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Overview
Home Bible Community is a new denomination (invented by me) based on the home church model. The goal is to build a mature, interactive and scalable Christian community emphasizing:
- Discussion-based, meditative Bible study
- Leadership opportunities and training
This new denomination based on radical changes to the traditional church model as well as important differences with the House Church model. Characteristics:
- It is family-based like the Amish (but not frozen in history).
- It is not authoritative and controlling like the shepherding movement.
- It is not an anti-institutional church movement like many home churches.
- It has discussion-based, meditative Bible study as a key focus.
Please feel free to use this model in forming your own Christian homechurch-based denomination.
More info about the House Church Movement.
 The House Church |
Discussion Meetings |
House Church Movement
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Distinctives
Organized into 3 levels:
- Home Groups
- Local Community (a coalition of Home Groups)
- Denominational Administration (regional, national and global organization of Local Communities). [This article does not address this level].
Outreach to society (the community) is organized at all 3 levels.
Governance at all 3 levels is based on these principles:
- Self-governing
- Democratic
- Constrained only by the vision and mission statement
All Home Groups within a local geographical region are organized into Local Communities which have regular (monthly) celebration meetings featuring such activities as a love feast with communion, worship, local group reports, special reports, sermons, missionary reports and fellowship. These are outdoors, in a rented facility or wherever.
The emphasis is on small interactive groups called Home Groups which are led by a pastor. Activities include worship, Bible study, prayer and fellowship.
The emphasis is on interactive, discussion based, inductive Bible study.
There is leadership training for Home Group leaders (pastors).
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Definitions
For clarity I consistently use certain terms by giving them restricted and specific meanings:
- Home Groups — small meetings in the home.
- Local Community (also shortened to "Community") — the coalition of Home Groups in a small geographical area — members can easily travel to a common meeting location.
- Denominational Administration — the Denominational government. Includes local, national and global Denominational Administration. This topic is not addressed in this article.
- Society — refers to the community outside of the Home Bible Community denomination. I would use the word "community" for this but to avoid confusion with the term "Local Community" I instead use the word "society."
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Synopsis of Mission Statement
A high-level overview of the main points:
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A Reactionary Movement
We are frustrated with the paradigm of the traditional church as well as some of the reactionary views of the house church movement. In response we've created a model that resolves these issues. In acknowledging these issues we don't wish to dwell on them but, rather, to highlight the historical motivation for starting Home Bible Community. And we don't wish to judge or create division with the institutional church or the house church movement. We merely believe that there is a large group of people who share our vision and who want to join us. Many of these can no longer be reached by the traditional church model.
- Emphasis on exhortation in sermons — Even in many House Churches, the Bible Study or sermon by the leader or leaders is still based on the sermon model of the traditional church in which the preacher exhorts the listeners to be good. We should instead be reading, discussing, and meditating on the Bible in a group.
- Emphasis on weekly sermons — Why should mature Christians sit in the pews each Sunday morning listening to a polished oratorical sermon? We should instead be studying the Bible for ourselves in an interactive setting and ministering to one another in a small group setting.
- Emphasis on money — How can a small church afford to support an expensive building and a large pastoral staff? We keep costs low by (1) hosting groups in the home, and (2) allowing every mature believer to take on the pastoral and leadership roles.
- Emphasis on the church building — The building project has become the obsession of many congregations. This emphasis is misguided. Even missionaries, upon arriving in a foreign land, immediately begin taxing the natives to raise money for a building. We build only after the size of a Local Community is sufficient.
- Church volunteer burnout — No wonder it is such a chore to recruit children's church workers — the workload expectations of volunteers is too great and there is too little training.
- Clergy-laity mentality — The members of the body of Christ should all be doing the work of the ministry. Home Bible Community makes it difficult to be an uninvolved observer by emphasizing interactive small groups.
- Program based mentality — People in our culture want a program to plug in to. But Bible study, prayer, worship and fellowship should be the emphasis of all programs.
- Emphasis on church membership — This creates an us vs. them mentality. Those who choose not to become members remain outsiders and there is peer pressure to join. We value (1) maturity in Christ, (2) the desire to serve, and (3) development of task-specific knowledge and skills.
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Implementation
Growth in 3 phases
Phase 1
- Start the first Home Group in a particular community
- Train a leader to start second Home Group in that community
Phase 2
- Launch the second Home Group in that community
- Begin monthly Local Community meetings
- Growth within a single Local Community — launch new Home Groups in that community
- Expand ministry into society
Phase 3
- Launch Home Groups in other locales
- Repeat Phase 2 activities
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Denomination
We are a distinct denomination because we wish to organize according to certain principles. Our denominational distinctives are:
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Christian
We are committed to (1) unity in the essentials of the Christian faith, and (2) diversity in the non-essentials. Therefore, different people will hold differing non-essential beliefs. It is important (1) that we educate ourselves in these various viewpoints, and (2) that we are tolerant of others who have a different viewpoint concerning the non-essentials.
Many denominations are distinguished by a set of non-essential beliefs and practices (such as the purpose and practice of Baptism). We, however, are distinguished by an emphasis on (1) discussion-based, meditative Bible study, (2) small Home Groups, and (3) diversity in the non-essentials.
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Essential Beliefs
These are beliefs that we consider as essential to faith and to salvation.
The Nicene Creed
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen.
The Apostles' Creed
The basic creed of Reformed churches, as most familiarly known, is called the Apostles' Creed. It has received this title because of its great antiquity; it dates from very early times in the Church, a half century or so from the last writings of the New Testament.
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy *catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Amen.
*The word "catholic" refers not to the Roman Catholic Church, but to the universal church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are opposed to the teachings and doctrines of the Word-Faith movement, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, and liberal Christianity and consider them heretical.
We welcome and embrace Catholics as Christians as we would anyone else who professes saving faith in Jesus Christ.
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Denominational Values
We share the following values:
- We are supportive of home school but we see nothing wrong with public school, youth groups and children's church. It is important to us not to divide over this issue — we have seen it split churches.
- Traditional Church vs. House Church — we believe that God uses both. They reach different people and provide different services to their members. We should embrace both models without being divisive.
- We do not have church membership.
- We believe that women should be given equal opportunity in ministry and that the biblical passages concerning women not teaching or having authority over men are cultural (although we should take the warnings to heart).
- We believe that homosexual acts are sinful in the sight of God. But we should love homosexuals. We believe we have the God-given right and duty to exclude practicing homosexuals from positions of Christian leadership.
- We believe there is too much of an emphasis on collecting money in the church. We prefer to keep costs down to make it easier on everyone.
- We believe the Bible teaches that there is to be authority in the church — that elders should have the authority to manage the church. We don't care what terms are used for these leaders, whether elder, pastor or bishop.
- We believe that all forms of church government are valid. These include congregational, episcopal, presbyterian, authoritarian (ala Calvary Chapel), and others.
- We believe that God created and designed every species and that they were not created by random processes.
- We are not opposed to the consumption of alcohol but wish to de-emphasize its use to avoid stumbling others.
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Non-Essential Beliefs
We do not consider the following beliefs to be essential to faith and salvation and we welcome different views. While we can (and should) discuss our differences we should not divide over them or give them undue emphasis.
A few examples of non-essentials (with my view):
- The Calvinism/Arminianism debate — For example, I am not a strict 5 point Calvinist but believe as the Catholic Church does.
- Eschatology (end times prophecy) — For example, I am an amillennialist (but not a full preterist). My wife is a premillennialist. But we de-emphasize any particular end time viewpoint in our teaching and discussion.
- Creationism (old-earth/young-earth) — For example, I am an old earth, old universe, Progressive Creationist ala Hugh Ross. I don't believe in the Darwinian idea that new species come into existence via random processes.
- The Charismatic Movement — For example, I am not charismatic and don't speak in tongues (but I have in the past) but I'm not opposed to charismatic beliefs and practices. The book of 1 Corinthians chapter 14 makes it clear that we are not to forbid tongues. I believe that a believer can quench the Spirit through disobedience but I don't accept the standard charismatic teaching that there is a second event after salvation in which the Holy Spirit comes upon a person.
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We Oppose
We are opposed to certain beliefs, doctrines and practices and take a firm stand against them. But in doing so we are careful to love the people involved and to minister to them in order to assist them in overcoming their unhealthy, unwholesome and spiritually limiting hang-ups.
We oppose:
- Sinful lifestyles. This includes (but is not limited to):
- Alcoholism and non-medicinal drug dependence
- Sexually immoral lifestyles including adultery, fornication (sex outside of marriage), homosexuality, prostitution, addiction to and use of pornography, and other things too unwholesome to mention.
- Abusive relationships including verbal, emotional, sexual and physical abuse.
- Criminal behavior and lifestyles.
- False and heretical doctrine, teaching and practice. This includes (but is not limited to):
- Groups based on a flawed biblical understanding including Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses, the Word-Faith teaching, liberal Christianity, and many others.
- Groups with cult-like tendencies and unbalanced concepts of control and authority such as the Shepherding movement. We believe that the church's authority and control should not cross the boundary of the nuclear family's inner-circle, nor should it invade a person's right of self-autonomy. While the church is like a family, it is not the nuclear family.
- Divisive attitudes toward the traditional, institutional church.
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Community
Two levels of community:
- Local Communities — coalitions of Home Groups within the same geographic region in which members can easily travel. The participation and membership of Home Bible Community is very dynamic due to several factors:
- Members change the Home Group(s) they attend from time to time.
- New Home Groups are launched by splitting existing groups that have grown too large.
- New Home Groups are launched because a Pastor wishes to start one.
People have freedom of movement within Home Bible Community.
Local Communities are governed by a self-directing team consisting of delegates from the Home Groups. This team plans and organizes the regular (monthly) Community Celebration meetings. It is also responsible for addressing issues that affect the Home Groups and the Local Community.
- Denominational Administration — the Local Communities are organized into various regional, national and global groups. Delegates from each Local Community participate in these groups. This article does not address the Denominational Administration in any detail.
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Discussion-based, Meditative Bible Study
Discussion Meetings
Discussion-based, meditative Bible study is founded on the principle of Inductive Bible study. Inductive Bible study is based on these factors:
- The study of complete books in their entirety and in context.
- Consideration of literary styles, culture and history.
- Not neglecting certain books but considering the entire Bible, both Old and New Testaments.
- Three phases of studying:
- Read and observe details.
- Interpret in light of the context, culture and history.
- Apply by formulating general principles and specific commands — then doing it.
Inductive Bible Study forms the foundation for Discussion-based, meditative Bible study. But there are several other important factors that we believe we should practice during our meetings:
- Discussion — In order to build relationships based on meaningful Biblical principles we need interactive discussion which is focused on the ideas in the Biblical text. This is not to say that other discussion is not valuable, but that this Bible-focused discussion is important.
- Study — This is not classroom-style study, but Inductive Study in which we seek to accurately understand and interpret the text.
- Meditation — The emphasis of the discussion-based, meditative Bible study is that we are first and foremost meditating on the word as an act of worship and communion of God. This requires that we foster a meditative atmosphere and attitude during these studies.
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Leadership Opportunities
There are ample opportunities for people to serve and lead. A few examples:
- Lead one or more Home Groups and/or classes
- Participate as a delegate in a Local Community
- Head up or participate in an area of ministry to society
- Participate in the Denominational Administration
- Minister to one another using God-given gifts
We emphasize training leaders so that more people can become leaders and the quality of leadership will be high.
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Leadership Training
We strongly emphasize training leaders. We use commercially-available training materials such as college textbooks and popular books. Anyone can be involved in leading training classes and we should all be involved in continuous learning and life-long learning. We also have periodic feedback sessions in which Home Group leaders and self-directed team members get together to share experiences and increase skills and knowledge. As leaders, we desire to be good at what we do and to improve over time, but we are not condemning of others who are still learning.
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Home Groups
Home Groups are the foundation of Home Bible Community. There are many kinds of Home Groups.
Meeting Agenda - Meetings generally follow a set agenda but there is room for flexibility based on the Pastor's vision and the members' needs. The agenda:
- Worship — with or without musical instruments. May have hand and body motions for children. May be "Spirit-filled" for charismatic Home Groups.
- Discussion-based, meditative Bible study
- Prayer and "body" ministry
- Fellowship
- May optionally include communion or baptism
- May optionally include a meal
- May optionally include a short sermon or presentation before the discussion-based Bible study
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Meeting Times — Many Home Groups meet weekly since we generally expect that most members want to participate on a weekly basis. Some Home Groups meet several times a week if that is what the members want while other Special Home Groups meet less often. Home Groups meet at a variety of different times of day and days of the week based on the Pastor and member schedules. Some meet Sunday morning for those who want more of a traditional Sunday morning church experience.
Meeting size — There is a large range of sizes for Home Groups. Most weekly meetings are typically small enough that all members of the group can interact and that everyone has ample opportunity to participate in the discussion. Typically these groups are less than 20 people. Other groups are much larger or much smaller. Groups that are about to split and launch another group are typically large — too large, and requiring a split. Some Home Groups operate much as if they were a small church in their own right and are rather large.
Child Care — Some groups provide child care and others don't. Of the groups providing child care, some offer only babysitting services while others offer instruction targeted for the children. There might even be several groups for different age groups of children within a single Home Group.
Group splits — A group will not split by launching another group until a new Pastor has been raised up and trained.
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Examples of targeted Home Groups.
- Youth groups
- Young adult groups
- Men's groups
- Women's groups
- Children's groups
- Singles groups
- Recovery groups
- Special Biblical or topical focus groups
- New believers groups
- Non-believer (pre-evangelical or evangelical) groups
- Married couple groups
- Age range groups
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Classes
In addition to Home Groups there are also classes, courses and seminars. These are usually facilitated by Elders but sometimes by professionals under the guidance of Elders.
Examples of Classes that are offered:
- Leadership training
- New believers class
- Eschatology seminar
- Understanding various non-essential viewpoints
- How can we know the Bible is true?
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Roles
The basic roles are:
- Bishops (not addressed in this article) — represent the Local Communities and function in the Denominational Administration.
- Pastors
- Elders
- Deacons
- The body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27) — all Christians using their gifts in ministering to one another.
An individual may function in more than one role.
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Pastor
The pastoral role involves:
- Leading Home Groups
- Training Home Group leaders (in conjunction with Elders who also assist with this by offering special classes)
- Providing pastoral care for the members of the Home Group. This might include counseling if the Pastor is trained in this area.
Pastors will usually operate in one of the following categories:
Unpaid Volunteer Pastors — their ministry within Home Bible Community is performed for free. Out of pocket expenses may be reimbursed.
- Working full time to support self and family. Leading a Home Group places minimal demands on a person and shouldn't affect quality family time.
- Retired — may lead more than one Home Group. Doesn't need the money because retirement income provides adequate support.
Paid Pastors — they are paid either full time or part time by the Home Groups and/or Local Community.
- Home Group leaders — May lead more than one Home Group and have other responsibilities. It is up to the Home Groups and Local Communities to determine who is to provide financial support and to make salary arrangements.
- Salaried missionaries — there is really no distinction between Pastors in their native country or in a foreign country. A Home Group or Local Community may elect to finance the activities of a foreign Pastor as a missions program. Also, the Denominational Administration will provide support for missions work.
Women Pastors — We do not forbid women from being Pastors. We believe the exclusion of women from this role in the New Testament is cultural and doesn't apply today, but that but the principles given in 1 Timothy 2:12 and Titus 2:3 still apply. Therefore, a woman should exercise great discretion in the kinds of Home Groups she leads. For example, it is certainly appropriate for a her to lead a Home Group for women or children. But it is usually inappropriate for her to lead a Home Group of single or divorced men. But it the same regard, it would also be inappropriate for a man to lead a Home Group of single or divorced women unless his wife were involved.
A Pastor may lead more than one Home Group.
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Elder
The role of Elder involves:
- Any pastoral or spiritual leadership role. The role of Pastor is actually just a specialized Elder role. Therefore, all Pastors are also Elders.
- Assisting with the training of Pastors.
- Leadership in Local Community planning teams.
- Counseling for those who are gifted and trained. These services might be offered to all members of the Local Community or restricted to an individual Home Group. They may be offered free or for a fee.
- Providing special training courses including, but not limited to:
- Child care and children's programs
- Leadership training
- Organizational operations training
- Classes on special biblical topics
- Worship leading classes
- Special seminars for outreach in society and in the mission field
- Orientation meetings for new members to Home Bible Community
- Marriage seminars
- Many other leadership roles.
Elders may be men or women who qualify based on 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9.
Women Elders — We do not forbid women from being Elders. We believe the exclusion of women from this role in the New Testament is cultural and doesn't apply today, but that but the principles given in 1 Timothy 2:12 and Titus 2:3 still apply. Therefore, a woman should exercise great discretion concerning the issues of teaching men and of authority over men. However, much of the decision making in Home Bible Community is done in teams and is based on a democratic methods such as majority rule, consensus or unanimity. Women may participate as equals with men in such decision making.
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Deacon
The role of Deacon is one of service and is based on Acts 6:1-4.
Deacons may be men or women who qualify based on 1 Timothy 3:8-13.
Women Deacons — we believe that women may be Deacons based on Romans 16:1 and that the partial exclusion of women from this role in the New Testament is cultural and doesn't apply today.
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Biblical Support
The Home Bible Community denominational model is harmonious with the New Testament. This is not to say that it is the church model of the New Testament. It is common for Home Church movements to declare that they are the "true" New Testament church, but this is not the case. But neither is the modern traditional church based on the New Testament model.
There are three distinct phases to the New Testament church:
Phase 1: They had everything in common (Acts 2:44).
Phase 2: Oversight by a group of elders (Acts 14:23).
Phase 3: Bishops (1 Timothy 3:2).
Regarding Phase 1 — No one seriously considers that we ought to have everything in common as the first church did. This confirms that the early church model was cultural and not normative for all times. So it is not necessary then, to copy the New Testament church model today. And if we wanted to copy it, which model would we choose, Phase 1, Phase 2 or Phase 3?
Bishops
With the Early Church Fathers, the role of Bishops became even more pronounced as the church struggled to fight heresy. The Didache, about 100 A.D., says that the church should "elect for yourselves bishops" — this demonstrates that Bishops were elected. Ignatius, about 110 A.D., in many of his letters affirms the importance of bishops. For example, in his Letter to the Smyrnaens he says that "where the bishop is present, there let the congregation gather." Therefore, the Bishop was closely involved with the congregational meetings and there had to be at least one Bishop per congregation. This corresponds well to the role of the Pastor or Minister in the modern traditional church.
Church Governance
Acts 15 describes the first church synod, in which leaders of the church got together to decide a matter of doctrine and practice. In verses 2, 4 and 6, we see that it is the apostles and elders who did this. Some of these apostles and elders were also pastors of local churches. From this we see that the church governance hierarchy was not very deep. Pretty much any leader of the church who was considered an elder could participate in synods where church policy and procedure were decided.
Roles
There are different roles of leadership within the church. Ephesians 4:11 refers to pastors and teachers. And as we have just discussed, there are administrative policy and decision making roles. As far as who can participate in these differing roles, the qualifications are very simple — they must be elders who qualify based on 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9. But God also gives different gifts to each of us and we should be operating in roles based on our giftedness.
Home Bible Community
The organization of Home Bible Community matches very well with these biblical guidelines. All leaders are elders who must qualify according to 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9. The pastors are closely involved in a shepherding role (not to be confused with the Shepherding Movement) based on Acts 20:28 and 1 Peter 5:2. The pastors teach and look after the needs of their group members. Other leadership functions are performed by elders. We use the title "bishop" for the particular role of Denominational Administrator, but these "bishops" are really just elders. The term "bishop" refers only to the leadership role.
Meeting in the Home
In Philemon 1:2 Paul makes reference to a church meeting in the home. This implies that it was a small congregation. The early church did not concentrate on constructing building for their meetings — they met wherever it was convenient, even outdoors. They met in the temple courts (Acts 2:46) and in Solomon's Colonnade (Acts 5:12). Their meetings were not necessarily small as is clear from 1 Corinthian 11 in which Paul describes their divisions. But in the same passage we find that the church meetings involved a meal which never happens in the traditional church. Even though there are possibly hundreds of people, they still spend hours together and eat together. The Home Groups fit this very well.
Meetings
In Acts 2:46 we see that the church had daily meetings. It is likely that most people didn't attended every meeting — people would attend when it fit in with their schedules. This matches well with the Home Bible Community practice of having meetings at a variety of different times throughout the week. When Paul came into town they had a special meeting which was very long and was probably in a special meeting place. This is described in Acts 20:8. This is really the essence of the Local Community meetings in which the congregation meets for special events and for large celebrations.
Article originally written in September, 2001.
Statement of Faith | About the author
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