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It seems clear from these and other references that operating a cluster of home churches in each city was common practice. In 1 Corinthians 14:35, he mentions “churches” in the plural, after having already referred to “the church of God which is at Corinth” (1 Corinthians 1:2). Paul refers to several home churches in the city of Rome (Romans 16:4, 10, 11, 14, 15). But Paul did not limit his speaking ministry to the large meeting place, even though one was available. In this passage, “publicly” probably refers to the school room of Tyrannus (Acts 19:9). In another case, Paul reminded the Ephesian elders that he had exhorted them both “publicly and from house to house” (Acts 20:20). Smaller formats such as those described in this passage would be ideal for fostering them. The local church should encourage a network of close relationships because real community must be based on them. It should be obvious that an impersonal atmosphere will result if we only hold only very large meetings. Thus, in Jerusalem, they held both large and small meetings.Ĭlearly, they did not feel the large meetings were enough by themselves. In the area of biblical example, Acts 2:46 states that the Jerusalem church met “in the temple” and “from house to house.” Concerning the meetings in the Temple, we know that Solomon’s portico was probably quite large and could have accommodated even the several thousands that were part of the Jerusalem church. They are often not based on New Testament theoryīoth New Testament example and principle argue for home-sized groups as a key feature of the local church. We think these frequent failures are not the result of divine opposition to the idea of small groups or because, “our kind of people aren’t right for this sort of thing.” Instead, we think there are a number of good theological and practical reasons why these groups usually fail.ġ.
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Church division is also a possibility, although we have not seen very many cases where this occurred. Sometimes a minority struggles along, unwilling to admit failure in the program and developing a “faithful remnant” theology which justifies, on theological grounds, the lack of growth and participation by others. Problems sometimes include a lack of participation and interest from members. Leaders often ask us, “What have we been doing wrong?” Yet most of these efforts are disappointing to some degree. In fact, most evangelical churches have tried to establish a network of small groups at one time or another. Through these consultations, we have discovered that small-group ministries are not a novel idea at all.
#ONE AND ALL CHURCH COMMUNITY GROUPS HOW TO#
Home churches have also resulted in good morale among the hundreds of lay leaders, all graduates of a two-year graded training course.īecause of this success, pastors often call Dwell staff to consult regarding how to establish or manage small-group lay ministry in their own churches. Using this focus, Dwell has grown from a handful to roughly 5,000 today. If the local church is to develop the spiritual gifts of its members, mobilize the terrific power of the Holy Spirit to work through a trained and experienced laity and facilitate true relationship-based community, it will need to organize smaller groups.ĭwell Community Church, an independent fellowship in Columbus, Ohio, has centered around lay-led home church ministry since beginning in 1970. The need for effective small-group ministry is implied in the New Testament.