How To Start a House Church (And Why You Shouldn’t)

I believe the most pure and authentic expression of church is the house church.

That doesn’t mean it’s the only correct model of ministry, there is no such thing. Throughout scripture and church history, we see many designs and configurations for God’s church that move His purposes forward. As Tim Keller said, we need “a gospel ecosystem” to reach entire cities. This involves house churches, megachurches, traditional churches, Christian nonprofits, and others all working together for the common good in a geographic location.

But if I were forced to choose one model, it would undoubtedly be the house church. This smaller gathering of believers constituted the foundation of the early church (Acts 2:46, 1 Cor 16:19, Col 4:15, Rom 16:5) and continues to be the optimal environment for transformed lives and transformed communities.

In this article, you will learn how to start a house church and why you should or shouldn’t do so depending on your specific circumstances.

This isn’t based on theory, it’s practical application stemming from real-world experience. I like how the Apostle John puts it in 1 John 1:3 — “we proclaim to you what we have seen and heard.” I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything, but to speak what I have seen and give the glory to God.

I’ve had the opportunity to visit dozens of house churches across the world. Most recently, I spent time in Idaho at a second-generation house church from Francis Chan’s network. In 2019, I started a house church network in Washington D.C. that has since evolved to become a more traditional church with over 200 members.

Starting a house church is simple but by no means is it easy. Like all things with following Jesus, it will take sacrifice and intentionality. It takes a disdain for the status quo and saying no to spiritual apathy. It takes a willingness to stand out and try something new.

That being said, here are the steps to start a house church…

Step 1 - Pray and get vision

It should go without saying, but you must start with prayer. Everything that God does is birthed in prayer. The ministry of Jesus was soaked in prayer (Mark 1:35), the ministry of Paul was consistent in prayer (Ephesians 1:16), and we are called to continue steadfastly in prayer (Colossians 4:2).

When you pray, don’t just lob prayers up to God. You want bi-directional prayer, meaning that you aren’t only talking to God, but listening to Him for wisdom, insight, and direction.

“You will be a church of Daniels”

It was almost as if God Himself was in the room when Jimmy Seibert and I were praying for the upcoming house church network in Washington, D.C. As we prayed, we both felt a strong draw to the prophet Daniel in the Old Testament. We prayed a few passages (like Daniel 9:16) and suddenly it clicked… this is God’s heart for the church in Washington, D.C. This would be a church that is close to power but uncorrupted by it, just like Daniel.

This moment of prayer gave us faith and fuel to pray with direction and launch the church with confidence. We knew that we were being led by God’s Spirit and partnering with Him in this kingdom work.

While planting the church in DC, we prayed a lot. I can guarantee that we spent more time in prayer than any other church-planting activity. We used the Echo Prayer App (https://www.echoprayer.com/) to stay synced and consistent with our points of prayer.

WATCH: Prayer walking the streets of D.C.

If you want to start a house church, start with prayer. Do prayer walks around your neighborhood. Meet consistently with your co-leaders to ask God for His wisdom and blessing. Create prayer points to partner with God in building His church.

Step 2 - Send out invitations

You shouldn’t start a house church to isolate from the world. New Testament Christianity does not teach isolationism. On the contrary, we should be living out the command of Jesus to “make disciples of all nations.” The church is intended to serve as salt and light within the world, drawing many towards Christ.

That being said, don’t expect people to automatically show up at your house. People may show up at megachurches without invitation, but that’s not going to happen with a house church. It takes intentionality. It takes someone extending the invitation.

“Come and see.”

This was how Jesus invited the early disciples into his ministry. He created a culture of invitation. People were drawn by their spiritual hunger to seek out the truths of Jesus and their lives were forever changed.

Whenever I have been part of thriving churches, there has always been a strong culture of invitation. There was a sense that God was doing something fresh and attracting people to Himself. The presence of new people infuses new life and vitality to any group.

Who has God put on your heart to invite to this house church? Make a list and pray for them. Then, go out and extend the invite!

One thing we did in DC was have a vision night for everyone who could be interested in the new church. This was a good use of time as it brought everyone together where we could share the vision at one time and build a sense of excitement and expectation.

Step 3 - Model simple church

It’s unfortunate that we have blocked the beauty of the church with our fog machines and large screen projection systems.

House church is about getting back to the simplicity of Jesus.

“But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.”
- 2 Corinthians 11:3

This involves a simple and reproducible structure for our church gatherings. I write about this in my other article, The Core Components of House Church, but let me simply state the following elements:

• Community — Spiritual formation comes from life-on-life discipleship and house church allows for that, but you must be intentional in creating environments that encourage vulnerability and connection.
• Worship — It’s all about Jesus! Whether it’s through worship music or reading the Psalms, there should be an atmosphere of worship and exalting Christ in every gathering.
• Prayer — In the book of Acts, we can see that the early church was marked by intense prayer (Acts 1:14, 2:42, 4:29, 9:40). We lose this when we confine prayer to pastors and priests, there should be ample time for everyone in church to participate in the power of prayer.
• Communion — The Lord’s supper can sometimes be difficult to facilitate in larger church gatherings (hence those awful thimble filled with stale grape juice). But house church allows you to take time to really honor the sacrament of communion and share bread around a table.
• The Word — The early church was devoted to the apostle’s teaching and we should be the same way. God’s Word is our source of truth and standard for integrity. The church gathering should be a time when God’s Word is honored and taught faithfully.

Some people are attracted to the idea of house church because they don’t want to be restricted by structure. While this is understandable, you must understand that structure is a gift from God. For instance, your bones provide the structure to keep you from being a blob on the ground. The most successful and sustainable house churches have structure and rhythm.

That being said, we want the structure to be flexible with the Holy Spirit and the house church format allows that. It’s the perfect blend for those who prefer high structure and those who want a more relaxed environment.

For an example of what a house church gathering might look like, check out this recording from one of our gatherings in DC.

Practical Considerations for House Church

KIDS MINISTRY:

One of the most common questions about house church is “What do we do with the kids?” This can be one of the main reasons that people stick with a traditional church model. But you shouldn’t let logistics stop you, I assure you that people are thriving in house church while managing children. It’s just something that needs to be thought about and prayed through. Some churches integrate children into the service, others hire babysitters, others rotate who is with the kids, and others meet every other week with guy time and girl times on the off weeks.

Whatever you do, remember the potent words of Jesus: “Let the children come to me”. We shouldn’t push kids out of our spiritual lives and worship settings. They are a gift from the Lord and should be treated as such.

No matter what you do, it will probably be messy. Give yourself grace in the process and don’t expect perfection.

MONEY:

One of the major benefits of house church is the simplicity and availability of finances. This is because you aren’t spending thousands on a mortgage, building maintenance, or staff salaries. At the most recent house church I visited, there was a woman who was in jeopardy of losing electricity due to lack of finances, and her need was instantly met! In traditional churches, those benevolence needs must be approved by committees and it often takes too long for people to receive the help they need.

Every situation is different, but when starting a house church you don’t need to set up a special bank account. In fact, I don’t believe you need to ever touch other people’s money. If there’s a need, you can communicate it and people freely direct their own resources toward it. Ever since Judas, the role of the money middleman has been one of temptation and compromise. House church allows you to avoid that completely!

READ: How The Early Church Spent Their Money

AUTHORITY / ACCOUNTABILITY:

While there are certainly some out there who advocate for house church to avoid accountability, that isn’t biblical church. Scripture is clear about the need for healthy authority structure and accountability. A weakness of the house church movement is the lack of formal organization that is often found within denominations. Church polity matters and you want to be prepared in the case of anything happening. Does leadership have a healthy desire for accountability? And have they set up a structure to support those goals? This is necessary for a successful house church experience.

POTENTIAL DRAWBACKS:

I’ve heard it said that there are no solutions, only tradeoffs. This is certainly true when it comes to church planting and Christian ministry. House church is not a silver bullet, you are merely exchanging one set of problems for another.

For instance, with house church, you are more directly impacted by people’s sin, brokenness, and immaturity. Personalities become more pronounced in home settings rather than sitting in organized pews. If you’ve been part of a small group, you’ve seen this. You know who’s loud and obnoxious and who’s shy and insecure. You get a sense of who truly reflects Jesus and who still needs serious discipleship.

This is uncomfortable. There are aspects of house church that can feel uncomfortable. Yet, the research shows that discomfort can be a catalyst for growth. And isn’t that what we want in our spiritual lives?

I recently visited my aunt and uncle’s house church outside of Houston. I got there a few minutes late and was surprised when there were only a handful of people there. I wondered if it was going to be awkward.

And then they began discussing…

“Tom and Sherri are in Austin this weekend for a family reunion”

“Sally is visiting her sister, so she’ll be gone”

“John is running late this morning, but he should be here.”

And that’s when it hit me — they knew everyone in their house church.

They were intimately connected and involved in their lives.

When you miss house church, it’s noticed.

And isn’t that how it should be?

Scripture talks about us being the body of Christ. Imagine going a day without a hand or a foot — you would certainly feel it! But unfortunately, in many modern churches, you don’t notice if someone doesn’t show up. In house church, everyone is needed and spiritual gifts are more freely expressed. Sure, there is a risk of awkwardness. But for those who are called, the benefits outweigh the risks.

If you decide to venture on the house church path, you may be misunderstood. You may even be criticized. But if you really feel that is how the Lord is calling you, don’t let yourself be deterred. Jesus was not led by the opinion of man but by the leading of His Father in Heaven. Let us follow that example.

“Church is not a meeting; it is a way of life.”

— Wolfgang Simson