the 
two couples said they sought but didn't find in traditional churches.

House churches are not uncommon. They've become widely popular in recent 
years as a growing number of people have become disillusioned with 
megachurches.

Proponents of house churches say they don't just want to be an audience 
in a church; they want to be full participants, and they feel they can do 
that in their own homes. House churches commonly include up to 15 people. 
If the groups get any larger, they often split and begin a new church.

The [names withheld] and the Krupps say their methods harken back to how early 
Christians gathered in small groups and in homes following Jesus' 
crucifixion. All of the hoopla and ceremony that's been attached to 
religious services since that time, they say, has taken away from the 
core of what Christians are supposed to be about -- the teachings of 
Jesus.

No official numbers exist on how many house churches exist nationwide, 
partly because of their independent nature. Some house church Web sites 
list as many as 1,274 house churches across the United States. There are 
at least five in the Salem-Keizer area.

"The world is so complicated and life is so hurried," said Nate Krupp, 
"you don't want the time you spend at church to be complex and hurried, 
too. You just want to get together with a few friends and share your 
faith."

It's not always easy for people interested in house churches to find each 
other. Commonly, house churches are fund through word of mouth. The 
Krupps didn't know the [names withheld] before their church meetings.

[name withheld] was looking for more information about house churches and 
came across a book Nate Krupp wrote in 1993 called "God's Simple Plan for 
His Church -- and Your Place In It."

When he found out Krupp lived in Salem, he contacted him, and the two 
families decided to begin meeting. Krupp has been involved in house 
churches for more than 15 years. He has attended as many as five in the 
past decade and has friends involved in house churches all over the 
country.

House churches are not just an American phenomenon. They also can be 
found in England and Australia and are most popular in countries like 
China and Vietnam, where many groups meet secretly because of religious 
persecution.

Critics of house churches say the groups are dangerous because they could 
lead to discrepancies and misinterpretations of the Bible, since many of 
those participating in house churches have no official training in 
theology.

But the Krupps and the [name withheld] scoff at that criticism. They said each 
person at their meetings typically has a different insight to offer into 
Scripture readings, and by sharing their thoughts they are able to keep 
each other focused.

"To some, they may look at our meetings and feel they look unorganized. 
We don't feel that way. We feel the Lord is leading our gatherings," said 
Joanne Krupp, who, like her husband, wrote a book on house churches, 
"Woman -- God's Plan, not Man's Tradition."

[name withheld], between Scripture readings and preparing dinner, spends 
her time taking care of the family's three children -- [withheld], 8, [withheld], 5, 
and [withheld], 21 months.

At this time, the children don't participate much in church discussion, 
but [names withheld] said she and her husband feel holding church at their 
home offers their children a chance to learn more from their parents 
about what it means to be a Christian.

"This is not easy," she said. "It would probably be a lot easier to just 
go into a pew, but then we wouldn't really be taking ownership of our 
faith."

http://159.54.226.83/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041106/NEWS/411060312/100
1