A Long Story
My family grew up in a very passionate form of Christianity. There were errors in theology but not when it came to believing in the bible. We were very much against the greater forms of organized denominational Christianity. Individual members were usually very active in their faith, however the clergy/laity divide was still strong. In the mid 1970's I caught the vision of the church as the Body of Christ. I believed that every member should function to their full potential, and that this would lead to a greater victory for Christ in this world.
After realizing that even the smallest congregations were being held back by the traditional systems, I discovered the house church movement. There I saw the possibility for every member to freely participate. The other great advantage was freedom from the care and feeding of the organized system which often consumes so much time and resources. I have learned much since those days. My wife and I hosted many meetings over the course of 15 years, after which this period in our lives gradually ended.
We were never satisfied to be alone and disconnected. We found fellowship in various small groups and home bible studies. Some of these led to visiting a small church that allowed for more freedom and more opportunities for us than even the house church movement allowed. My experience has shown that there are pros and cons to both traditional church groups and house church groups. I suspect that the pros and cons are basically inherent to our human nature.
That said, I long for more of us who truly believe in the New Testament way of church life to be more open to the others out there. Larger churches do have ways to serve the community that small groups and house churches do not. If we could only help them to see the unhealthy aspects of the organized systems that often hold them back.
Another hope I have is for house churches to co-operate with one another. A dozen or so house churches in a city could rent a facility every month or so so we could encourage one another more. We could also pool our resources in order to serve the community in creative ways. This may be happening in other areas, but our efforts here have all failed so far. It appears that mega churches are continuing to grow in our area. That should not trouble us. We should listen to the Lord and serve others for His sake. There are needs that even mega churches cannot meet, but a strong commitment would be needed.
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- · Todd Buiten
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Hey Dan, thank you so much for your thoughts here. And a Happy Thanksgiving to you and everyone else who visits this website to learn more about Christ and His church
Since I left the institutional church system a couple of years ago, I have not returned nor have I found a replacement. I did some investigation into house churches in my area (near Seattle), but I found nothing suitable. I'm a strong believer in the unity of the assembly. As I dove into the details, I bumped up against the problem that my beliefs on the operation of the church might not square with any of the existing assemblies, and the last thing that I want to do is cause division among God's people. So I've mostly sat on the outside looking in, longing for fellowship but unable to make progress.
This last year has seen me take a different path. I've long been active in Internet groups like this commenting on things of interest to God's people, but more and more I see my participation in these groups as my "church". I don't have the strong ties that I would with a local body of believers, but on the other hand I find it extremely freeing to connect with people who share my same set of priorities (namely, our relationship with God as sinners, God's kingdom reign, and the preeminence of Christ). I've found great comfort connecting with people on this website, but I would like more. Not only more contact, but also a deeper connection on the role of Christ as our Savior. I love that we push back on the institutional church as the disaster that it is, but I feel like there's an opportunity to grow beyond just being a voice of sanity in the world of Christendom. My experience has been that no matter where I go within the kingdom of God, so many things other than our dear Savior distract us
To that end, I've put some thought into setting up a Discord server where we can all talk about the church more interactively. I've been reluctant to do so for a few reasons. First, what makes this web site and others like it important is that it is not private. Anything posted here is visible to world, so anyone visiting has access to a rich set of comment history and thought about the church. I find that to be invaluable. This web site was a real blessing to me as I wrestled to discover that there is life after the institutional church and what that life could look like
The other reason that I haven't yet set up a Discord server is that, like any other social media setup, there will be a lot of housekeeping that eventually will distract from the main mission of the group. There are sure to be interlopers. But even within the ekklesia, it's very easy to become focused on things other than our salvation. Managing the server could become a huge time commitment that takes away from the truly important things of our faith
Although I'm not ready to start anything new just quite yet, I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on meeting virtually in a way that we can all contribute and be more connected
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Greetings Todd B.
I would truly enjoy some virtual Zoom meet up! I've been involved with various "Discord" Server's and let me tell you it is very chaotic, and so many "every wind of doctrines" being thrown out and discussed, that I found that it was not true fellowship!
I am still a "Standard" member, and would like info on how to become another type of member so I can start posting, etc....however I can not find where I can do that, or what the qualifications are to become other than a "Standard" member.
Can you, and would you be able to inform me what to do, I would be very grateful for it.
Lord bless you....
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- · Administrator
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Welcome my dear brother Cal. Yes, we know that Jesus is in our midst regardless of the number. Thank you for introducing yourself!
There are about 900 registered users here but the vast majority do not share. Which is OK.
With the push of a button, there should be convenient video calls available directly from this site, via jitsi. But alas - there apparently is a glitch which I have just discovered in the Messenger app. I will get back with you as soon as possible.
The standard membership is the main one. Most of the features are available. You should be able to post photos and links and discussions. youTube videos can also be also embedded.
As you are aware, stored video (unlike streaming video or embedded links) requires huge amounts of memory. Making backups almost unmanageable. In the past, people have uploaded huge videos which were not particularly related to house church themes. So, videos are restricted at this point.
However, short videos can be emailed to me. I can probably shrink them down to fit and then post them.
Thankfully, there are many general interest Christian sites where general topics can be discussed. And big files can be uploaded and permanently stored, I would suppose.
Hang on, I'll get back with you soon. Hopefully, in the days ahead, others will read your 'long story' and and like "the forlorn and ship-wrecked brother" find their way back to the Savour's arms.
https://housechurch.org/view-discussion/a-forlorn-and-shipwrecked-brother