http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_church
Early Christian house churches
The Dura-Europos house church, ca. 232, with chapel area on right.The first house church is recorded in
Acts 1:13, where the disciples of Jesus met together in the "Upper Room" of a house, traditionally believed to be where the Cenacle is today. For the first three centuries of the church, known as Early Christianity, Christians typically met in homes, if only because intermittent persecution (before the Edict of Milan in 313) did not allow the erection of public church buildings. Clement of Alexandria, an early church father, wrote of worshipping in a house. The Dura-Europos church, a private house in Dura-Europos in Syria, was excavated in the 1930s and was found to be used as a Christian meeting place in AD 232, with one small room serving as a baptistry.[2] At many points in subsequent history, various Christian groups worshipped in homes, often due to persecution by the state church or the civil government.
[edit] Scriptural basisChristians who meet together in homes usually do so because of a desire to return to basic Church meetings as found in the New Testament. The New Testament shows that the early Christian church exhibited a simplicity of fellowship and interactive practice that is typically not the case in conventional denominations. They believe that Christians walked closely with each other, in close fellowship, sharing their lives in Christ together. This is expressed by 50 examples of the phrase "one another" found in the New Testament. Some Bible passages that indicate the atmosphere of early church life include:
Lifestyle
"They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." (
Acts 2:42 New American Standard Bible (NASB))
Participatory meetings
"What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification." (
1 Cor. 14:26 [NASB]; see also
Colossians 3:16,
Hebrews 10:24–25)
Meeting in homes
"Aquila and Prisca greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house." (
1 Cor. 16:19 NASB; see also
Acts 20:20,
Romans 16:5,
Colossians 4:15,
Philemon 1:2).
Networking through 'Extra-local, Itinerant Ministries'
"After some days Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are." (
Acts 15:36 NASB)
Occasional Large Group Meetings
"I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house" (
Acts 20:20 NASB)
Jesus model
" For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." (
Matthew 18:20 [NIV])
[edit] Structure and organizationLeadership
Some assemblies have a conventional leadership structure; others have none. A commonly held belief in the modern-day house church "movement" is that the Protestant Reformation did not go far enough to demonstrate a New Testament belief in the "priesthood of all believers" and that Jesus Christ alone is the Head of the Church, and the believers the body. The absence of hierarchical leadership structures in many house churches, while often viewed by the Protestant church at large as a sign of anarchy or rebelliousness to authority, is viewed by many in the house church movement to be the most viable way to come under true spiritual authority of love, relationships, and the visible dominion of Jesus Christ as Head of his own bride (i.e. the church). This does not mean that they reject all leadership, however. Many house churches develop elders and deacons who serve the members. Some house churches also accept ministry from church planters and itinerant workers whom they consider to be apostles.
Meeting format
Many house church gatherings are free, informal, and sometimes include a shared meal. Participants hope that everyone present will feel free to contribute to the gathering as and when they sense the leading of the Holy Spirit to do so. Leadership structures range from no official leaders, to a plurality of appointed elders. There is a deliberate attempt within most house churches to minimize the leadership of any one person. Having a lone pastor is generally considered unscriptural and such meetings prefer an openly plural responsibility of leadership.
Networking
The house church movement today also owes much of its networking and exchange of information to the use of the Internet; HC is generally used as an abbreviation for "House Church" and IC is used to designate "Institutional Church", which is the generalized term for more traditional church structures, including a church building and/or sermon-centered church services directed by a pastor or minister. More recently local networks of house churches have begun to form, with gatherings of house churches in an area getting together periodically for celebrations.