What We Can Learn from the Global House Church Movementwith Dr. Randy Wollf

Worldwide

It is estimated that worldwide there are approximately:

450 million Christians within conventional churches10 million in cell-based churches450 million in simple, organic structures such as house churches, or meeting outdoors

Source – Dale (2005)

Case study - China

China went from having approximately five million believers (1949) to 80-130 million todayTens of millions of believers are part of house churches

Sources – Brother Yun et al (2003), Zdero (2004)

Case study - India

100,000 house churches started in India from 2001-2006.

“These little house churches in India are like the starfish, the more

you divide them the more they replicate.” (Choudhrie, 2007, p.

308)

Case study - EthiopiaIn 1982, the Ethiopian government outlawed the Meserete Kristos Church. It was comprised of 14 congregations with 5,000 members.What happened to this church that the government forced underground?

Source – Case Study (Ethiopia) in Nexus (2007).

Note: You can hear more about the story of the Meserete Church in the film “Against Great Odds” distributed by www.visionvideo.com.

Case study – Muslim world

In an Asian Muslim country, more than 150,000 Muslims embrace Jesus and gather in more than 3,000 locally led Isa Jamaats or Jesus Groups (Garrison, 2004).

Case study – United States

It is estimated that there are 5 million+ people in the U.S. who are involved in house churches (Dale and Dale, 2007).Neil Cole started his first organic church in a coffee shop. This was the start of Church Multiplication Associates (CMA – www.cmaresources)

– Cole (2007) and Cole (2005)

Case study – United States

NBS Report on House Churches in the United States

2000 2025

Conventional church

70% 30-35%

Alternative faith-based community(e.g. house churches, cyber-churches, marketplace churches)

5% 30-35%

Family 5% 5%

Media, arts, culture

20% 30-35%

Churchgoers Putting Feet to Their Longings in the U.S.

Source - Barna (2005)

2000 2025

Conventional church

70% 30-35%

Alternative faith-based community(e.g. house churches, cyber-churches, marketplace churches)

5% 30-35%

Family 5% 5%

Media, arts, culture

20% 30-35%

Churchgoers Putting Feet to Their Longings in the U.S.

Source - Barna (2005)

Case study – Canada

Chilliwack – Chilliwack House Churches (http://www.chilliwackhousechurches.com) Calgary – East Edge (part of Centre Street) (http://www.eastedge.ca/) Winnipeg – The Journey (www.journeypath.com) Ontario – The Meeting House (http://www.themeetinghouse.ca/)Canada-wide - Pathfinders Fellowships (www.pathfindersfellowships.com).

Connecting with the Longings of North American Christians:

CustomizationParticipationIncarnational communityRelationships

From Zahn, D. (2005). What are driving today’s innovations. Leadership Journal, 26(1), 11.

A Key Characteristic in Some Global Church Planting Movements

Garrison, David. Church Planting Movements: How God is Redeeming a Lost World. Midlothian, VA: WIGTake Resources, 2004.

A Key Characteristic in Some Global Church Planting Movements

1. Extraordinary prayer2. Abundant Gospel

sowing3. Intentional church

planting4. Scriptural authority5. Local leadership

6. Lay leadership7. House

churches/cell churches

8. Multiplying churches

9. Rapid reproduction10.Healthy churches

Garrison, David. Church Planting Movements: How God is Redeeming a Lost World. Midlothian, VA: WIGTake Resources, 2004.

Characteristics of Healthy House Churches…they are

SimpleMinimal programsMinimal organizational requirementsMinimal expenses

Painting entitled “Simplicity”

Characteristics of Healthy House Churches…they are

RelationalCharacteristics of healthy house church communities:

ContinuousAuthenticIntimateIntergenerational

Characteristics of Healthy House Churches…they are

MissionalTalking outreachSharing JesusInviting the curiousStarting discussion groupsLaunching a movement

Characteristics of Healthy House Churches…they are

FlexibleIn coming alongside new friendsIn changing to address needs/opportunities within the group

Characteristics of Healthy House Churches…they are

ParticipatoryEveryone can use their gifts and abilitiesInteractive learning encourages personal discovery and application of biblical truths They can provide a context for extraordinary prayer

Recommended BooksCole, N. (2005). Organic church: Growing faith where life happens. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.Dale, F. (2005). Getting started: A practical guide to planting simple churches. Manchaca, TX: Karis Publishing – E-version available on MinistryLift websiteFrazee, R. (2013). Connecting church 2.0. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.Garrison, D. (2004). Church planting movements: How God is redeeming a lost world. Midlothian, VA: WIGTake Resources.Simson, W. (1999). Houses that change the world: The return of the house churches. Emmelsbull, Germany: C&P Publishing.Zdero, R. (Ed.) (2007). Nexus: The world house church movement reader. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library.