An Introduction To: The Modern House Church Movement English/Spanish

By R. Cody Smith ( click HERE for details )

People from all around the World are discovering a new way to be the church today. Known by various names: Home Churches, Organic Churches, Simple Churches, and House Churches. What they share in common is new found freedom from religious traditions, expensive buildings, hierarchy of authority, and professional clerics, things that often impede the Biblical functions of the church, and our ability to actually live out many of the things we profess to believe.

House churches simply adopt original New Testament values such as: the priesthood of believers, recognition of Jesus Christ as the head of the Body of Christ and the only true authority in His church, and the first century tradition of meeting in homes. It comes as no surprise then, that this movement is experiencing growth at historical levels. In the process they are experiencing:

* Intimacy with God.
* An integrated relationship in the Body of Christ.
* Personal discipleship.
* Mutual support from the family of God.
* Rapid expansion of the Kingdom.
* Captives set free from sin.
* Broken hearts healed.
* The promised abundant life.

A Modern Global Movement

In 1948, in it’s effort to stamp out Christianity the newly formed communist government of China expelled all Christian missionaries from the country. Left behind were approximately 30,000 leaderless Christian converts. The Chinese Government then established a state controlled religion; participation in any other church would be punishable by imprisonment and even death.

These orphaned Christians were forced to go underground, they met secretly in homes, keeping their faith alive by word of mouth and from the few portions of scripture that they could find. Often copying by hand a page or two, perhaps a whole book, very few had a complete Bible available.

Forty years later when some open communication with China resumed it was discovered that the unbelievable had occurred. Without Bibles, without missionaries, meeting secretly in homes, the fledgling Chinese house church had grown to include an estimated 80 million people. By many standards China could be considered the most Christian country in the World today. Considering the persecution undergone in the process, we will assume that these are not just casual members of a church, but serious committed Christians.

Meeting in homes quite naturally evolved as the need arose for a modern day persecution-proof church.