A house church or home church is a label used to describe a group of Christians who

regularly gather for worship in private homes. The group may be part of a larger
Christian body, such as a parish, but some have been independent groups that see
the house church as the primary form of Christian community.

Sometimes these groups meet because the membership is small, and a home is the most
appropriate place to assemble until such time as the group has sufficient funds to
rent a regular place to meet (as in the beginning phase of the British New Church
Movement). Sometimes this meeting style is advantageous because the group is a
member of a Christian congregation which is otherwise banned from meeting as is the
case in China and Iran.

Some recent Christian writers[who?] have supported the view that the Christian
Church should meet in houses, and have based the operation of their communities
around multiple small home meetings. Other Christian groups choose to meet in
houses when they are in the early phases of church growth because a house is the
most affordable option for the small group to meet until the number of people
attending the group is sufficient to warrant moving to a commercial location such
as a church building. House church organizations claim that this approach is
preferable to public meetings in dedicated buildings because it is a more effective
way of building community and personal relationships, and it helps the group to
engage in outreach more naturally.[1] Some believe small churches were a deliberate
apostolic pattern in the first century, and they were intended by Christ.[2]

Contents
1 Origins
2 History
2.1 In China
2.2 Revivals
3 Simple church
3.1 Origins and influences
3.2 Values
3.3 Practices
3.4 Media and popular attention
3.5 Criticism
4 See also
5 References
5.1 Further reading
6 External links
Origins
In the early church, Christian fellowship, prayer, and service took place mainly in
private homes, as described in the book of Acts of the Apostles.[3] The New
Testament shows that the Early Christian church exhibited a richness of fellowship
and interactive practice that is typically not the case in conventional
denominations. They believe that Christians walked closely with each other and
shared their lives in Christ together.[1]

The Dura-Europos house church, ca. 232, with chapel area on right.
Several passages in the Bible specifically mention churches meeting in houses. The
first house church is recorded in Acts 1:13, where the disciples of Jesus met
together in the "Upper Room" of a house, traditionally believed to be where the
Cenacle is today. "The churches of Asia greet you, especially Aquila and Prisca
greet you much in the Lord, along with the church that is in their house." I
Corinthians 16:19.[4] The church meeting in the house of Priscilla and Aquila is
again mentioned in Romans 16:3, 5. The church that meets in the house of Nymphas is
also cited in the Bible: "Greet the brethren in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the
church which is in her house." Colossians 4:15. There is another reference to the
church meeting in Philemon's home ("To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker—
also to Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier—and to the church that
meets in your home:…." Philemon 1:2), but scholars recognize this as simply the
meeting place of the Corinthian church—not a separately-meeting house church.

For the first 300 years of Early Christianity, until Constantine legalized
Christianity and churches moved into larger buildings, Christians typically met in
homes, if only because intermittent persecution (before the Edict of Milan in 313)
did not allow the erection of public church buildings.[5] Clement of Alexandria, an
early church father, wrote of worshipping in a house. The Dura-Europos church, a
private house in Dura-Europos in Syria, was excavated in the 1930s and was found to
have been used as a Christian meeting place in AD 232, with one small room serving
as a baptistry.[6][7] creating the current style church seen today.[8]

History
During the 20th and 21st centuries, the complexity of obtaining government
authorizations, in some countries of the world which apply sharia or communism,
government authorizations for worship are complex for Evangelical Christians.[9]
[10][11] Because of persecution of Christians, Evangelical house churches are the
only option for many Christians to live their faith in community.[12] For example,
there is the Evangelical house churches in China movement.[13] The meetings thus
take place in private houses, in secret and in "illegality".[14]

In China

A house church in Shunyi, Beijing.

Main article: House church (China)
In the People's Republic of China (PRC), house churches or family churches
(Chinese: 家庭教会; pinyin: jiātíng jiàohuì) are Protestant assemblies that operate
independently from the state-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) and
China Christian Council (CCC), and came into existence due to the change in
religious policy after the end of the Cultural Revolution in the early 1980s. The
TSPM was set up after the Communist Party established the PRC in 1949, for
Protestants to declare their patriotism and support of the new government. However,
by the time of the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), all public religious practice
came to an end; the government of the People's Republic of China officially
espouses state atheism, and has conducted antireligious campaigns to this end.[15]
[16][17][18] Many churches, temples and mosques were destroyed during the Cultural
Revolution, which also criminalized the possession of religious texts.[18] Due to
the changes in religious policy after the end of the Cultural Revolution, in 1980,
the TSPM was reinstated and the China Christian Council was formed. Protestant
congregations that wished to worship publicly registered with the TSPM, but those
that did not were eventually termed house churches.[19]

Revivals
Recent developments in the house church movement in North America and the United
Kingdom are often seen as a return to a New Testament church restorationist
paradigm, a restoration of God's eternal purpose, and the natural expression of
Christ on Earth, urging Christians to reject hierarchy and rank, and return to
practices described and encouraged in Scripture. According to some proponents, many
churchgoers are turning to house churches because traditional churches fail to meet
their relational needs and are not representative of the structure exhibited
throughout the Acts of the Apostles and Epistles of the New Testament.[20]

Some who support the house church movement (associated with Jon Zens, Milt
Rodriguez, Wolfgang Simson, Frank Viola and others) consider the term "house
church" to be a misnomer, asserting that the main issue for Christians who gather
together is not the location of the meeting, but whether or not Jesus Christ is the
functional head of the gathering and face-to-face community is occurring.[21] Other
names which may be used to describe this movement are simple church, "relational
church," "primitive church," "body life," "organic church" or "biblical
church."[22]

House churches can adopt an organic church philosophy, which is not necessarily a
particular method, technique or movement, but rather a particular church expression
that the group takes on when the organization is functioning according to the
pattern of a living organism. The church represented in the New Testament is based
on this principle, and both traditional & contemporary versions of "Westernized"
Christianity has reversed this order.[23]

The origins of the modern house church movement in North America and the UK are
varied. Some have viewed it as a development and logical extension of the Plymouth
Brethren movement, both in doctrine and practice. Many individuals and assemblies
have adopted new approaches to worship and governance, while others recognize a
relationship to the Anabaptists, the Free Christians, the Quakers, the Amish, the
Hutterites, the Mennonites, the Moravians, the Methodists, the much earlier
conventicles movement, the Waldenses or the Priscillianists. Another perspective
sees the house church movement as a re-emergence of the move of the Holy Spirit
during the Jesus Movement of the 1970s in the USA or the worldwide Charismatic
Renewal of the late 1960s and 1970s.[citation needed] Others believe that the House
Church movement was pioneered by the Reverend Ernest Southcott in the 1950s, when
he was Vicar of St Wilfred's Church in Halton, Leeds, in England. Southcott
believed that if people would not come to church, the church must go to the people,
and his book The Parish Comes Alive spread this idea widely among Anglicans.[24]

Limited financial resources can encourage church leaders to rethink the pattern of
ministry and look for ways to forward the outreach of the church with unpaid
members.[25]

Simple church
The simple church is an Evangelical Christian movement that reinterprets the nature
and practice of church. A simple church may meet anywhere with or without trained
leaders, formal liturgy, programs or structures.[26] To facilitate relationship,
discipleship (spiritual formation), multiplication, mobility, and member ownership,
a simple church is usually a small group of no more than 20-25 persons. Most Church
"programs" privately meet during some days of the week and discuss troubles that
they are having with their faith, and personal life. Church "programs" are
virtually nonexistent and small group participation is essential. The process of
moving from worship to small group, small group to mission work, and mission work
to worship is a primary focus.[citation needed]

Authors Tony and Felicity Dale, founders of House2House Ministries, have promoted
the term "simple church" in their book "Simply Church".[27][28] The term is often
used interchangeably with other terms like organic church,[29] essential church,
primitive church, bodylife, relational church, and micro-church.[30]

In the early twenty-first century a number of established Christian denominations

and mission organizations have officially supported efforts to develop house church
networks.[31]

Origins and influences

The simple church movement is part of the broader house church movement.[citation
needed] Simple church has also been influenced by overseas missions and the growth
of church planting movements.[32] Church planting movements are spontaneously
growing church multiplication efforts.

The missional Movement[33] has also influenced simple church.[34]

Values
As in any decentralized, spontaneous movement, a variety of values are expressed in
simple church. Due to the influence of some key groups and Acts 2:42-47, three
overarching values have emerged in many circles. Adherents Paul Kaak (who began
ministry in one of the largest and most systematized mega-churches in America) and
Neil Cole originally articulated these values using the letters DNA. According to
him:

D - Divine Truth: Truth is the foundation for everything.[35]

N - Nurturing Relationships : Healthy relationships are what make up a family. Love
for one another is to be a constant pursuit of the family of God.
A - Apostolic Mission : Apostolic means, simply, “sent.”[36]
These values have since been promoted by House2House Ministries[37] and DAWN North
America, and have been adopted by various groups such as New York's MetroSoul[38]

Practices
Adherents of George Barna and Frank Viola's book Pagan Christianity point out a
number of reforms that organic churches often advocate.

The belief that modern clergy is a vestige of Roman pagan religion that was absent
from the early church and is largely at odds with the true priesthood of all
believers. The movement sees the institution of the clergy at odds with passages
like Matthew 20, Matthew 23, 3rd John, and the message in Revelation regarding the
deeds of the Nicolaitans (Greek-literally those who triumph over the people). 1
Corinthians 12-14 paints a picture of an every-member functioning church meeting
entirely at odds with the modern religious service which is performed by
professionals for an audience. However, some believe this view does not take into
account the Jewish and synagogue based nature of the ekklesia, which explains the
talk of elders and deacons found in the New Testament. In reply, many simple
churches do recognize elders and deacons according to the biblical standards laid
out in Timothy and Titus but believe these people emerge over time as their
character becomes descriptive of these roles. In an environment where people are
free to express their gifts, such people can emerge. Also, being an elder or deacon
does not mean this person dominates the meeting. 3 John rebukes Diotrephes the
elder who had to be first and was dominating. The simple church largely believes
the idea that an elder or deacon is not a license for some to minister and others
to be passive.
Valuing the Lord's Supper occurring as a regular, recurring full meal celebration
rather than a short religious ritual. The early integration of the home based
ritual into the public synagogue-like meeting functioned to reduce the symbolic
nature of the act to a private moment, replacing its symbolism of fellowship and
dedication to the Lord. This was complete by the time of Constantine, when home
based agape feasts were banned. However, this history does not in itself devalue
the need for the larger synagogue-like meeting for prayer, ministry of the word and
singing. Simple church adherents also enjoy occasional and even monthly larger
gatherings that do this very thing, though they emphasize the smaller meeting of
the ekklesia as the environment for spiritual growth.
Organic churches tend to place less emphasis on the building or meeting place. To
this end, Neil Cole, an adherent of simple church, states that "buildings, budgets,
and big shots," tend to do more to contain Christianity than allow it to spread.
[39] However, this statement against larger sized churches does nothing to
substantiate its claim.[citation needed]
Media and popular attention
In the early twenty–first century the growth of the movement has had increased news
media coverage:[40][41][42]

Many books have been written on the simple church movement, especially by insiders
(see House Church, Recommended Books). In the early twenty-first century, books
began to appear by those studying the movement from a more objective view,
including George Barna's Revolution.[43] Barna says that "revolutionary"
expressions such as simple church will soon account for one third of American
spirituality.[44]

Visibility of the movement also increased due to national and regional gatherings
of various kinds. One of these is the Annual House Church Conference held in
Dallas, TX, USA, and other locations throughout the US.

Criticism
How the simple church movement relates to constructing a theology and ecclesiology
is the subject of much debate, especially with critics of the movement.

Several prominent voices have serious concerns about simple church. For example, J.
Lee Grady (Charisma Online Editor) says such a movement wants to "reinvent the
church without its biblical structure and New Testament order — and without the
necessary people who are anointed and appointed by God to lead it. To follow this
defective thesis to its logical conclusion would require us to fire all pastors,
close all seminaries and Bible colleges, padlock our sanctuaries and send everybody
home..."[45] Grady and other critics worry that the simple church movement could
encourage people to leave more traditional forms of church, which could lead to
further collapse or decline of Christendom.

See also
Evangelical Christianity portal
icon Christianity portal
Cafe church
Church planting
House church (China)
Local churches (affiliation)
Missional church
Pub church
Restorationism (Christian primitivism)
Schuilkerk – A type of house church in 17th and 18th century Netherlands
Two by Twos – also known as Cooneyites, Christian Conventions, Meetings, Workers
and Friends, The Way or The Truth
References
David, Stephen. "Ten Reasons For Small Churches". NTRF. Archived from the original
on 28 December 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
Simson, Wolfgang (2005), Houses that Change the World, Authentic Media, pp. 79–101
Philip Carrington, The Early Christian Church: Volume 1, The First Christian
Century, Cambridge University Press, UK, 2011, p. 41-42
"Bible Gateway passage: 1 Corinthians 16:19 - English Standard Version". Bible
Gateway.
George Thomas Kurian, Mark A. Lamport, Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United
States, Volume 5, Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2016, p. 1142.
Floyd V. Filson (June 1939). "The Significance of the Early House Churches".
Journal of Biblical Literature. 58 (2): 105–112. doi:10.2307/3259855. JSTOR
3259855.
"Assist". Archived from the original on 20 February 2006.
Fenn, John (26 August 2016). "Patrick or Constantine". The Church Without Walls
International.
Erwin Fahlbusch, Geoffrey William Bromiley, The Encyclopedia of Christianity,
Volume 4, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, USA, 2005, p. 163
Yves Mamou, Yves Mamou: «Les persécutions de chrétiens ont lieu en majorité dans
des pays musulmans», lefigaro.fr, France, March 20, 2019
Wesley Rahn, In Xi we trust - Is China cracking down on Christianity?, dw.com,
Germany, January 19, 2018
Allan Heaton Anderson, An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic
Christianity, Cambridge University Press, UK, 2013, p. 104
 Brian Stiller, Evangelicals Around the World: A Global Handbook for the 21st
Century, Thomas Nelson, USA, 2015, p. 328
Mark A. Lamport, Encyclopedia of Christianity in the Global South, Volume 2,
Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2018, p. 364
Dillon, Michael (2001). Religious Minorities and China. Minority Rights Group
International. p. 4. ISBN 978-1-897693-24-7. The People's Republic of China (PRC),
created by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1949, is officially an atheist
state.
Buang, Sa'eda; Chew, Phyllis Ghim-Lian (9 May 2014). Muslim Education in the 21st
Century: Asian Perspectives. Routledge. p. 75. ISBN 978-1-317-81500-6.
Subsequently, a new China was found on the basis of Communist ideology, i.e.
atheism. Within the framework of this ideology, religion was treated as a
'contorted' world-view and people believed that religion would necessarily
disappear at the end, along with the development of human society. A series of
anti-religious campaigns was implemented by the Chinese Communist Party from the
early 1950s to the late 1970s. As a result, in nearly 30 years between the
beginning of the 1950s and the end of the 1970s, mosques (as well as churches and
Chinese temples) were shut down and Imams involved in forced 're-education'.
Esposito, John L.; Fasching, Darrell J.; Lewis, Todd (2008). Religion and
Globalization: World Religions in Historical Perspective. Oxford University Press.
p. 417. ISBN 978-0-19-517695-7. Until the end of China's Cultural Revolution
(1976), all religious practices in the region were repressed and most Buddhist
temples, monasteries, and shrines were destroyed.
Grim, Brian J.; Finke, Roger (2010). The Price of Freedom Denied: Religious
Persecution and Conflict in the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge University Press.
ISBN 9781139492416. Seeking a complete annihilation of religion, places of worship
were shut down; temples, churches, and mosques were destroyed; artifacts were
smashed; sacred texts were burnt; and it was a criminal offence even to possess a
religious artifact or sacred text. Atheism had long been the official doctrine of
the Chinese Communist Party, but this new form of militant atheism made every
effort to eradicate religion completely.
Bays, Daniel (2012). A New History of Christianity in China. Malden, MA: Wiley-
Blackwell. pp. 182, 190–195.
Henning, Jeffrey. "The Growing House-Church Movement". Ministry Today.
"House Church vs. Organic Expression - Beyond Evangelical | The Blog of Frank
Viola".
Dale, Felicity. "Starting a simple church can be simple". Simply Church. Retrieved
26 February 2014.
Viola, Frank. "Why Organic Church Is Not Exactly a Movement". Christianity Today.
The Parish Comes Alive by Ernie Southcott, London: Mowbray, 1961
Roberts, Mark D. "Leading a Church in Challenging Financial Times". Patheos.
House2House Magazine Website, "What Do We Mean By Simple Church Archived 2007-09-
27 at the Wayback Machine
Dale, T. and Dale, F. (2000) Simply Church. Karis Books, ISBN 0-9718040-1-X
What We Do: Planting Simple Churches Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback
Machine
Cole, N. (2005) Organic Church: Growing faith where life happens. John Wiley &
Sons, ISBN 0-7879-8129-X
Larry Kreider, "House Churches & Micro Churches[permanent dead link]" (Accessed
September 29, 2006)
Arnold, Lori (19 January 2000). "Displaced pastor finds grass is greener on the
outside". Christian Times. Archived from the original on 22 October 2006. Retrieved
1 May 2017.
See David Garrison, "Church Planting Movements" (International Missionary Board
Southern Baptist Convention, 2004); and Rad Zdero, "The Global House Church
Movement" (William Carey Library Publishers, 2004, ISBN 0-87808-342-1).
"Friend of Missional". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 2
January 2021.
Thoman, Roger, House Church Basics Pt. 3: Missional Church, retrieved 29 September
2006
A recent variation refers to the "D" as "Divine Connection" and views the Word of
God and prayer as two primary means of maintaining that connection with God. The
DNA metaphor is thus extended to include four overarching values instead of only
three.
Neil Cole and Paul Kaak, Organic Church Planters Greenhouse: The First Story CMA
Resources. Long Beach, 2004) pg. 1-6. Also published in Organic Church by Neil Cole
What Do We Mean By Simple Church Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
(Accessed September 29, 2006)
MetroSoul Website, "What We Do: Planting Simple Churches Archived September 27,
2007, at the Wayback Machine (Accessed September 29, 2006)
Cole, N. Organic Church
Chandler and Aryanpur, Michael Alison and Arianne (4 June 2006). "Going to Church
by Staying at Home: Clergy-Less Living Room Services Seen as a Growing Trend". The
Washington Post. Retrieved 30 September 2006.
Laidlaw, Stuart. "Religion, but no church required". Toronto Star. Retrieved 30
September 2006.
Van Biema and Healy, David and Rita. "There's No Pulpit Like Home". Time. Archived
from the original on 12 June 2006. Retrieved 30 September 2006.
Barna, G. (2005). Revolution. Tyndale House. ISBN 1-4143-1016-1.
Barna, G. (2005). Revolution. Tyndale House. p. 49. ISBN 1-4143-1016-1.
J. Lee Grady, Barna's Dangerous Proposal Archived 2012-03-02 at the Wayback
Machine" (Accessed September 30, 2006)
Further reading
Atkerson, Steve (2005). House Church: Simple, Strategic, Scriptural. USA: NTRF.
ISBN 0-9729082-1-8.
Banks, Robert. Paul's Idea of Community: The Early House Churches in Their
Historical Setting (1994). Peabody: Hendricksen, ISBN 978-0853642510.
Banks, Robert and Julia, The Home Church: Regrouping the People of God for
Community and Mission (1998). Peabody: Hendricksen ISBN 978-1565631793.
DeVries, David (2010). Six-Word Lessons to Discover Missional Living: 100 Six-Word
Lessons to Align Every Believer with the Mission of Jesus. Bellevue: Leading on the
Edge International. ISBN 978-1-933750-26-2.
Fenn, John (2010). Return of the First Church. Dog Ear Publishing. ISBN 978-
1608442201.
MacHaffie, Barbara J. (2006). Her Story: Women in Christian Tradition (2nd ed.).
Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress. ISBN 0-8006-3826-3.
Osiek, C.; Margaret Y. MacDonald (2006). A Woman's Place: House Churches in
Earliest Christianity. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress. ISBN 0-8006-3777-1.
Simson, Wolfgang (2001). Houses that Change the World: The Return of the House
Churches. Authentic. ISBN 1-85078-356-X.
Viola, Frank, and George Barna (2008). Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of
Our Church Practices. Carol Stream: BarnaBooks. ISBN 978-1-4143-1485-3. A scholarly
work based on the Bible and church history that reveals the origins of contemporary
church practices such as the modern pastoral role, pulpits, church buildings,
dressing up for church, tithing, seminaries, etc. Reveals that many of these
practices are rooted in a mixture of the New Testament with Old Testament and Roman
pagan practices.
Viola, Frank (2008). Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic
Christianity. Colorado Springs: David C. Cook. ISBN 978-1-4347-6875-9. A
constructive follow up to Pagan Christianity; explains the purpose of Christian
fellowship, spontaneous church meetings (1 Cor. 14:26), and the priesthood of all
believers (1 Pet. 2:9). Extensive bibliography of organic church literature.
Viola, Frank (2009). Finding Organic Church: A Comprehensive Guide to Starting and
Sustaining Authentic Christian Communities. Colorado Springs: David C. Cook. ISBN
978-1434768667. A practical follow up to Reimagining Church; explains the biblical
models for planting and nurturing organic church communities along with how to
navigate them through the common problems they will inevitably face.
Zdero, Rad (2004). The Global House Church Movement. Pasadena: William Carey
Library Publishers. ISBN 978-0-87808-374-9.
Zdero, Rad (2007). NEXUS: The World House Church Movement Reader. Pasadena: William
Carey Library Publishers. ISBN 978-0-87808-342-8.
Bio, Ed Stetzer (25 May 2017). "Some Quick Thoughts on House Churches: The Good,
the Bad, and Why You Should Be Open to Them". Christianity Today. The Exchange.
External links
NBC News story on House Churches NBC news story from October 2010 on house churches
Benefits of House Church 2007 Tulsa World news article on house churches - part 1
House Church 2007 Tulsa World news article on house church - part 2
House Churches at Curlie
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