Last week we talked about churches with small groups, and today I want to look at the other side of the spectrum as we discuss churches that are small groups in and of themselves… for our purposes today, we will characterize them as house churches.
These house churches vary greatly in size, meeting time, missional purpose, diversity and connectedness. Some writers believe this to be the fastest growing expression of church in the world today. Barna Group, tracks an 8% growth in the last decade, with an estimated 20MM people attending a house church meeting in a typical week. [Source]
Author Skot McKnight, has stated numerous times on podcasts and in his books, blogs, and articles that he believes the small house church will move to become one of the largest expressions of church over the next 20 years.
Backtracking for a bit… In New Testament times, especially in the times of the Epistles and the book of Acts, we see Paul reference “oikos,” a Greek word that translates to house or household — which in those times meant a diverse network of people, including householder’s family, slaves, friends, neighbors, and even business associates. [source] It’s worth noting that this house church movement documented throughout the epistles, spurred unbelievable growth as Christians made up around .0017% of the population in AD 40 and grew to 56.5% of the Roman Empire in AD 350… that’s from roughly 1,000 believers to 33,882,000 believers all converted and discipled within a system that sought to kill, or in the least, lock-up all professed Christians. [source]
One could argue the fall of Christianity happened around AD 313 with the conversion of Constantine and the Edict of Milan, in which Christianity moved from a persecuted religion to the main religion of the State. We can track from Constantine’s conversion to now and comment on the rise of institutionalized Christianity in Europe, as well as the beginnings of the Corporate Christianity in the West — each of which rely heavily on the select (chosen) few, who have the responsibility and authority to teach and impose Word of God upon the lay people. The house churches focus can’t be more opposite as they rely on the priesthood of all believers to move them in conversation about the Word of God and spur them to action on behalf of the Word of God.
So what? Why is this so intriguing? It seems the elephant in the room is not that small groups are alive and growing, but why are they alive and growing? What is moving people away from community churches and/or mega churches towards smaller more organic house churches?
Clearly, we are not in the midst of persecution as was the early church — a reality that forced them to meet in small groups as to not attract notice.
Is it a cultural phenomenon? As anonymity is less desired, but more realized — we become individuals that desire to be known but recognize the difficulty of celebrity in narcissistic culture of 6+ Billion people, all shouting to be heard. Could this desire to be known, be the cultural phenomenon that leads people away from the corporate church experience into a smaller more organic missional community?
It is also worth noting some of the deficiencies of small house church movements compared to the larger community church or mega-church movements:
- smaller budget
- smaller network
- smaller resource pool
- smaller visibility/marketability
- no accountability/hierarchy
Now, some may cite these deficiencies as advantages as it allows the small group to:
- smaller budget — money goes to needs over wants.
- smaller network — focused group means less infighting, one goal is easier to accomplish.
- smaller resource pool — resource pool is directly related to those inside group, no way to NOT give (of time, money, emotion) and go unnoticed.
- smaller visibility/marketability — Word of Mouth brings in those who have same passions, excludes those who don’t.
- no accountability/hierarchy — very nimble can focus on mission and turn on a dime without consulting powers that be.
Let’s get this conversation started…
Have you been involved in a small group, like one described above? How did this type of church impact you?
What are some other disadvantages to churches that are small groups?
What are some other advantages?
Why is this type of expression of church rising in popularity?
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1. The Barna Group — http://barna.org
2. Launching Missional Communities by Mike Breen & Alex Absalom
3. The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Stark
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Small Groups and the Church series posts:
*design by Brandon Jones
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