How to start a new fellowship/church
13 April 2011 – 6:28 amHi everyone, just wondering if anyone has any godly advice regarding how to start a new fellowship. My husband and I have been in home groups for the last 12 years or so – our history prior to that had been 12 years in Pentecostal churches. The home groups all came to an end for various reasons: the first one ended because the host couple went back to a denominational church so that their children would have Christian friends to grow up with; while the last home group only lasted a couple of months as the host said her circumstances had changed and she couldn’t host them anymore. That was around December 2010. My hubby and I would happily host meetings in our home but we have 2 big-ish problems: we can only fit around 6 people in our front room comfortably as it’s so small (which isn’t a problem really unless 7 or more people wanted to come); and secondly we wouldn’t be able to sing worship songs as our upstairs neighbour plays his music extremely loud in order to drown out our singing!
I suppose the question I’m asking is this: should we go out and rent a room on a weekly or fortnightly basis (depending on what we can currently afford) – even though there might only be two or three of us there! Or should we wait until the Lord tells us to rent a room? Or what are the other alternatives?
There are plenty of born again Christians in our area, but many of them were involved in the Toronto nonsense and when we tried to point out the errors 12 years ago we were rebuked by them. We wouldn’t be accepted in those churches even if we chose to go. We are currently praying about whether to start attending another local AOG where we’re sure the pastor loves the Lord, but my hubby attended a few of the meetings last year and was a bit troubled by some of the things he heard – e.g. Christians aren’t allowed to listen to secular music, and they go prayer-walking in order to ‘claim the ground’, and people give suspicious visions which are accepted without question by the pastor. It’s possible that we can show grace and overlook these things, but the point about going to church is in order to encourage each other (1 Corin 14) - and we’re not convinced we’d be encouraged by listening to either milky sermons or unscriptural stuff.
Going back to starting a church, part of me thinks that if we don’t need to rent a room (i.e. if the number of people wanting to meet didn’t exceed the capacity of our front room), why rent one? But on the other hand, not many people today like going into the homes of people they don’t know. So if people did get saved as we go out witnessing, it’s perhaps more likely that they’d turn up for a meeting in a rented building, which is more public, rather than turn up for a meeting in a stranger’s home. But even if new converts were willing to meet up in our home, we still wouldn’t be able to worship the Lord in song because of our problem with the neighbour.
In the last 2 years my hubby and I have tried to make a point of going out witnessing on the streets on a fairly regular basis (sometimes with a microphone, on the approval of the council; or sometimes on a one-to-one basis with gospel tracts), and in the last year and a half or so 2 adults have made a commitment to Jesus. However, one lady didn’t want to give her phone number to us; and my hubby didn’t exchange contact numbers with the man. On another occasion 4 teenagers who went to a Church of England, but who had never heard the gospel there, also listened to the gospel and said they would go home and get right with the Lord. So, potentially the Lord may have saved 6 souls in the last year or so in our area, but at the time when these souls got saved we were attending a Pentecostal church (we had a go at going back into a denomination) but we didn’t feel comfortable directing these new souls to the church we went to, as we were still sounding out its doctrines, and we weren’t wholly comfortable with some of the things being taught.
Anyway, we’ve prepared ourselves to some extent by getting a Bible Basics study course together, based on Hebrews 6: 1-2: the foundations of the faith. So if we come across any new converts we’ll be able to ground them in the basics. But here’s the other problem, we don’t feel equipped or gifted to start a church. We’re comfortable with going out and witnessing and we’re comfortable and confident that we’re able to lay the foundations of the Christian faith in the life of new believers – but we don’t feel equipped to go out and ‘start a church’. We realise it’s not us who starts churches, it’s the Lord. But His people have to make a move in doing something, don’t they, before the Lord will do His bit? Are we supposed to just step out and do? E.g. if we continue going out to witness, should we rent a room anyway then if anyone gets saved we can direct them there? Obviously, if such a scenario got off the ground there’d have to be a man or group of men able to oversee right doctrine, but my hubby says he doesn’t feel gifted as a leader – even though a friend (a man) and myself see in him a basic ability to oversee in the sense that he’d provide everyone with the opportunity to contribute in meetings, and he’s capable of testing and addressing false doctrine if it arises – but I wouldn’t say he has the pastoral/shepherding gift.
Anyway, I think I ought to end this post and hope that someone who has perhaps walked this path before can offer any insight which we can’t currently see.
Best wishes in Him,
Marisa
12 Responses to “How to start a new fellowship/church”
Sounds like your husband has an ideal gifting for a small group of believers. Gathering as church does not require that we sing songs, take up financial collections, or have ‘officers’ does it? To start anything, start small with those whom the Lord attracts to the group, then cross each bridge as you grow. These are just a few thoughts that initially come to mind.
By A small potato on Apr 13, 2011
I’m intrigued by your story and it would seem that it has been a quandary for you for a while..
Your comments:
“If we continue going out to witness, should we rent a room anyway then if anyone gets saved we can direct them there? Obviously, if such a scenario got off the ground there’d have to be a man or group of men able to oversee right doctrine, but my hubby says he doesn’t feel gifted as a leader -
How many do you have in your house fellowship? Can you not meet at someone elses house…The cost of renting a venue would only work out if you have say 12 - 20 people meeting regularly- which means a lot more witnessing.
Continue going out to witness,and you maybe look to meet in others houses,the saved can be directed there…If such a scenario got off the ground a man will ultimately appear namely Christ Jesus.
By lance on Apr 14, 2011
Hello ’small potato’ - thanks for your advice. Your comments make sense. I hadn’t really thought about ‘not singing’ when we gather together! If ever our neighbour was out on the days we met, I suppose we could always sing then! Crossing each bridge as we come to it is, I’m sure, the way forward.
Hi Lance, you ask how many of us meet together … we aren’t part of any house group at the moment. Hubby and I have just been having a bit of Christian fellowship together while praying and wondering what to do about fellowshipping with a wider group of believers.
At the last home group we were at, 7 of us met. But 2 of them already attended a Messianic fellowship (around 1 and half hours away on public transport), which they continue going to now that the house group has closed. A third person who met at that group has lots of stress related problems and won’t use the bus, and as we don’t have a car at the moment we can’t pick her up. Regarding the other couple, I was told by the host of the last group that, like her, they weren’t able to meet regularly any more but were happy to just meet up now and again. So really that leaves only Barry and me.
Once every three weeks we’ve started having a Bible study in our home and a different friend comes to that; so if we started meeting for general fellowship and breaking bread there would be 2 or at the most 3 of us.
We’ve been thinking that as soon as we’re mobile with a car again we would probably travel further afield to find fellowship, but it would be great if there was something closer to hand in our area.
Anyway, thanks for your advice. I’m sure you’re right and the Lord would definately turn up to help if any new converts were added to the group!
By Marisa on Apr 15, 2011
Hi Marisa,
Your situation is certainly not straight forward,and sorry things are a little difficult. Hopefully with some better transport that will give you a chance to meet others, and have good fellowship.
By lance on Apr 20, 2011
Hi, where do you live? I might be able to point some people in your direction.
God bless,
Lee
By Lee on May 21, 2011
Where I live I’ve become quite averse to door-to-door canvassers so haven’t gone around the neighbourhood doing this myself. Most of our group have come as friends of friends. I walk through the community regularly - and before Christmas and Easter and in late August I also put Christian leaflets into the letterboxes with a contact name and phone no. Some people move into times where they would love someone nearby to contact them, and I always remember how a past friend came to Christ at university when someone unknown walked up to her and started conversing about Christ. I remember her sharing how she had just been waiting for years to hear someone explain it to her, and that afternoon she was saved. It still inspires me to persist, even though I’m not naturally an outgoing bloke. But focusing on my local area has brought some worthwhile results.
By Paul on May 27, 2011
Hi Lee,
Sorry I haven’t replied earlier. Just popped onto the website today to see if anything is happening. We live in Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England, UK.
Hi Paul, Glad to read about your experiences. We also don’t like door knocking … leafleting the area around Easter and Christmas time sounds like a good idea.
By Marisa on Jun 1, 2011
Marisa,
I’ve meant to let you know there is a website of the New Testament Reformation Fellowship that has some worthwhile articles on it. Have a look around it at www.ntrf.org -they are focused on house churches, so seem to have quite a bit that could be helpful for you in pursuing this avenue of ministry further.
By Paul on Jul 9, 2011
Hi Paul, thanks for that link. I’ve had a quick look at the website. Not sure about one of their beliefs on their statement of faith page - it looks like only men are able to contribute vocally during meetings ?!?!?! :-0 Not to worry though, no doubt there’s lots of other good stuff to be gleaned from the website, so thank you. By the way,I’ve just read your post again from May, and I was really blessed to read about your witnessing ventures. Praise God for labourers.
The latest on our situation is that an old friend has put us in touch with a group of Christians who are meeting in homes, literally a 5 minute drive from where we live! 5 or 6 of us meet up on Sundays, in the home of one couple. We’ve been going for about a month now. They came out of a local Baptist church earlier this year after some serious issues with the leadership there. Then on Tuesdays approx 11 of them meet in different homes for different types of fellowship: bible study, testimony evenings, prayer and share etc; Then on Sundays they all go to their own churches. Apparently, the couple who host the Sunday group used to host a Tuesday group before they left the Baptist and now that they’ve left the Baptist church, the same Tuesday group still meet up in homes, although some have also left the Baptist and go to a different church, while others remain at the original Baptist, I think. We haven’t got to know the Tuesday group yet as we only go to the Sunday group at the moment.
So far, so good. The family we meet with have a pentecostal background, so they believe that God distributes spiritual gifts to His church; and there is opportunity every time we meet for everyone to share something about the Lord. We’ve all briefly shared our understanding of the Bible and in addition to agreement on the gospel message they also feel strongly about defending the creationist view, and they support the cause of Israel.
Anyway, we’re thrilled to bits that God has put us in touch with a nearby family, and they’ve already invited Barry and I to share our testimonies at one of their Tuesday meetings so that will be a wonderful opportunity to speak of God’s goodness. No doubt there’ll be a few bumps on the road ahead (as there always is in families), but with God’s grace we hope to stay teachable, without compromising on the things we know to be right and true.
Thanks to everyone who joined in this blog offering help and advice, it has been a GENUINE encouragement :-), and thanks to anyone who remembered us in prayer. If it seems appropriate I may give an update in the future on how things are proceeding.
Regarding the witnessing issue, we haven’t been out on an organised witnessing venture in recent months, but the Lord has opened doors for us to share the gospel with people on a one-to-one basis (Barry more so than me at the moment). Earlier this year I acquired 30 copies of The Cross and the Switchblade which I’ve stuffed with a sound gospel tract in the hope that we’ll be able to get out on the streets sometime and distribute among anyone who wants one.
So that’s about it for now. Thanks again to everyone, and God bless you all. This is Marisa from Halifax signing out and remembering you all with Christian love. Roger, and over and out!!!
By Marisa on Sep 15, 2011
That is great news, Marisa, and will be interesting to read of your ongoing updates as you both adventure in Christ along the narrow track. True fellowship takes time to develop.
There are quite a number of good websites with resources that can be copied regarding small group churching. As you’ve found, these ministries also have quite a few areas of difference. Always pays to be discerning on what is written, doesn’t it.
We are blessed indeed at the moment - our oldest daughter and son-in-law arrive here in Brisbane, Queensland, next weekend for a month with us. As our son-in-law only speaks Mandarin it’s going to be fun in the translations - it often becomes like the TV comedy “Mind Your Language” when we are together - and is very joyful. Shelli and I are really looking forward to it. We’ve taken time to check-out Mandarin-language churches lately so they both hear the gospel message clearly, from others (let’s face it, as courteous as they are they may just be ‘humouring’ us to a degree as we’ve shared the Good News and its impact with them over the years).
We would also appreciate prayers.
May the LORD bless you Marisa and Barry.
By Paul on Sep 17, 2011
Also, an excellent resource on leading small groups is available for free download at
www.johnmallison.com/jmcellbook.htm
God bless
By Paul on Sep 17, 2011
Yes Paul, we’ll remember you and your family in our prayers, and thank you for the link above. I’ve just downloaded it, it looks like a valuable resource.
God bless you too.
Marisa
By Marisa on Oct 7, 2011