Caution for would-be house churchers

Though we thoroughly believe in the biblical basis for house church, it is simply not feasible in many Western situations today. We feel the real emphasis should be on the New Testament practice of smaller congregations, not simply meeting in homes.

3) Counter-Cultural Consequences: Not helping the situation is the fact that house churches are seen as cultic by many in our society, not taken seriously by the typical Western believer (“how quaint”), and—worst yet—attract an unusually high percentage of counter-cultural “disciples” who are anti-authority, opinionated, judgmental, socially dysfunctional, under the church discipline of another church, who hold secondary issues so dearly it has already caused them to separate from other believers (factiousness), who espouse aberrant theology, or who are generally wounded and angry.

Summary: Faithful are the wounds of a friend (Proverbs 27:6). We would not be serving you well if we did not alert you to both the pros and cons of a modern Western house church. For many people contemplating starting a house church, their best option is to remain where they are and serve the Lord in their present church. However, if circumstances are providential to starting a house church with all the necessary pieces in place (quality leadership, large meeting room, plenty of car parking*), go for it!

We regularly had trouble with both neighbors and county code enforcement for having too many cars parked on the street each Sunday.

Full article.

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Steve can be found at ntrf.org.

NTRF promotes the benefits of New Testament church practice. These practices include the fellowship that comes from celebrating the Lord’s Supper as an actual meal (and the main purpose of gathering each Lord’s Day), participatory worship, weekly in-depth teaching, a devotion to corporate prayer, elder-led congregational consensus in making decisions, and fellowships that are the same size as would fit into a first century Roman villa—smaller congregations that are neither too big (mega churches) nor too small (micro churches).