the case for house churches By W.

Milton Adams

#1 – Home churches naturally fit the landscape of

today’s Western and urban mission fields.
Homeschooling is on the rise. Home births and home remedies
are popular. Home preparedness is being championed by a wide
range of people (“preppers”) who are creating both natural and
manmade contingencies.
These trends suggest that people are searching for ways of
becoming less dependent upon formal systems, whether secular
or religious.
Josh Packard, in his book Church Refugees: Sociologists Reveal Why
People Are DONE With Church But Not Their Faith, says: “The two
most important macro-level trends are undoubtedly the loss of trust
in social institutions in general and religious leaders in particular
and the perception that religious institutions are no longer tied into
the daily life of individuals as intimately as they once were. In other
words, they’re increasingly considered irrelevant.”3
Trust in leaders is at an all-time low.4 People are not so
much asking “What is true?” as “Who is true?”—and when
they find trustworthy people, they are naturally open to the
truths they live. This approach to evangelism is not so much
about preaching the truth as it about living the truth and, when
Every mention of “church” you’ll encounter today will necessary, using words.
likely bring to mind a familiar picture. Without having to think As people become less trusting of secular and religious
much about it, you’ll assume a relatively stable group composed systems, they turn to more informal and grassroots ways of
of people who are officially recognized as members and meet at adding spiritual meaning and value to their lives. Ten years ago
least weekly in a purpose-built building with forward-facing pews, Adventist missiologist Jon Dybdahl, Ph.D., articulated three
high ceilings, a built-in baptistry, and possibly a steeple. The group possible future Adventist identities. The second best represents
includes a pastor and a set of lay leaders, led by a church board, today’s cultural trends: “Adventism as a movement that is more
plus a settled core of members to which they hope to add others. than a denomination.”5 As uncomfortable as we might be with
Most parts of this picture aren’t described in the Bible,1 yet it’s the idea of people accepting an end-time message without
what most of us think of as “church.” For nearly a decade, I’ve accepting denominational affiliation, this will likely become the
been exploring another biblical model for the church whose time norm. Most of us follow a similar practice in other areas of our
may have returned: the house church, or home church. I have lives when it comes to brand loyalty—or rather, the lack thereof.
come to believe that home churches are missionally effective in Home churches are one of the best missional responses to this
their ability to connect with the “nones and dones.”2 In addition, new normal.
they are financially sustainable and easily reproducible.
I am not suggesting that home churches should replace #2 – Home churches bypass consumerism.
other church-planting models or that they’re for everyone. Dan “We’ve created a church consumer culture,” says Ed Stetzer,
Jackson, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North executive director of the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism at
America, recently told me, “We need as many different kinds of Wheaton College.6 When people walk into a public venue—a
church plants as possible.” Yet it’s important that in the process of laundromat, dental office, a store, or football stadium—they
assessing church planting models, we compare their effectiveness expect to be served or entertained in some way. And the same is
in today’s modern mission field. true of churches.

W W W . A T O D A Y . O R G 15
 F E A T U R E

But when people are invited to a home, it is for friendship. In committee, and you’ll realize that hiring a pastor gives people an
a home setting, life is shared together. It is real (not performed); excuse for not doing ministry themselves.
messy (not rehearsed); casual (not dressed up); participatory (not Ellen White forewarned of the consequence of placing settled
scripted). Life becomes a dialogue while journeying together, not pastors over congregations, namely that it would create “spiritual
(like a formal church service) a monologue that happens in 30 to weaklings.”10 In spite of her warning, Seventh-day Adventists
60 minutes. embraced this custom after her death in 1915—a practice H.M.S.
Packard says: “The structures that dominate most churches Richards, Sr., would lament at his first lectureship on preaching
work very well for the large segment of the congregation that’s in 1957, long after it had become entrenched.11
not particularly involved, or interested in being involved. But In a house church, there is no leader to blame: no pastor, no
these same structures are not only ineffective for the most active elder, no community services leader, no church board, and no
members, they are actually driving them away.”7 Personal Ministries director. Neither can anyone blame the
Home churches are highly relational. They foster low anonymity, local conference for not providing a better pastor. Excuses gone!
high accountability, and high participation—notable strengths Those who might be tempted to blame someone for a stagnant
from a missional and holistic discipleship perspective, and helpful or declining church are compelled to look in the mirror and then
to distrustful seekers who want to develop faith and find God. go to their knees. While laywomen are the backbone of most
traditional churches, this kind of “do-or-die” front-line action is
#3 – Home churches are sustainable. attractive for men who are looking for true spiritual risk.
The economic feasibility of the traditional church is a cause for major
concern. Says the Barna Group: “It’s likely to get tough in the next 10 #5 – Home churches provide an opportunity to re-
years, and we have a God-given responsibility to think and plan for the establish the biblical role of a pastor.
lean years ahead. … There is no time like the present—when things At the age of 19, my great-great-grandfather wanted to become a
are as good as they are likely to get—to explore the current and future pastor. He—and eventually his four brothers—talked with the Iowa
efficacy of funding models for church and church planters.” Conference president. All were given the same counsel: “Son, you
What would a more sustainable model of the church look like? spend two years raising up churches and then come tell us what
Home churches are one possibility, as long as we understand that happened.” This meant no salary, no mileage reimbursement, no
they cannot be pressed or forced into conventional church models. per diem, no high-cost-of-living adjustments, no travel budget, and
As I have shared the concept of home-church planting with no seminary training. The proof of the calling was in the evidence
hundreds of conference leaders, many have told me that if we are of new congregations.
serious about reaching the cities, our current church model will You may wonder how we got from that to where we are today.
not work. We cannot afford to buy urban real estate, nor can we The dissertation of veteran Adventist soul-winner Russell Burrill,
hire enough pastors, Bible workers, or stipend lay pastors to do Recovering an Adventist Approach to the Life and Mission of the
the work. This is not unique to our denomination. “According Local Church,12 is a must-read for those who want to dig deeper
to a 2007 study by the Center for Missional Research of 12 into this eye-opening history.
denominations and church planting networks, one-third of House churches provide a way back to a more biblical role
church plants do not survive past four years,” says Barna.8 for pastors—one that reflects the early Christian church. In the
In 2001, missionary statistician David Barrett wrote: “The total absence of settled district pastors, itinerant pastors met the need
cost of Christian outreach worldwide averages $330,000 for each by equipping the saints for the work of ministry (Eph. 4:12,
newly baptized person. The cost per baptism in the United States NKJV). This made possible the reproducibility that moved a
tops $1.5 million.”9 movement. And it still can.
House churches might offer a more cost-effective and
sustainable model of church planting. #6 - Home churches provide a new opportunity for
people disillusioned with the traditional church.
#4 – Home churches help believers do ministry. In Church Refugees, Packard says that “the dechurched represent
“But pastor! We pay our tithe so that you can visit people, give thirty-three percent of the American population” and that
Bible studies, prepare sermons, and grow our church,” says Joe “people characterized as dechurched are the fastest growing
Parishioner. And in a sense, he’s right. Sit in on a pastoral search segment of the population.”13

16 A D V E N T I S T T O D A Y • W I N T E R 2 0 1 7
 Thirty-three percent translates into over 100 million for house churches. The statistics I have used here have come
Americans who have walked away from conventional churches. from North America, but current technology is reproducing the
This is a religious shift of epidemic proportions. Packard writes: same circumstances around the globe, especially in urban areas,
“Our interviews indicate that the dechurched are among the making these conclusions widely applicable to the developing
most dedicated people in any congregation. They often work global culture.
themselves into positions of leadership in an attempt to fix the Home churches are a very, very old “new” idea,19 whose time
things about the church that dissatisfy them before ultimately has come again.
deciding their energies could be better spent elsewhere.”14 1
The Roman emperor Constantine is credited with undermining the priesthood
In The Great Controversy, Ellen White writes: “Notwithstanding of all believers in order to establish a class of priests who were distinguished
from commoners by an elite job description (authority to marry, bury, baptize,
the widespread declension of faith and piety, there are true and dispense the sacraments). In the process, house churches were disbanded
followers of Christ in these [popular] churches. Before the final to move worshippers into basilicas (the precursors to cathedrals and church
buildings). Historians think this was a political move, not the application of a
visitation of God’s judgments upon the earth there will be among biblical job description.
the people of the Lord such a revival of primitive godliness as has 2
“Nones” are individuals who are unaffiliated with any organized religion.
not been witnessed since apostolic times. The Spirit and power “Dones” are those who are passionate about their religion but have quit
traditional church due to disillusionment.
of God will be poured out upon His children. At that time many 3
Josh Packard and Ashleigh Hope, Church Refugees: Sociologists Reveal Why
will separate themselves from those churches in which the love of People Are DONE With Church But Not Their Faith (Loveland, CO: Group
Publishing, 2015), p. 16.
this world has supplanted love for God and His word. Many, both 4
Barbara Kellerman, The END of Leadership (New York: HarperBusiness, 2012),
of ministers and people, will gladly accept those great truths which p. xix.
5
Dybdahl’s two-part article, “Doing Theology in Mission,” was published in
God has caused to be proclaimed at this time to prepare a people Ministry Magazine in November 2005 and January 2006 and is available online
for the Lord’s second coming” (emphasis mine).15 at www.evernote.com/l/AIF-JsZdYaVKUauIMBAHO2XScFGE7oM091U.
Did White foresee the group that modern researchers
6
Kelly Shattuck, “7 Startling Facts: An Up Close Look at Church Attendance in
America,” posted December 29, 2015, on ChurchLeaders.com.
are calling the “dones,” who have quit church but not their 7
Packard, p. 56.
faith? What if 100 million Americans—and their cultural 8
George Barna, Church Startups and Money: A Barna Report Produced in
Partnership with Thrivent Financial, 2016, p. 7.
counterparts around the world—are now outside of church 9
David B. Barrett and Todd M. Johnson, World Christian Trends, A.D. 30-A.D.
walls, seeking the Bible truths that Seventh-day Adventists 2200: Interpreting the Annual Christian Megacensus (Pasadena, CA: William
have been given by God in trust? And what if, beyond them, Carey Library, 2013), pp. 520-529.
10
Dr. Russell Burrill, in his dissertation, Recovering an Adventist Approach to the
stand unnumbered “nones”? Life and Mission of the Local Church, wrote: “Ellen White continually labored
These, says Packard, might find a home in an alternative against the notion that the local church needed the constant attention of the
preacher in order to survive. In fact, she repeatedly counseled that just the
church. “The dechurched tend to construct church alternatives opposite would occur if the church became preacher dependent—she felt that
through political and civic engagements, small groups or house the church would become filled with ‘spiritual weaklings.’” pp. 190-191.
11
ibid., p. 172.
churches, or informal but spiritually meaningful gatherings.”16 12
https://www.simplechurchathome.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/
“They’ve opted for relationship over structure, doing over dogma, RussellBurrillDissertation.compressed.pdf
and creating with rather than creating for.”17
13
Packard, p. 20.
14
ibid., p. 23.
15
Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan (Mountain
Here to Stay View, CA: Pacific Press, 1911), p. 464.
16
Packard, p. 68.
House churches, small groups, and spiritually meaningful 17
ibid., pp. 25, 68.
gatherings are here to stay. They may become the alternative of 18
“As our society approaches a post-institutional era, it’s entirely possible the
near monopoly that the church has enjoyed over faithful expressions and
choice18 for those who are done with traditional church. religious connections may be coming to an end,” writes Josh Packard in Church
Some will insist that we need to fill up existing Refugees, p. 69. “The activities of the dechurched may be ushering in new
congregations before actively promoting house churches. understanding of what religious activity means. If this trend continues, it will
fundamentally reshape the way Americans experience organized religion.”
Others suggest that home churches are too risky. Some 19
“Between A.D. 100 and A.D. 300, Christianity grew from 25,000 to 20 million
denominational leaders fear losing control if church becomes people in the Roman Empire where there were no seminaries, settled pastors,
or Christian public places of worship. In fact, much of our New Testament was
too local and independent. written to people who met in house churches.” Allan Hirsch, The Forgotten
Yet in my conversations with church leaders around the Ways, p. 19.
world, more and more are taking an honest look at the cultural
and urban trends and finding a place in their mission strategy

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