House/Home Churches

[Gregory Matthews]

In the New Testament model, congregations did NOT exist in large buildings with paid staff and highly organized rituals and a governing board.  Rather, in the NT model the congregations were generally a small group of people number 12, more or less.  In these congregations they devoted themselves to:

*  The study of Scripture.

* Fellowship with each other.

* Sharing a meal together.

* Prayer.

In the U.S. it is estimated that there are some 23 to 52 million adults, who have attended a home church within the past 30 days. 

The SDA denomination is experiencing a decline in regular church attendance and a  growth of the home church movement.  This is especially true for adults under the age of 35.  With this in mind, it would benefit the SDA denomination to get on board with this movement, support it and provide a means for such groups to remain informal, independent and connected to the SDA denomination. 

Such has already been accomplished with the setting up of a resource center for such groups.  It may be accessed at: 

http://simplechurchathome.org/

It is directed by Milton Adams and seeks to support such groups world-wide.  As part of its mission it:

* conducts formal training workshops.

*  training videos.

*  Study guides.

*  Much more.  Click on the URL for more information.

NOTE:  For the information in this post, I am indebted to:

Monte Sahlin, "Doing Church," Adventist Today, Winter 2017, pages 3 - 5..

NOTE:  I have posted another thread on this subject in the Theology section.