Author	Thread: husbands and home churches
Admin	husbands and home churches Posted : 13 Dec, 2010 11:19 PM I've decided that it would be really cool for the future hubby and I to start a home church, partly because it's so hard to find a really good church these days and partly because I really like the idea of a small, close-knit body of believers and not having the overhead costs of having a church building. So, I was just wondering how many Christian guys out there would be on board with that idea. Would that scare you if a woman wanted to start a home church ? Or, would you be excited about it? Also, does anyone have any suggestions on starting a home church? Post Reply
Tulip89 View Profile History	husbands and home churches Posted : 14 Dec, 2010 06:56 PM I'm curious. What exactly is the appeal of starting your own home church over just going to a church that has a strong community group/small group program and getting involved with one of those? Post Reply
SilverFire View Profile History	husbands and home churches Posted : 14 Dec, 2010 09:56 PM This appeals to me in several ways. 1) Try to find a church that has both solid Scriptural teaching and worshipful music. I mean music that is meditative, worshipful, and doesn't consist of whatever shallow, trite, shibboleth-shouting prai$e-n-wor$hip you hear on the radio every day. Such churches are few and far inbetween, and believe me, I've tried. Music is the backbone of corporate worship and if the music sucks, then so does your worship experience. I've been in worship bands and I've been in the audience (did I just say audience? yup) and I'm convinced that the modern church has absolutely lost its way. It no longer worships. It might celebrate, but worship? No. A home church doesn't need an overhead, a rack of speakers, or eight musicians. A handful of voices will do, with a piano or a guitar if you can swing it. 2) I've never seen a church that actually acts like the early Christian churches did. Everything is a show and the audience (yup, the audience) doesn't participate much. Sure, you can say hi to people at the appointed time; you can worship (if that's done right), and the rest is passive listening. The better churches take prayer requests, but most don't even do that. The members don't interact with one another; they don't share their lives; they don't demonstrate their gifts; they don't speak the words God has given them; they sit back and proclaim -- oh, we have small groups for that. A home church allows people to be in one another's lives in a radical and real way; it allows people to share whatever they've learned this week or to give what God's given them. It is, from what I can tell, Christianity lived as it's supposed to be lived -- without the soul-stealing formalism of spectator worship and passive church attendance that asks little and yields little. Somewhere between the 100 db megachurch and the soul-dead mainline denominations is the hope and glory of participatory church. Post Reply
Tulip89 View Profile History	husbands and home churches Posted : 14 Dec, 2010 11:26 PM I don't know if it's just an issue with where you live Silver, but I can think of 4 churches off the top of my head within an hour of me that meet all of your criteria. You're going to have issues with people no matter how well you hand pick who you let into your church. Post Reply
cmseeker10 View Profile History	husbands and home churches Posted : 15 Dec, 2010 04:01 AM Great post Pixy.:applause:I think Tulip has a point here.here's a tetimony about our plan of having a home church.I grew up on the countryside in a small village of less than 100 household.At first we didn't have a church so that made us to walk 4 miles 3 times a week to attend Sunday service,prayer meetings on wenesday night and youth service every Friday night.It wasn't easy especially in rainy season. When my older sis. got married to a pastor we started a home church,and begin doing Bible study in my mothers house.It was only us, the family who gathers and worship,and it was a breakthrough because my mom,who is a( spiritits medium) got saved . Now as God worked in mighty and unexpected ways people became curious on what is going on?And we can't say no or control it .God is doing His part through that small group and who are we to stop it. Now that home church to be, has grown into a community church and almost all the residents there got saved.It is now being pastored by another couple while my Brother in law and my sis moved to another community to plant another which has just celebrated it's 8th year anniversarry in November. Same thing happen again here at a city where I'currently live.We did the same and we started a home church at my place.I have a pastor friend who have been leading the bible study.Family's started coming and friends also came to join.To make the story short.We grew in number and needed a bigger place.God blessed us with a lot ,started to build our santuary and now the building is half finish.Hopefully we can transfer to the new building early next year. My point is starting a home church is great but like tulip said how can you choose whom to welcome in? Post Reply
View Profile History	husbands and home churches Posted : 15 Dec, 2010 10:55 AM Thank you for the feedback, everybody. @Tulip: SilverFire really expressed my thoughts exactly (like in-my-head-exactly). I feel like the churches in my immediate are just aren't what the church should be. It's like they're religious social clubs. I want more than that. I want something real and authentic. @cm: Thanks for your post; it was truly an encouragement =) @Shawn: It's not a requirement. It's just an idea that's been rolling around in my head for awhile. It would be awesome if the future hubby was open to the possibility, but it's not a requirement. I have very few actual requirements... One of the big ones is that the guy be open to the Lord's leading. It's a red flag to me if a guy says something like, "I would never do that." What I'd prefer to hear is, "I don't feel God leading me in that direction now, but I'm open to God changing my heart." RE: church growth I'm glad so many of you have brought that up because it is something that I do need to think about it. I would desire for the church to grow, so the future hubby and I would need to discuss how to handle church growth (in he event that God does lead us to start a home church). Post Reply
bcpianogal View Profile History	husbands and home churches Posted : 15 Dec, 2010 11:07 AM Tulip, you and I live in the "Bible Belt"...there is a different church on every corner! I drive 25 miles to work each day, and I pass about 20 churches on the way (yes, I counted). All different denominations, sizes, worship styles, etc. Some people live where there are fewer churches, and from what I've heard, the churches that there are can be fairly large. They have to sort of take what they can get, or drive a long distance. I can see the appeal of a home church for those people. Personally, though, I wouldn't want to start or really even be a member of a home church. I like the larger body of believers, and I like being able to participate in smaller groups within the large group. But I do agree with what Silverfire said about churches wanting to put on a show and the audience is just that...an audience. Even with churches on every corner, it's hard to find one that is a good "fit". Post Reply
View Profile History	husbands and home churches Posted : 15 Dec, 2010 11:19 AM Yeah, I live about an hour outside of Seattle and Seattle is like one of the least churched places in the nation. So, I'm thinking maybe I just don't have the options here that other people have. Assuming that I want to go to a church whose doctrine I agree with, there are really only a handful of options, most of which I've tried. Granted, when I get married, I don't intend to really settle in the particular town I'm in now because my family is here... They're really controlling and stuff and hubby and I would probably want to separate ourselves from that. So, who knows... maybe my future place of residence will have better options. But, if not, it would be great if the hubby would be open to having a church in our home. Post Reply
Tulip89 View Profile History	husbands and home churches Posted : 15 Dec, 2010 12:12 PM Don't get me wrong, I'm not against starting a church, and I don't think owning your own separate building is necessary. My church I grew up in started meeting in people's homes. I just think the focus should be on building a strong church, not keeping it artificially small. Post Reply
View Profile History	husbands and home churches Posted : 15 Dec, 2010 01:39 PM I live in the Bible Belt, Piano, but I do understand the feelings that both Pixie and Silverfire have in regards to churches. Even here, it can be frustrating at times in finding a church that actually worships God, not just in lip service, but also in actions. I've been to many churches over the years, where whenever you go, people stare at you with cold dead eyes. Some of the churches didn't even use the Bible in the messages. Post Reply

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