M U LT I P LY I N G C H U R C H E S
CHURCH AT HOME Learning from Another Model came to Christ in a house church,” said Ingrid Reichard at a recent Town Hall meeting sponsored by the MB Churches of Canada. “I was discipled in that setting for the first two years of my faith journey. Since I didn’t grow up in the church, I didn’t go to Sunday school; I thought house churches were normal.” Of course, in many settings, house churches are normal. The Book of Acts describes the Early Church as a house church movement. In fact, it was not until three hundred years after Pentecost that church buildings started to appear. Even today, in many countries around the world, house churches are the norm. As well, throughout history, many of the Church’s revivals survived and thrived as believers met in homes. Gradually, as the Gospel spread around the world and was incarnated into more and more cultural contexts, other models of church soon became prevalent. As Director of the MB’s National Faith and Life Team, Reichard hosted the Town Hall meeting and clarified that it was not a question of right or wrong models, but rather of being aware of the strengths and weaknesses of different models. “When I finally came into a big church,” she said, “I was blown away by bulletins, bands, and all the chairs facing in one direction. All of that was overwhelming. Now I love a well-organized big church, but I also know the many benefits of the house church.” Reichard reminded listeners of how COVID-19 has challenged the Church and prompted us to re-think our gatherings. Prior to the pandemic, of course, many of us were accustomed to weekly church services in the hundreds. But those gatherings are no longer happening, at least not for the time being. As big churches adjust to this new reality, many are encouraging homebased alternatives and small group initiatives. “As churches continue to navigate
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restrictions,” Reichard posed, “perhaps the house church model could offer insight into how we should think not only about our gatherings but about our overall disciple-making mission.” Reichard’s conversation partner for the Town Hall meeting was Derek Parenteau, Multiply missionary among First Nations people in Ontario, Canada. Parenteau shared compelling insights from his own journey among indigenous peoples. “When we first started, we had all kinds of thoughts about what it would look like to plant a church. But someone told us to take it slow and pray. I noticed that every reservation had a church building on it that was empty. If it was being used at all, it was serving one or two people and the minister was coming from outside of the community. I thought there must be a better way.” Parenteau started studying the methods of missionaries around the world and he discovered that the house church model was being used very effectively in places like China and India. He turned to the Scriptures and came to a simple realization: “Maybe house churches weren’t the consolation prize, a Plan B or any kind of downgrade, but that they actually had some major benefits in terms of both evangelism and discipleship.” Derek and his wife, Tiffani, started gathering their First Nations friends together in homes, mostly non-believers at first. Then people started coming to faith in Jesus and they invited their family and friends into the group. “It was a very powerful experience,” said Derek, “to see whole households come to faith. It changed my life and changed my family’s life.” In the Town Hall meeting, Reichard acknowledged that many churchgoers in North America probably had no experience with house churches. She was open about common misconceptions: “Maybe we think it’s for those who are bucking the system,
