More on Ekklesia and House Church

Two years ago God planted a passion in my heart for “home church”— for being a part of an ekklesia of the kind that made up “the church” early on in the New Testament era.

This week I was led to an article on “house church” written by Frank Viola. I so thoroughly enjoyed his description of the house church that I wanted to share it here:

“Suppose that what we mean by “church” is a group of Christians who are living as a shared-life community under the Headship of Jesus Christ. Suppose that this kind of “church” is a gathered community that’s having an ongoing encounter and experience of Jesus Christ together. This community gathers often, not just once a week. And when the members gather, no human being is leading or facilitating. In other words, there is no pastor, no reverend, and no minister—whether titled or untitled. Instead, the members are gathering under Christ’s Headship alone. As to their meetings, they are not a Bible study, a prayer meeting, a songfest, nor a supperfest, but something different. Namely, the church meets to reveal and display Jesus Christ together out of a real, experiential, life-giving encounter with the Lord. And everyone is functioning on equal footing. No one is dominating. And few, if any, are passive. This is a church where the members are learning to live by Divine life together and they are finding creative ways to express that life week after week, month after month, and year after year. They are living for God’s grand mission—incarnating His eternal purpose in the world. The members of the church see themselves as sisters and brothers. And they pursue the Lord throughout the week, not only individually, but corporately. They also live their lives together as a family. They take care of one another. They don’t just talk about community; they are experiencing it in living color. In addition, the church makes decisions by consensus. They have no pastor or elite group of men who rule over or control them. Direction comes from the entire Body together. The members have learned to function in coordinated way.” (“Finding Organic Church”, http://www.ptmin.org/findingchurch.pdf, pgs 2-3)

(for more info on “Ekklesia” see my previous post in September and also link to http://www.discoveringgodministries.org/html/ekklesia.html)

In HIS strength and for HIS glory…