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

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

WorldwideIt 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 - ChinaChina 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 - India100,000 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 worldIn 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 StatesIt 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 StatesNBS Report on House Churches in the United States

2000 2025Conventional 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 2025Conventional 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 – CanadaChilliwack – 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 Movements1. 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.